Bamboo Train

December 09, 2015

Bamboo Train

On to Battambang, our last Cambodian stop. We have a good and cheap lunch in Battambang before heading out to visit family run rice wine, sticky rice, and rice noodle operations before heading out to the bamboo train. The bamboo train goes all the way to Thailand and Phnom Penh (or at least it did at one time) and is now a tourist destination near Battambang. It consists of one set of rails (not always straight) and "rail cars" consisting of two sets of wheels with a flat platform laid on top and a small motor with a pulley that moves the "rail car" along. We go late in the afternoon and take in the sunset on the way. When "rail cars" come from the opposite direction, the drivers stop and one group pulls there "railcars" off of the track so that the other group can continue on their way. We saw these huge spiders in large webs above the tracks suspended between the jungle vegetation on the way in, and sure enough one dropped down on Donna and me while we were coming back in the dark - it made for quite the comical and crazy scene - luckily no one fell off in the excitement (Don of course with his well know knee jerk reaction). Afterwards we had our Cambodian farewell dinner where we barbecued meat (or veggies for the three vegetarians in the group) and veggies. A fun ending to our time in Cambodia.