After a reasonable bus ride (only 5 hours) from Phnom Penh to Battambang with only one scary moment when we came to an almost head on collision with a cow I was settled in my guesthouse. Battambang home stay on the out skirts of town. A very nice little guesthouse run by a family, discovered by chatting to an Australian guy on the way to Battambang on the bus. For $8 per night I got a double ensuite room with a traditional Khmer breakfast every morning. The family were so nice, they let me use their Internet for free and gave me free fruit and water every night I was there.

After spending 8 days in Sihanoukville doing pretty much nothing I was in a hurry to start seeing and doing things again so I chartered a tuk tuk driver to take me to the Battambang Bamboo train. The Bamboo railway used to be used to transport goods from Battambang to other places and the trains are literally platforms made of Bamboo with a small motorised engine attached to the back but now it is more of a tourist attraction.

The journey there was the first adventurous milestone with the tuk tuk driver (Tien) trying but failing to avoid the potholes on the very bad road. Upon arrival I had a brief introduction on the station from a guy who worked there and we hopped on board the next 'train' that was leaving. It was quite a nice ride till you went over a joining track or got whiplash from one of the over grown bushes along the way! We stopped at a little village and all the children made us little Bamboo bracelets and rings. I felt bad, thinking that they were only doing it because they wanted money of some description.

I was on a train with a couple of French girls and another British girl and you should have seen their faces when we came into contact with another train they couldn't believe it. The train line is only one way and one track so when you get two trains on the same line, one of them gives way and dismantles their train to let the other one pass. Definite muscles needed I think!

This evening was pretty much uneventful apart from some very weird experience at a Khmer restaurant where a woman gave me her phone number? But I was way too tired to think anything of it. Tomorrow I am headed off to a cooking class and Nery Kitchen in the centre of town, can't wait!