Asia with Lorraine: More of Battambang

The legendary hero with his baton after whom the town is named.

Near Wat Kor Village there are several traditional Khmer heritage houses. They are over 100 years old and built of hardwoods. We had a very interesting tour given by the original owner's great grandson.

He explained in good English although french is his second language having studied in Paris the history of his family home. It was taken over by the Khmer Rouge in the seventies and used as a kitchen to serve food to hundreds of prisoners held in the village. There are signs of miss use from that time. But otherwise the house, it's original furniture and family portraits remain in great condition. The present generation hope to transform it into a Boutique Hotel and host homestay visits. We would wish them well with their plans as they were delightful and have come through such hard times unbowed.

The kitchen

The dining room

One of the verandahs

I rose to the challenge of sitting correctly on the daybed

The former railway station which has been shut down for several years. It was sad to hear of its demise when you can imagine what a busy place it must have once been. So many ticket windows.

The bamboo train (separate post) is all that serves this bustling thriving town now. Thankfully plans are in place to reintroduce the regular rail service in the not to distant future.

The former ticket office

I've included this pic to illustrate my frustration at inaccuracies in the Lonely Planet guidebook (Aug 2014). It describes the area around the station as a treasure trove of derelict French-era repair sheds, warehouses and rolling stock. When it is in fact a dreadful slum area home to the most desperately poor and destitute groups of families.

The Governor's residence ...the last governor was a Thai who left in 1907.

The old bridge which led directly to the front gates of the residence

A french modernist building designed in 1930 by the same architects who designed the markets in Phnom Penh and Saigon. It still houses the central wet and dry markets along with clothes and jewellery stalls. It would be nice if the powers that be could renovate and return it to it's former glory.