We arrived in Battambang in the early afternoon, a dry dusty city with a sleepy atmosphere awaited us, much to our delight and surprise a Tuk-tuk driver was waiting too. This was made all the more impressive as our bus was a whopping 2 hours early, and we hadn't actually told our hotel how we was arriving to Battambang in the first place. Our tuk-tuk driver (Mr. Blue) was a charmer, somehow convincing us to book a tour with him in the following days.
After double-checking his trip-advisor reviews we were sure we'd made the right choice; everyone raved about how informative and fun he was. The morning he came to pick us up, he wasn't the chatty charming man we'd previously met, but was grumpy, uncommunicative and admittedly suffering from a night of heavy drinking. With nothing to be done about it, we decided to just get on with our day trip.
The first stop on our jam packed day was for a ride on the Bamboo trains. Once a major rail line between Battambang and Phnom Penh during French rule, now the tracks lay abandoned, well apart from a 7km stretch near Battambang. This stretch was ingeniously taken over by locals as way to transport goods and tourists alike using "Nori's", a bamboo platform, powered by a motorcycle engine that is slotted onto the railway tracks.
Hurtling down a railway track at 30 KMPH, wind in our hair, trying desperately to hold on was an exhilarating experience. As there is only a single track going in both directions, it seems like the bamboo train with the least on it has to stop, get off and pull the whole Nori off and away from the tracks to let the other "train" past, all adding to the fun of the silly experience. Unfortunately as we visited Cambodia in the middle of the dry season, our views of the countryside was mainly of dusty dry and burnt fields but that didn't detract too much from the ride. What did was our destination.
Advertised as a Cambodian village, it seemed more to be place simply designed to get tourists to depart with their cash, with stalls selling warm cans of drink and buildings filled with useless crap disguised as souvenirs. The whole ten minutes we spent here, after our driver quickly vanished was spent avoiding the locals who couldn't take no as an answer. When our driver did come back, we were joined by a local lady who shared the platform with us, we didn't exactly mind but as we'd payed $5 each for the ride it seemed a bit cheeky. Once we got back to our starting point we were surprised to be guilted into giving a tip, we did of course, mainly due to sheer awkwardness, but it really made us feel a bit sour about the whole thing.
Next on our whirlwind tour was visiting the "ancient house", although not really ancient having been built in the 1920's, the house showcases traditional Cambodian architecture. The modest two bedroom wooden house was built on stilts to save it from flooding in the rainy season, while the airflow around the building help keep it cool during the summer. The Proud Grandson of the original owner showed us round the house, from the more formally decorated family areas to the more modest servants area in the back. He explained how the only area of the house that was a reconstruction was the kitchen, the original having been ruined in the late 70's when the Khmer Rouge used it as a communal kitchen for the village, to ensure their rations were closely monitored. Although it was free to visit the ancient house, here we gladly gave a donation after seeing how hard the Grandson was working to keep the tradition and history alive.
With many different destinations left on our itinerary we had no time to dawdle, so we jumped back into the Tuk-tuk as we sped off the see the "Golden Gate Bridge", which was in no way comparable to the one in San Fransisco. The wood and wire bridge swayed alarmingly as we made our way across, the creaks and cracks becoming louder as a motorcycle pushed us to the side so it could zoom past. I'm not entirely sure how exactly the bridge got it's name, apart from perhaps one of the locals having a wicked sense of humour. On the other side of the bridge sits a buddhist temple, once we finished exploring it was time to brave the bridge again and be on our way.
On the way to the next stop we made a small detour to go and look at some trees that had bats roosting in them. To be perfectly honest it wasn't the most thrilling part of my day but I would have gladly spent more time there if I could have avoided the next location. I'm not saying the Battambang Winery is bad at making wine, but their 2017 shiraz would have worked better sprinkled onto some chips. However, our beverage tasting also included a Brandy which Ben gave the raving review of "not bad" . The girls behind the bar (while also inexplicably washing each others hair?) explained how the Vineyard was pretty new - so I think they're allowed some grace time to work the kinks out of their products.
Stop five and it isn't even lunch time yet, and before we got a chance to chow down first way a visit to the Wat Banan temple. Built in the 11th century by King Udayadaityavarman II - I'm not expecting anyone to be able to pronounce that name - and is one of the most well preserved temples in the Battambang district, despite the buddhist aspects of the temple being defaced by the Khmer Rouge. To get to see the temples first we had 358 stairs to contend with and they were steep. So steep my legs were shaking and my breath came out in harsh pants only half way up, so steep that I even considered scooting back down the stairs on my bum as vertigo threatened to lock up my legs, but I persevered and finally made it to the top, besides i really shouldnt complain as Ben had to do the same trip while carrying the bag with all our stuff in.
Although our camera in no way did it justice, the view was amazing and we could see for miles across the flat countryside below. The temples, which to me looked like an assorted of mismatched stone blocks that somehow defy gravity, impressed me by the fact they were even standing at all. After finally getting our breath back and having had our fill of exploring it way time to gingerly make our way back down to solid ground. This harrowing climb set us back another $2 each.
At 2pm after enjoying some lunch, a lovely fruit plate for me and ginger beef for Benjamin, we set off to our final stop the Mountain of Phnom Sampeau, which was all well and good as our driver nearly fell asleep during this journey.
This time, we endured walking up the side of a mountain in the muggy heat for a more poignant reason, half way up this beautiful mountain sits the killing caves used by the Khmer Rouge. The caves have now been turned into a memorial, with a large golden Buddha laying across one of the walls. In these caves, our young cheerful self-appointed tour guide explained, those seen as enemies to the khmer rouges reign were hit over the head before being pushed down the light shaft into the cave below. He pointed out the glass case of bones, saying they were just a few from those collected from the cave below. It was hard to envision this part of the tragedy that befell Cambodia when it was told in such a excited, happy way; but I suppose to the child telling the story, it's nothing more than a means to make some money, and his growling stomach is much more important to him than a past he's too young to really come to terms with. So yes, the killing caves were terrible and a horrific end for the 5000 who died there, but my heart broke for the young boy who asked if we would adopt him and give him a better life.
We continued up the mountain, stopping to see the religious caves along the way, until we finally reached the temple complex at its apex. Here we enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere, gazing across the view below, whilst Macaque monkeys chatter away in the background. Feeling hot and oh so tired, we really didn't spend as long exploring up here, opting instead to begin the trek back down before we lost all motivation. Add another $2 each on the tally for this part of the day-out.
The last item on the agenda was more bats, a casual 15 million of them. Around the other side of the mountain sits rows of chairs, all facing towards the mountainside rather than to the fields behind. This is because, every night as the sun begins to set, all 15 million bats stream from their cave to range across the Cambodian countryside looking for bugs to feast on. It is truly a spectacular sight, the bats swarming in a long line together, making swirls and streaks across the dusky sky. Like all things, after watching the bats fly from the cave for a solid 30 minutes with no end in sight, it got a slight bit repetitive so we hunted down our driver to take us back home.
All in all, it was a fun, informative and exhausting day... it also cost us more than we were expecting. The initial cost for Mr. Blues Tuk-tuk services was a reasonable $22, this is what we knew we were paying for. The additional $10 for the bamboo train, $4 for the Wat Banan temple, $5 for the wine tasting and lastly the $4 entry for Phnom Sampeau came at a slight surprise. Our $22 day ended up costing $45, and that's not including lunch, any drinks brought and donations given. I know that's not a large amount of money, and knowing the true price now I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the trip, but it does feel a bit cheeky that it wasn't told to us upfront.
Before we left Battambang altogether we had one last place we wanted to visit, the circus! Now, before you cry with indignation about animal abuse and exploitation - this isn't that sort of circus. This circus is part of Phare Ponleu Selpak, Battambangs' non-profit art school that specialises in community empowerment through traditional and modern arts; giving the youth of cambodia more opportunities to lead themselves away from poverty. Their visual art school that helps facilitate entry into the modern artist world of graphic design and animation, is only part of what they offer at Phare Ponleu Selpak; the other is the performing art school where traditional music, dance and theatre is kept alive, along with the circus arts. If you're interested in reading more about this wonderful school, or fancy sending over a donation to help them continue their amazing work head over to their website here! Twice a week the big top opens to the public and the school students get to show off their hard won skills whilst earning a small wage for their performances. On the night we attended, we walked the 3km from our hostel to the residential area where the school is located, the area was a strange mix of large affluent houses interspersed with shacks and shanties, the local kids running wild and barefoot over the rough shod road. Cars and Tuk-tuks were streaming past us, it seemed all of the tourists currently in Battambang were heading over to the circus. We happily paid the $14 entry fee, having time before the show started we wandered around the campus to see the art exhibitions put on by the current students hoping to sell their work.
The show officially started at 7pm, but we arrived to our seats early to watch a short film made by one of the students that highlighted the good the school does for the area, telling us not only about the two art schools but the primary and secondary school to help bring education to all children in Battambang. The first performance of the night was of traditional Cambodian dance, a skill that's been resurrected after the Khmer Rouge tried to eradicate Cambodias historic arts and customs. Following this was the circus performance called "holiday" - this depicted underprivileged children leaving their lives toiling away collecting rubbish to sell and them joining the school, giving themselves more hope for their futures. Not only was this impressive skill wise and amusing, but far more moving than any circus performance has a right to be! All the performances of the evening were truly impressive, although there was a few mishaps that were quickly corrected, but I'm sure that's normal as they're all still learning after all!
Feeling like we'd managed to fit in a fair amount in our few days in Battambang, it was time to move on to our next location; Siem Reap.
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