Riding the bizarre 'norry' train in Cambodia |
I’m
riding the rails in Cambodia, and this is unlike any train I’ve
ever ridden in my entire life.
I’m
sitting out in the open, and the wind is in my hair. I’m riding on
a miniature flatcar and locomotive, all built into one. Much of this
bizarre flatcar is made of bamboo; it's only about the size of a king
size bed! Behind me, the ‘engineer’ mans the engine, which is
about the size of a motor from a lawnmower. This is one strange
train.
This
train is known locally as a norry,
a makeshift mini-train. It’s also known as the 'bamboo train', and
it just may be the smallest functioning commercial train in
existence.
“It’s
240 kilometers to Phnom Penh,” says my trusty guide Sok, as we chug
along on old tracks just south of Battambang. We pass an old village
train station. Like the original train system, it was originally
built by the French colonials. There are no passengers waiting today,
there haven’t been for years. The real trains stopped running 10
years ago. Service was slow, and it took a lengthy 12 hours to travel
all the way to Phnom Penh. Trains occasionally derailed.
I
look down as we cross a wooden train trestle, a rarity these days.
Few train trestles anywhere in the world are still made of wood. I
wonder how much support the beams still have left in them, as the
wood is deteriorating in the tropical heat.
Rail
service in Cambodia deteriorated gradually, going all the way back to
the war years of the 1970’s. Despite their rejection of technology,
the Khmer Rouge managed to keep trains running during their
repressive years of rule. After they were forced out of power, they
returned to attack the trains in the 80’s and 90’s. The new
government took measures to protect them. On each train, they
transformed a boxcar into a rolling bunker, installing gun ports and
a heavy machine gun to discourage attacks.
2 trains meet, 1 is disassembled, then reassembled, so both can pass! |
After
attacks like this, the engineers employed an old train trick to
counter the use of landmines on the tracks
by the Khmer Rouge. To keep the locomotives safe, they pushed two
flatcars out in front of it as they traveled. If a flatcar hit a mine
and blew off the tracks, the more valuable locomotive survived. That
didn’t stop Khmer passengers from riding the front flatcars though.
With little money, they were glad to ride these rolling mine
detectors, since the tickets were cheaper!
But
the war is over now, and my translator Sok and I are enjoying the breezy ride on
our simple, rolling bamboo bed, I’m serenaded by the loud
clackety-clack of the wheels on the rails. I’m out in the
open air, and the rails are warped, so the racket is even louder than
when I recently road an overnight train to Vietnam. There are wider
gaps between the rails here too, making the ride sometimes jarring,
but no less fun.
Sok
informs me how locals use these mini-trains. “The people use
(it) to move the rice to Battambang,” he says, “because we have
no roads.”
As
we pass rural houses, I see Sok’s point. Without road access, some
houses are built right next to the rails, surrounded by flooded rice
paddies. The train tracks are their only dry access into town during this
time of year.
The norry train's 'engineer' |
There’s
a light sprinkle of rain, but I hardly notice. We’re only going
about 15 mph, but the wind in my hair feels great. Some rice farmers
out working the fields wave to me as we pass. I’m grinning from ear
to ear. This sure beats riding the bus.
Straight
ahead of us on the tracks, another norry
is chugging along towards us, head on! This ought to be interesting,
I think. There are no switches to pull off to the side, so something
has to give.
Both
engineers/drivers slow as we approach, and we coast to a stop.
Apparently there are no brakes. Since the other norry
has eight passengers crowding it, it’s up to us to get out of their
way. So we do. We climb off, and our driver removes the drive belt,
then lifts off the small Kawasaki engine. Then the other norry
driver walks over, and helps my driver lift off the frame. Finally
the wheels are removed, and their way is clear. Amazingly, it took
less than 30 seconds. All the norry
drivers know each other, and they have this dis-assembly process down
to a science.
The
other mini-train moves through, and the two drivers immediately
reassemble our mini-train. Wheels down, frame on top, put on the
motor, attach the drive belt. He winds up the pull string, yanks it
to a start, and we’re off again. Still amazing me, the reassembly
took less than a minute. We continue our journey towards the horizon.
I’m amazed at the ingenuity of this simple system. Cambodians may be poor, but these farmers are certainly inventive, in coming up with this strange train.
I’m amazed at the ingenuity of this simple system. Cambodians may be poor, but these farmers are certainly inventive, in coming up with this strange train.
*NOTE* - Sometime after this trip to Battambang, long delayed plans to resume real train service came through, and the 'Royal Railway' company is finally running trains again in Cambodia.
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