Bambu Team Outing in Pailin

Last week we treated our staff at Bambu to a well earned day out – two days actually as they couldn’t all go on the same day or there would be no one to look after the hotel. Since Bambu Hotel opened last September we have been pretty busy and we wanted to reward everyone with a day out to a destination of their choosing.

Bambu Hotel Team

The general consensus was that they wanted to go to Pailin up by the Thai border taking in waterfalls and others places of interest along the way. I was dead keen to go, at least on one of the days, until my wife gently suggested that perhaps the staff would enjoy it more if their employer wasn’t with them! I reluctantly concurred. I actually paid a short visit to Pailin back in January having not been there for around 3 years. The road (National Highway 57) is now, after decades of neglect, in top notch condition and Pailin can be reached in a little over an hour from Battambang whereas before it meant an extremely uncomfortable journey sometimes lasting the best part of a day.

Bambu Team Lunch

Pailin has a touch of the Wild West about it – it was one of the last parts of the country under Khmer Rouge control holding out until 1996 when the Iang Sary faction surrendered to the government. Nowadays the town is a peaceful place and makes an excellent base to explore the local area.

Team Outing Pailin

There is some fantastic countryside nearby and with the rehabilitation of the road I think it will become a major destination in the next few years. Sadly much of the area is still heavily mined despite ongoing clearance projects although the immediate environs of the town are considered safe these days. Without wanting to sound too much like a local in the Slaughtered Lamb from the film An American Werewolf in London the phrase “don’t stray from the path” is nowhere more appropriate than here. We can also expect the border crossing to Thailand to get busier. I would recommend anyone coming from or going to Thailand to use this crossing as opposed to Poipet/Aranya Prathet – there are no queues much less hassle than at the often depressing town of Poipet. Recently some guests at Bambu Hotel wanted to go to go straight from here to Koh Chang in Trat province, Thailand.

Staff Outing

Last year such a journey in a day would have been impossible but we were able to organise a taxi from the hotel to the border in Pailin and another one from the Thai side to the port at Trat. The guests emailed to tell us that having had a late and leisurely breakfast at Bambu they were sitting on a beach on Koh Chang watching the sun go down just a few hours later! I was very jealous.

Bambu Team Activities