Feature: Norries, home-made bamboo trains in Cambodia, attracting tourists to bucolic scenery

Norries, home-made bamboo trains which ply Cambodia's crumbling rail system, have become a popular mode of transport for foreign tourists who like to travel to rural communities and enjoy bucolic scenery.

With the rail service in shambles, rural villagers have been driving these bamboo trains to carry goods and people along dilapidated train tracks since the 1980s.

A few years ago, a norry community was formed in Battambang province's Sangke District with an aim of providing a sightseeing ride to tourists. "Norry is one of the priority products for tourists in the province, and we are going to preserve this unique mode of transport because it can be found only in Cambodia,"Ouch Ompheany Sara, director of Battambang Provincial Tourism Department, said.

Norry can be assembled or demolished in only a few minutes.

Two axles stripped from old vehicles were laid on the train tracks, and a bamboo platform was set on top of them. A small petrol engine was wedged into a hole that is cut out of the platform and tied to one of the axles with a rubber strap. "In its first appearance in the 1980s, the norry was used by railway workers to check and repair train tracks; later, locals had used it to carry agricultural produce from one village to another and to travel from one place to another,"Sara said.

According to the official, during the elections in 1993, the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) also used norries to travel from one place to another because the road system at that time was in bad condition.

Chay Sophon, 30, the father of two, who has been driving a norry for more than a decade, said that he earns enough to cover for his family's daily expenses. "I can earn about 20,000 riel (5 U.S. dollars) a day, and more than this during a peak season from November to March,"he said.

In Sophon's community, there are approximately 30 norries serving tourists. Usually, a norry is capable of carrying 10 people, but for tourist's safety, the community requires a norry to carry a maximum of six passengers only.

Cambodia's railway system stretches from the southwestern seaport of Preah Sihanouk province to capital Phnom, finally terminating hundreds of kilometers away on the northern border with Thailand.

But decades of war and neglect left parts of the track damaged, making train travel difficult and slow in the southwestern part, while in the northern part, train service remains inoperational. "There is only one track, so when two norries meet, the one with the lighter load has to be taken off the rails so the other can pass,"Sara said.

Riding on the norry, tourists can enjoy the rustic sceneries along the tracks, including small villages, rural people's daily lives, rice fields and forest. "I think the bamboo train is fantastic, I love bamboo train. This is my third time on a bamboo train,"said an Australian tourist, who identified herself as Tia."I have visited Battambang four times already and I rode the bamboo train three times."

Norries in the community provide a thrilling ride to tourists in the distance of 7 km for 5 U.S. dollars per tourist, or 10 U.S. dollars for renting a norry for a single trip.

In a bid to preserve this old fashion mode of transport, the provincial administration has a vision to construct a new track for norries, linking it to historical and ecological sites in the province, said Chan Sophal, governor of Battambang province. "We will choose a proper location to build a separate track for norries by connecting it to attractive destinations so that it will encourage more tourists to visit our province,"he said.

Battambang is about 291 kilometers northwest of capital Phnom Penh. Endi