Battambang

I left Siem Riep Tuesday morning and headed the short distance to the small city of Battambang. It still took much of morning to get there as the bus kept stopping to let locals on trying to sell you stuff, although I still had much of the afternoon free to explore. I decided to focus on the city itself, following this tour I downloaded online. Battambang is the second most populated city in Cambodia, and houses several old pagodas and French colonial era buildings. The centre was housed with narrow streets home to several small cafes and shophouses, whilst further afield I passed buildings such as the Royal Residence and a couple of interesting statues.

The following day I hired a bike, with the nearby countryside home to several old pagodas, Angkorian era ruins, caves, and limestone outcrops. First stop of the day was this local winery, en route passing several villages and endless fields of rice paddies. The vineyard was essentially just greenhouses but it was still pretty and I did the wine tasting whilst I was there. I then continued onto Banan Village which was home to Phnom Banan, a small hilltop temple up a 358 step climb. The temple was made up of 5 towers and had several fascinating carvings, with the views of the surrounding countryside pretty impressive too.

I stayed in Banan for lunch as the village was very picturesque situated by this small lake, as well as housing some pretty gardens with these sculptures of animals in. From Banan I was hoping to visit this fruit farm which was highlighted on my map although I couldn't find it so next stop was Phnom Sampeau, a limestone outcrop home to several caves and viewpoints. First stop was the bat caves which you couldn't access as they were these large caverns half way up the cliff face, but you could see loads of bats inside from below. Apparently at dusk they come out and do an impressive display.

I then headed up to the Killing Caves, used during the Khmer Rouge to dispose of bodies. It was a very eerie place, with this glass memorial housing skulls of the victims, and these cages full of bone fragments. I was able to go inside the caves itself, and you could see how they disposed of the bodies through these holes in the ceiling into the cavern below. On the summit of Sampeau were several viewpoints looking out over the countryside, as well as a large complex of temples including some more caves used for religious purposes. There was also this deep canyon you could access through this massive natural arch which was again very eerie. When getting back to the base of the mountain I was tempted to stay and watch the bat display but I could sense a thunderstorm coming and I got back to Battambang just in time before it set in!

On Thursday I continued exploring the surrounding villages and countryside surrounding Battambang, heading out to the Angkorian ruins of Ek Phnom first thing. The ruins was basically a single temple, although there was this massive Buddha statue nearby surrounded by these smaller Buddha's. Nearby Ek Phnom I visited a local village which specialised in making rice paper, which is what they use to make spring rolls. It was interesting seeing the locals make the rice paper which were hung up on the side of the road presumably to dry out. There was even a small cafe where I was able to try some of their spring rolls.

I then headed to Wat Somrong Knong which was a temple used during the Khmer Rouge. The now disused temple lay their in ruin, and there were several other buildings which were used for torture and other purposes. There was also this well they used to drown their victims. Nearby the temple was a memorial stupa with some of the victims skills. I headed back into Battambang for lunch.

After lunch I headed out to the Bamboo Railway. Unfortunately it was no longer operating but there were relics of its existence remaining. During the Khmer Rouge the railways in Cambodia were abandoned but when it ended the locals made use of the rail tracks by building these carts out of bamboo to transport themselves and their goods from city to countryside. Over the years it became a bit of a tourist attraction but over the last few years Cambodia have made extensive efforts to restore the railway from Phnom Penh into Thailand which passes through Battambang, and with the railway set to open to regular train services next month the locals can no longer operate this system. I spent the afternoon relaxing at my hostel which had hammocks and pool, heading out to the night market in evening.