Now this is a light rail system!

The Cambodian railway network fell apart quite a while ago, and I inspected the relics of the old French-era repair sheds and rolling stock at Battambang station. The system is in fact being renovated bit by bit now, though not yet this particular section.

There is however one little passenger rail experience you can have here. It's a quirky, one-off tourist experience, and it's called the Bamboo Train. The wagons are literally just bamboo platforms, sitting atop two bogies, with a small petrol engine and fan belt drive. You bang and clank along the dreadfully out-of-true tracks for a few kilometres between two stations just out of Battambang, then come back again. It's a single track line, and lots of other tourists are doing it too, each with their own train and driver. 

So what happens when two trains meet? Easy. One gets dismantled, the other goes through, then back onto the tracks and off again.

There was some protocol about who gets to go through and who has to be dismantled, but I couldn't work it out. I tended to be getting out most of the time.

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