Day 104 – Battambang
Today we woke up early once again so we could have breakfast at Lucky Hostel. We have started experimenting with what we eat, and our meals are getting larger. Today we had an omelette with bread, fruit platter, waffles, banana shake and milk tea!
Our driver DJ, who had the brake failures a few days ago, called and asked if midday was okay to resume the tour. At midday we meet up with DJ and he asked about our transport tomorrow to Phnom Penh. We said that we actually hadn’t booked it yet, and then he told us he knows of a company that can take us there for $6 USD / $8.24 AUD each. We knew that the hotel offered it for $7 USD / $9.61 AUD or $12 USD / $16.47 AUD for either a bus or a minivan respectively.
We agreed and purchased our tickets from a company called Phnom Penh Sorya Dekchunchoun Nakdamnoeur or Sorya for short . DJ was very honest. Before we went inside he told us that he will get a commission. At Sorya, they refused to take my $20 note, as there was a tiny tear in the note. DJ told us that he would get rid of the note somewhere else so don’t worry. Its one thing to look for when you get money here. Do not accept any notes with imperfections as no one will accept it
Cambodian Countryside
We then began the tour, which took us along the Sangker River to see the country life and the various farmer’s fields. While talking about marriages and the change in culture since before and after the genocides, we got onto talking about the Khmer Rouge and life in Cambodia during that time and after the official war was over. It was really thought provoking stuff.
Wat Banan
After seeing the countryside, we went to Wat Banan, also known as Banon Hill Temple, built in the 11th century, and used by the Khmer Rouge to mount weapons. It is a decent climb of 300+ stairs to the top. The locals around Battambang are so friendly, with a Remork moto full of kids yelling hello after us as we drove by, and while climbing the stairs a group of high school kids started talking to us. I mocked them for being more tired than us while being half our age 🙂 Making friends around the world is fun.
At the top of the temple, we saw the originally Hindu Temple, which had a similar feel to the other ancient temples we have seen recently. These temples have stone work that has collapsed. Besides that, they are well looked after.
Once we came down, we had some drinks to cool us down and we talked more with our driver about life in Cambodia.
Phnom Sampov Killing Caves
We then drove down some very poorly maintained and dusty roads for what felt like forever before we reached the mountain Phnom Sampov. The mountain itself was a bit of a hike to climb. We came across a modern Buddhist temple, with lots of nice paintings showing the life of the Buddha.Â
This temple was built here to commemorate the people who were murdered by the Khmer Rouge in the caves less than 100 meters away. The caves are massive, and are the site of approximately 8,000 murders by the Khmer Rouge. It is surreal to be walking in an area with so much bloodshed, not that long ago.
From the Killing Caves, we kept walking up, and there were several viewpoints for amazing views of the surrounding area. The area was also full of monkeys. As we were walking up, we saw what turned out to be an Australian being chased by a monkey. For some reason the Aussie was trying to calm the money down with a water bottle and everyone told him not to run as it would just make it worse. And then the locals told him, that the monkey wasn’t after the water bottle…it was after the banana, which was in his other hand!
We saw a few monkeys had stolen drink bottles from tourists and were drinking from them as we approached another temple. Smart animals. There are shops up there, selling food and drinks (even beer =S ) which I wouldn’t recommend as the monkeys are likely to rob you straight away.
We kept going up, and were taken to a “secret” area that had excellent views of the canyon below and the temple. We then went to the temple and were able to walk around the outside of the large Stupas.
Phnom Sampov Bat Caves
After this we proceeded down to the Remork Moto and were taken a short distance to the bat caves. This was amazing! There is a steady stream of what must be millions of bats leaving the cave. The driver said it goes for 30 minutes. We stayed here only a few minutes before we were taken to another side of the mountain, which has a steep and slippery climb up to the view point.
This side also had another cave with an exodus of bats. But due to the orientation of the cave, the bats were flying off into the sunset, which was such a great view.
Our driver said, they fly to two separate locations and then return to the caves around 3am. After this we went back to the hostel, and said goodbye to DJ.
We then went back to Monorom Garden for another delicious vegetarian dinner. The Hot Pot and Dumpling noodles were very tasty and I didn’t miss meat at all.