Bamboo train

From Siem Reap we took the bus to Battambang for a quick stop, travelling through lots of flat open countryside with small stilit shacks to the sound of the Cambodian Karaoke video they seem to play on all bus journeys.

We chilled out by the river for a while sipping from our fresh and sweet coconuts before grabbing some lunch and jumping on the back of a moped to be taken to the 'bamboo train'.

Slightly different from the trains we were used to on the Trans-Siberian line, this is made up of a 10ft sq bamboo board resting on 2 axles and powered by an old motorbike engine. When a train comes the other way it can be disassembled taken off the tracks and reassembled in a matter of minutes. We met 2 other Bamboo trains on our journey, the etiquette is that the train with the lightest load/fewest people is taken to bits, we had picked up a couple of locals on the way meaning we 'won' on both occasions with our six people (I think counting a baby was maybe cheating a bit).

The ride is bumpy and winding as the train gets up speed along the old tracks like arickety old rollercoaster, taking us past people fishing in small ponds and stopping at a brick factory where the bricks are made using a small hand operated machine before being put into a kiln powered by burning rice, there was a bed in the middle of all the clay where the woman and her children slept.

So we have continued our journey with another train ride, unfortunately this small, quirky version will only be running for another few months as a new line is being put in and bigger trains will on the tracks meaning the bamboo train will soon have to stop.