Battenbang

We left Siem Reap at 8am to head to Battenbang Cambodia our last city. We go there at just about noon. Our hotel looked really nice from the outside which was a great change from the last one. They greeted us with a disgusting drink and nice cold towels that smelled very strongly of menthol. Our rooms were not ready yet to we went into town for lunch. It was a great place actually. They did fresh juices so I had an apple, carrot and ginger juice with a Cambodian version of a bahn mi.

Hanna, Emma, Erica and I were all on the same afternoon tour of the city so we had a couple of hours to walk around first. It was super hot and we walked pretty constantly the whole time but it was worth it. We saw a pagoda with Buddhist monks living in it and several of the French colonial houses. I was hot and tired when we got back but we left almost immediately for a tuk tuk tour. 

Our first stop was a rice paper making family. It was a similar process to the coconut paper but for their fire they use the rice husks leaving almost nothing unused from the rice. Then we went to see rice noodles being made by a family for surrounding restaurants. They started my grinding rice, then making it into a paste. The best part was the 75 year old man who was pressing the paste into noodles using a huge stick over the pot of boiling water. Once cooked and cooled the noodles were coiled into bundles and put into baskets for the restaurants.

Next it was out to ride the bamboo train. You kind of have to read about it because it is amazing that they even run. They are fast but bumpy and with no rails. It was quite an experience.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norry?wprov=sfla

We had a cooking class next. It turns out out was with our tuk tuk driver. In his house on an amazing rooftop kitchen space he taught us to cook Cambodian chicken curry, spring rolls and fish amok. It was a amazing experience.