Cambodia (Battambang) - bat city

Battambang is the second largest city in Cambodia but to our surprise on arrival we found it more akin to a small French riverside town. Most buildings are no bigger than 3 stories and the streets lack street lights after dark. The locals are friendly and you don't get harassed by tuk tuk drivers or children street sellers which was nice coming from Phnom Penh. We plan to stay 3 nights and spend a day wondering around the town and another with a tuk tuk seeing the temples and caves around town.

Day 1 we meet a Kiwi couple and got a tuk tuk for the day. The main attractions include the ancient and ruined 'Banan Temple', the killing cave and temple, an old bamboo train and a bat cave. The first place we visted after coasting through some old villages and a fishing village was the bamboo railway. Its a 5km train track that still uses bamboo trains which can be dismantled and removed when needed. It was good fun going down the old, rickety tracks and more fun when we needed to dismantle it as there was a on coming train. Some of the down sides is that the train is extremely bumpy and when you hit a bad piece of track it feels like someone has kick you in the ass and you certainly know it. Also the train is completely open which is nice however what is not pleasurable are the swarms of large bugs and insects which hit you as you hurtle down the track, in hindsight a scarf to wrap around you head and mouth would be better unless you fancy a dinner of fresh live bugs.

Next was a visit to Banan Temple which included a 350 step steep climb to the hill on which the temple sits. What we didn't realised is how flat Cambodia seems, its like one massive flood plain with the odd hill which usually has a temple or pagoda on top of it. Banan temple was really good, a little bit like what we expext Angkor Wat to be like but smaller and thankfully hardly any other tourists which won't be the case in Siem Reap. The views from at the top were exceptional and the weather was ideal for it, bar the 35℃ heat.

Next we took a very precarious trip to the killing cave down a sand/mud road and with 4 people in the back I thought we wouldn't make it a few times. The cave is where thousands had been massacred by the Khmer Rouge, often injured and simply thrown to death down into the cave. At the bottom of the cave sits a laying Buddha and glass boxes full of bones and skulls. As with most places upon arrival you tend to atract a young boy who tries to lead you around and inevitably demands money at the end, he eventually got the message and cleared off but he was one of the most persistent hawkers we've had yet. After a further climb we reached the hill temple which was precariously built into and hanging over the mountain cliff. I personally didn't feel safe at some points, the temples was basically stuck overhanging the cliff and caves in some parts with what looked like questionable building work and shit loads of concrete. At the top a troop of monkeys roams freely hoping to score a free lunch from any visiter not holding on to there belongs tightly. As well a group of monks and men sat around doing not much who looked like they did a lot of that all day kept watch, occasionally throwing or shouting at the monkeys they probably know very well.

At dusk we moved to our next location, referred to as the bat cave to watch millions of bats leave for the evening before returning at sunrise. Watching the bats flow out like water from a tap, we stayed for around 25 minutes and the stream was none stop, we were told it takes about 40 minutes in total and as we headed back to town you see the bats break off in to several packs and appear as grey liquid like clouds floating and ever changing in the distance. Not a bad day out and it cost us only $10 for the driver all day which was good.

Day two we woke and as usual when we have a fridge cereal is on the menu for breakfast however after opening the box an army of ants had started to fest on it, we got rid of most and told our self we needed the extra protein but izzi didn't eat much of hers which is understandable. We headed out to explore the city and went to see some of the sights, often taking refuge from the sun and heat with periodic coffee stops. Izzi now is a true coffee lover which I didn't expect, getting a coffee at most opportunities and even liking the iced ones, next she'll be drink tea, a real drink. The actual city didn't offer us much other than a nice quiet and relaxed leisurely stroll and some good coffee. We booked on to our next destination of Siam Reap and prepared for another 5hr journey.

Overall we both really enjoyed our two full days even if we didn't do much on the last day. Battambang as a place was good and the temples and bats were interesting, a nice break from the hussle and bussel of many of the cities we have visited.