Just outside the Cambodian city of Battambang lies a set of railroad tracks.
These tracks have long since seen real train carriages running on them, however.
Though it's rumored that Cambodia‘s train rail will eventually get back on its feet, for now these tracks are populated by a different sort of vehicle.
This is a norry, colloquially known as the “bamboo train.”
Made up of a bamboo/wooden pallet set atop steel wheels and two axels, the “bamboo train” is anything but a train. Powered by a whiny lawn motor engine, these “trains” began being used to transport goods and livestock once the real trains stopped running.
Today, though, the locals make more money by ferrying tourists to and fro on the one-way tracks.
Riding the bamboo train is not, in fact, a leisurely jaunt through the Cambodian countryside. It may seem like it will be that way when you first settle in for the ride on a cushion atop the bamboo frame.
But then the motor starts sputtering (perhaps after a few pulls and a bottle or two of gasoline), and soon you're gripping at anything you can get your hands on as you zip along the uneven tracks at 30 miles per hour (see the video below to get a sense of the speed).
Yes, the bamboo train can MOVE.
But, since this is only a one-way track, the bamboo train also has to make frequent stops.
Because the “cars” run all day between the starting point near Battambang and a village about an hour up the tracks, that means that there are always people traveling in opposite directions.
So what happens when two cars traveling in opposite directions meet?
Well, basically a big game of chicken, with the “winner” being whichever car is holding more people or whichever group has the most number of cars in a row.
If you don't win in this game, it means climbing up off your car so that your driver can dismantle it (yes, by hand) to let the other car(s) pass.
Rumors are that this last vestige of the bamboo trains that used to populate all of Cambodia's disused train tracks will also be shutting down soon.
How soon, of course, nobody knows.
But if this is one quirky travel experience you'd like to have, my advice would be to do it soon.
**Note: I rode the bamboo train with my Cambodia tour group, and since we went at the end of the day, we decided not to go all the way to the village that most tourists are taken to. I've heard unfavorable tales of this village — of tourists being made to buy drinks and snacks that they didn't want just so they can turn around and go back the other way. We turned around before making it to this village, and I overall really enjoyed the bamboo train experience!
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Would YOU want to ride the bamboo train in Cambodia?
*Note: I visited Battambang as part of a complimentary tour of Vietnam and Cambodia with Intrepid Travel, however I paid for my own extras, such as a countryside tuk-tuk tour and a ride on the Bamboo Train.
Amanda Williams is the award-winning blogger behind A Dangerous Business Travel Blog. She has traveled to more than 60 countries on 6 continents from her home base in Ohio, specializing in experiential and thoughtful travel through the US, Europe, and rest of the world. Amanda only shares tips based on her personal experiences and places she's actually traveled!
[…] swim at the Bambu Hotel, we will also have time for a trip on the Norry, known to Westerners as the Bamboo Train. The days of the Norry are numbered as progress will soon see the Bamboo Train confined to […]
[…] Riding the Bamboo Train in Battambang […]
This is so cool! I loved this experience <3
[…] on what I have read and seen in photos, I do not, incidentally, count the popular bamboo train in Battambang, several hours from Phnom Penh and couple of hours beyond Angkor Wat, as an attraction that cannot […]
No one forces anyone to buy anything at the remote village. Just say “No thanks” and walk on. There are two abandoned kilns near the village that are worth exploring, though.
What a shame you didn’t go all the way to the end because of someone else’s miserable interpretation of a travel experience. The Cambodians are lovely gentle people who have overcome an incredibly tragic history and the people from the village are no different. For $4US, we had 3 cold coconuts to drink, a couple of handmade bracelets to take home as souvenirs and some time talking to very friendly and warm local children who taught us some Khmer, told us about the upcoming Buddhist celebration and made us a grasshopper out of coconut palm leaf. Another traveller I came across didn’t buy anything, he was still warmly greeted and respectfully treated. How that could be interpreted as a bad experience is beyond my comprehension.
It wasn’t up to me in this case, but I’ve read plenty of contradicting experiences about the village. Some people have perfectly fine experiences, others feel pressured, harassed and unwelcome if they don’t buy anything. It could come down to the guide or “train” driver, I don’t know. All I know is we didn’t ride that far!