The ''most scenic boat trip in Cambodia"

...is that which goes from Battambang to Siem Reap via Tonle Sap lake, according to the Lonely Planet.

So when I woke up at 6 am this morning, it seemed sensible to take the opportunity to switch my bus ticket for a boat ticket.


Things seemed promising when, after only half an hour, I saw two kingfishers and some other unfamiliar streamlined and brightly coloured predatory birds. That was it, really, except for a fat grey pelican. Egrets you can see anywhere.

It would take a lot for me to recommend a 9h boat trip down a muddy river - much, much more to take 4 days heading up the Mekong to Laos (the main competition), but this was dullsville.

Trip stats: The bus takes 4h and costs $5. The boat 9h and costs $19, so it should be at least 6 times as good to break even.
It was rubbish.

However, it costs $30 to go from Siem Reap by boat for 2h to see the floating villages on  Tonle Sap. So these we saw for $11 cheaper. So not as rubbish as all that.

Lunch (included): one stale baguette. 

Arse status: sorer than after cycling around Angkor .

Tomorrow's activity: cycling around Angkor.