Boat from Battambang

 Boat from Battambang 

We signed out of the hotel and took tuktuks from the centre of the city to the river. I had walked along the river front but had seen no port of even a landing stage. It was no surprise that the tuktuk took more than half an hour to get to our boarding point. It wasn't a harbour of a landing stage. It was merely a stretch of river bank with some concrete steps descending from the road to the water level.

There are ferries along the river from Battambang down the Sangker River and ultimately to Siam Reap. They are cheap and relatively fast but were we taking a private long boat. It was slower but more traditional but we had all day. 

Departing Battambang's concrete steps.

The view out of the back of the boat. The engine can be seen without any sound proofing or safety screen, so people had the be careful where they put their hands but the whole day was marked by the sound of the engine.

Other sights along the river.

And another sight, a houseboat used for fishing.

Other traffic on the river. A recycling boat. In the three big bags on the roof are dozens of aluminium drink cans destines to be recycled.

Just about every house along the river bank had a stack of reeds drying on the sun. They can be woven into anything as we had already seen but each household must have a supply of reeds to use for whatever purpose they suddenly need some reeds.

All long the river bank, there were fish traps. Local fish farmers come along and check the traps regularly for local fish. They are sold to local restaurants or in local markets.

More traffic on the river. Inside the red sacks is rice grown and harvested locally being taken up river to market or wholesalers.

We were low in the water and the water levels were well below the banks of the river, so we rarely got a view of the fields. But we got lucky and saw a combine harvester at one edge of a field near the river. 

A uilding on stilts, near the river's edge but the stilts are so long to allow the building to survive seasonal flooding.

One of several shops along the river. The river is a major thoroughfare nd boats pass all the time. Every community has several shop to serve the locals and passing traffic.

There were shops, post offices, schools and even a political party office, all located near the river and all on stilts.

Some trees standing in the river which gives an idea of how high the water level was but the level can still be several metres higher.

More shops...

...and more trees standing in the river.

We stopped at one floating shop that was also the bus stop for the river ferry. It has everything that the locals might need plus a few extras for passing tourists. As we arrived there was a public ferry with a few locals and a few tourists enjoying a trip up the river. 

Another view of the shop. It also acted as a restaurant and had hot food, but there was only two choices, order it or go hungry. I ate some marvellous pork, vegetables and rice for next to nothing. I ignored some of my fellow travellers concerns about hygiene and how they washed the plates and cutlery. The crew of our boat had got off and without asking had sat done and had been served a meal. There was no clean cutlery so they had merely picked some up from left over plates from earlier clients, swirled it around in the river water and wiped it dry on their shirts. 

I also ignored the fact that the toilet was a hole in the floor but there was some privacy as the door shut and could be locked with a bent nail. There was a bucket of water to wash whatever but it was more amusing to see a lot of small fish rush over to see whatever had dropped into the water.  

I was content not to have a swim in the river to cool off, not to eat any of the local fish on offer and to pay a large anount fr some cool, factory bottled water.

Time to go.

There was a lot of floating vegetation on the river.

At one point, it completely covered the river As the propellers turn to push the boat through the floating vegetation, the propellors inevitably got clogged. Once out of the morass of floating the plants, the skipper will use reverse to try to shake off as much weed as possible, before trying to go forward again. 

At one point, we were within spitting distane of open water but the boat had slowed noticeably with all the extr weed clinging to the propellor. We got to open water but we spent some time trying to de-clog the propellor of weed. 

It was an obvious trouble spot. All along the banks were cranes made from bamboo sitting on a bamboo floating platform with a few chains and pulleys. If the weed got too tangled around the propellor, the boat could be lifted out of the water and the weed removed by hand. It was the river equivalent of a motor vehice breakdown service to rescue stranded travellers.

A view of the floating weeds. The floating plants are very important. They provide a safe haven for small fry to escape predators. The plants also group together to form floating islands. The leaves interlock. Some of the plants send out tendrils that pull together other plants. The roots grow and become intwined to create a strong floating platform.

These platforms can protect the river banks from erosion. The can block breeches in dykes and levees. The can come to rest on sand banks, sending down roots to hold them firm and create new areas of mangrove swamp or forest.

There was no local guide to ask my most important question. Floating weed is obviously subject to the river currents which is inevitably downstream. If all the floating plants are carried away downstream, how do they ever repopulate the upper stretches of river?