Day 101 – Siem Reap to Battambang
Today we packed our bags, which are back to feeling full again as all the bulky winter gear is packed away. I don’t see us needing it any time soon in Cambodia. We went down to get breakfast just before 7am. The pick up time from the Bus Company, Mekong Express was 7-8am. The a pick up bus came around 7.30 am and we were again the first on the bus. Once the bus took off, we had to go back to the Golden Square Villa, as J had forgotten her phone at the breakfast table. Oops!!!
The bus, ended up picking up another few people and at the bus stop, we all boarded a large bus. The gaps between the seats was 50% larger than normal and the seats were comfortable with a full recline feature. The bus was only 30% full. We put our own bags under the bus, and the driver was so shocked that we had done it instead of letting him do it.
Before taking off, we were given a small water bottle. We ended up leaving a little later than the scheduled departure time, but I think it was due to some other passengers leaving their passports at their hotel. Around 8:30am we departed. We had one toilet break along the way.
At midday we reached Battambang, and even before we got off the bus, we were surrounded by an army of tuk tuk drivers holding signs for “free hostel drop off” from various hotels and hostels. We only had a 700 meter walk, so we were not fuzzed, but one of the drivers was holding a list with our hostel, and around 7 names. Our name was on this list. We asked him where he got the name from and he said the hostel gave it to him and they know that tourists typically come on this bus.
We decided to trust him as he was promoting is tours. He was a nice guy, but the price he quoted for a half day tour was $15 USD/ $20.52 AUD which was almost as much as our full day tour in Siem Reap. I said we will think about it and checked into our hostel. We are on the 4th level with a private room but shared bathroom. The hostel is very clean, and the 2nd level has a pool, which we hope to use.
Oh forgot to mention that in the morning, I found that my Australian Bank Card was being used in Australia. I locked the card and used FB to message the Bank. They ended up calling me and raising a dispute against the $2,000 of charges, which had been run up in Sydney.
We ended up walking around town looking for some dinner. We went to an Indian restaurant called Masala House. The food was delicious and the owner was very friendly giving us hints and tips for our trip and offering his services if he can help us with anything. I can tell why this place has a 5/5 star rating on Google.
We ended up booking a tour for tomorrow with DJ Tuk Tuk at 9am, which is a driver found on trip advisor. He was slightly more than what was advertised or mentioned online, but we decided to go ahead.