The Best of Cambodia & Laos

136
BATTAMBANG & NORTHERN CAMBODIA
7
BATTAMBANG
In the past, the 291km (180-mile) journey from Battambang to Phnom Penh on Rte.
5 was fearsomely bumpy—today it is superb. Several bus companies (including Phnom
Penh Sorya, GST, Neak Krorhorm, Mekong Express, and Capitol Tours) run frequent
daily buses between Phnom Penh and Battambang. The first bus leaves at 6:30am and
the last at 2:30 or 3pm. It costs 17,000 riel to 20,000 riel and the trip takes 5 hours. In
Battambang, buses depart from the various different transportation company offices
around town.
BY TAXI From Siem Reap, a private taxi to Battambang costs $40 to $50 and takes 3
to 4 hours. A shared taxi will be $7. From Phnom Penh, a taxi all to yourself costs $35
to $45. A seat in a shared taxi costs 25,000 riel per person and the ride takes 4 hours. Be
aware that they cram in the riders.
Getting Around
As with most other towns in Cambodia, your choices include the cheery motodup, renting
a car with a driver, or renting out a motorcycle (without a driver). Your hotel can arrange
An Evil Harvest
The war may have officially come to an end in Cambodia in 1998, but its legacy
lives on and continues to claim the lives and limbs of ordinary Cambodians
every day. During the years of conflict, all sides used land mines indiscriminately.
They didn’t keep maps of where the minefields were laid, and when the
war ended vast swathes of the country were left littered with these murderous
devices. Most of the minefields are around the border areas with Thailand,
where offensives ebbed and flowed throughout the ’80s and ’90s. Once the
war finished, many desperately poor families moved to these areas to claim
land and to farm. The fact that the fields presented the ever-present possibility
of setting off unexploded ordinance was seen as the lesser of two evils. There
have been 63,000 recorded injuries and deaths due to land mines since 1979.
Thousands of Cambodians now live as amputees, one of the highest rates in
the world. Thousands more again simply have died in the bush, too far from
help to make it through. Some 38% of injuries result from people tampering
with ordinance, usually to try to get the scrap metal to sell. And 56% of injuries
occur when people are trying to earn a living; farming, carrying water, collecting
wood, collecting forest products, and so on. The costs of laying mines are
low, about $3 per mine, but the costs of removal are very high, up to a $1,000
per mine according to expert estimates. Although the minefields have been
cleared around the areas you are likely to visit (particularly Siem Reap and Battambang),
the problem should last for decades, even assuming that mines
continue to be cleared at the rate they are being cleared now. The situation is
improving, with 271 casualties registered in 2008 as opposed to thousands in
the mid-’90s (such as 4,320 in 1996). This change is partly due to clearing and
partly due to increased awareness and education. If you do find yourself in an
environment where you see the little red markers with DANGER MINES! fencing off
a specific area, take those markers very seriously.