Battambing Battambang

Battambang is probably one of our favorite places that we have been to yet. We had such a great relaxing time there and had a chance to see the "real" Cambodia.

But in order to get there we had to get the bus from Siem Reap. We were waiting for our bus that morning in our hostel when it finally came, we jumped on and it dropped us off at the bus station. there were people selling things all around us as we got off and everybody else on the minibus that brought us to the station were getting on a certain bus. We packed our bags underneath and jumped on too.

About 30 minutes into the journey a man came over to us and asked us where we were going to. We told him we were going to Battambang and his look said it all. "This bus is for Phnom Penh" he said. All we could manage to say was "Oh." He called the bus company and put us on the phone with an English speaking person who told us that we were on the wrong bus (Phnom Penh is about 6 hours south, while Battambang was northwest 6 hours) Luckily she told us that the bus driver would let us off the bus somewhere and another bus will come and collect us. About five minutes later the bus stopped and we were let off at a petrol station in the middle of nowhere with the promise that another bus would be along in ten minutes. 

Waiting for the bus

Sad that we got on the wrong bus

Somebody stopping to make sure we are ok

I have to admit that those ten minutes were some of the best minutes I've had so far while traveling. We really got to see how wonderful the Cambodian people are, we had people waving at us from their motorbikes and two different people stopped to make sure that we were ok, one woman with her mother and daughter on the bike with her. While waiting we also got to see some unbelievable things such as a man on his moped with three pigs strapped to the back!

You can't really see but this man has a pig on the back of his bike.
We've also seen bikes with 3 pigs on the back.

Like they said, about ten minutes later, a bus pulled up and we were on our way to Battambang.
Battambang is the second biggest town in Cambodia but it is so laid back that it's hard to believe. When we arrived in Battambang there were some tuk-tuks waiting to show us their guesthouses and to bring us to them. When there is a group of people all offering similar things, my rule is to go with the cutest oldest man. (it seems to have worked so far!) Our person of choice this time was Mr. So Phat. He was such a nice man and brought us to our guesthouse, the Seung Hout hotel. We were surprised to find out that it had a swimming pool and was well in our budget.

Our first day was spent chilling in the pool and strolling around the town. It was such a nice relaxing town. I think this is why we loved Battambang. The last couple of years everywhere that myself and Jason went to together we always managed to get off of the tourist trail and feel like we are really seeing the country (Korea included). But since this journey has begun we have just felt like there is no way to get away from other tourists...that is until we arrived here.

There were only a handful of other tourists around and since all the bars close by 10p.m. here there was no party crowd.

On our first full day in Battambang we decided to ask Mr So Phat to take us on a trip to see the bamboo train and the killing caves. Mr So Phat had practically begged Jason for a job the day before so we decided it would be nice to ring him and ask him to take us. He was at our hotel within ten minutes and was so happy.

All ready for the bamboo train ride.

The bamboo train.

The bamboo train is probably the number one touristy thing to do in Battambang, but even so, we only saw about 7 other people there. The bamboo train is a network of very basic “trains” made from bamboo (hence the name) that the Cambodians used after the Khmer Rouge had been in power. At that time there were hardly any cars motorbikes or taxis so people found it nearly impossible to move things around the country. Then these rails were made in between the bigger towns that allowed people to transport heavy things around. In fact, they even used to transport cattle on these things! We were allowed the chance to take a ride on the bamboo train for about one hour. It was a really fun experience and actually went quite fast!

About halfway through we stopped at this little village for a break and got to play with the sweetest kids. They made us jewelry from leaves and didn’t want any money from us or ask us to buy anything. We really were away from the backpacker trail. One of the boys had great English and was very interested in the fact that we live in Korea.
 

Jason on the bamboo train

After our break we got back on the bamboo train and made our way back. Because there is only one rail line, if a train is coming in the opposite direction both trains have to stop and one has to be disabled and move to make way for the other. The train back was exciting because there was fierce thunder and it looked like it would rain any second.

Beautiful kids in the village that we stopped at.

A shrine near the killing fields.

Inside the temple (prison)

Once we got back Mr So Phat was waiting and ready to bring us to our next destination. It was quite a distance away, that allowed us to see Cambodian rural life from our tuk-tuk. Luckily the rain never came and it was time for us to go to the killing caves. During the Khmer Rouges’ reign nearly 20% of the population was killed. All around Cambodia prisons were set up for people that didn’t follow the Khmer Rouges’ regime precisely or for people that the Khmer Rouge decided to kill for no reason at all. Here in Battambang, the main prison was this beautiful temple on top of a mountain. It is so peaceful there that it’s hard to imagine the horrors that went on.

Nowadays the temple has returned and it is being painted with beautiful bright pictures.  Just a minutes walk away from the temple you come to a big cave. This cave was where the Khmer Rouge would beat and kill the prisoners and then throw their bodies, sometimes dead, sometimes alive, down into the dark cave. There was also a separate cave opening where they threw the childrens bodies. It was very grim and has been made into a prayer area. But the skulls of some of the poor people that suffered are on show here. I’ll explain the reasoning behind the public display of the skulls in our Phnom Penh blog.

Walkway down to the cave where they
threw the children's bodies.

Some of the clothes of the victims.

It was a very somber experience visiting the caves but is also important to see while visiting Cambodia, we also got to learn far more about the Khmer Rouge regime in Phnom Penh.

Some of the skulls at the cave.

Overall we had a wonderful time in Battambang. The town was so laid back and the architecture was beautiful. I would definitely recommend a trip to Battambang while in Cambodia.

At the top of the mountain.

Costs:

Accommodation: Seung Hout hotel: $12 air-con room

Hire a tuk-tuk driver for a day: $15 (you could get it for less, but we really loved Mr So Phat and didn’t mind paying that price)

Bamboo train ride: $5

Motorbike up to the killing caves (optional): $3

Bus to Phnom Penh: $10 each, promised wifi, but it didn’t work. (could get a cheaper bus for $7)

Siem Reap

After our stressful border crossing we were all excited to get some rest. My friend had recommended us to stay at The Siem Reap hostel, so I had booked all five of us into a dorm room together beforehand. The Siem Reap hostel is an amazing place to stay if you go to Siem Reap. It is very much like a hostel that you would find in Australia, but without the expense. The best part about this hostel was that we had a nice pool, a movie room and a free pool table.

The pool at The Siem Reap hostel

We arrived into Siem Reap at about nine in the evening so we just got some dinner and went to bed. The next day we all decided that we deserved a rest day so we all just lazed about by the pool, eating, drinking and napping. Noel, Kate and Jayne got massages also, it was such a nice relaxing day!

After our relaxing day we were all set to see the temples of Angkor, these are the reason that tourism in Cambodia is so high. We decided to go and see the temples at sunrise which meant getting up at 4:30a.m. The temples of Angkor are the pride of Cambodia and the main one, Angkor Wat, is even on their nations flag. If you want to read more about the temples, here is a link for you

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor.

Angkor Wat at sunrise

Jungle clad Ta Phrom temple

Bayon temple; There were hundreds of faces on the temple.

We arrived at Angkor Wat and it was still dark so we found a spot to watch the sunrise. I had stood in that exact same spot four years ago with Louise waiting for a sunrise too, and that time it was too cloudy so there was none. Just when we arrived it started raining. I was devastated thinking that only I could go to Angkor Wat twice for sunrise and not see a thing! Luckily the rain stopped and the clouds cleared, I was finally going to get my sunrise!!

Unfortunately the sunrise wasn’t as exciting or impressive as we thought it would be, but we still had fun. After sunrise we got to explore three of the temples, Angkor Wat (the biggest one), Bayan (famous for its many stone faces) and Ta Phrom (the temple covered in jungle, this was also used for Tomb Raider). Ta Phrom is my favorite as it is covered in trees and has a very mystical feeling to it.

Jason in Angkor Wat

Myself and Jason at Bayan

Noel at Ta Phrom

After walking around the temples in the heat we were all wrecked by the time we arrived back to the guesthouse. It was fun seeing the temples but I wish that we hadn't gotten up so early to see the sunrise, as we were all very tired and felt like we couldn't enjoy the experience to it's fullest. It was one of those times where something is  a lot more fun when you look back on it rather than while you are doing it. After a couple of hours nap we decided to venture out to “pub street.” Pub street is exactly what you think it is, a street full of pubs. It was really strange to see this here in the middle of a small town in Cambodia, there were beggers everywhere and seeing a child no more than seven or eight years old going through all of the rubbish to find some plastic to sell at 1a.m. on a Tuesday night was harrowing.

The next day we had a nice sleep in after our early rise the morning before. Myself and Jason rented a couple of bikes and cycled around the town. By noon it became so hard to cycle in the heat that we had to return to our hostel dripping in sweat. Today was the day that Noel, Kate and Jayne were leaving us. I had so much fun with them all, it really felt like we hadn’t been apart for long. I was hoping that we’d get to meet up again at some stage. Being back together with my friends really make me miss Ireland and Irish people, you really can’t find anybody like them! I’m sure Jason had a lot of fun meeting them too (although I think he couldn’t understand a lot of our conversations) haha.

Miss them!

The famous "Lily Dance"

 One thing that I have to mention 

when talking about Kate, Noel and Jayne is the Lily dance. This is a worldwide phenomenon that has been performed in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, U.K. probably many other places also but now Cambodia too! The "Lily" dance is named after Kates mom because it is her that invented it. Whenever she's had a glass or two the "Lily" dance comes out in all of its glory. Let's hope that some day the "Lily" dance can become famous all over the world ;)

After saying goodbye to “the lads” we just packed our bags and got ready for our bus ride the next day…we were off to Battambang!

Siem Reap is a nice town, with lots to do both within the town and on the outskirts. I was glad that we got to be there with friends, the best thing about this town is that you can have a crazy night out if you want or just as easily have a mellow night. And of course having the temples in it's back garden makes this town even better!

Prices:

Accommodation: The Siem Reap Hostel $6 for a dorm bed in a really comfortable 6 bed dorm.

Tuk-tuk to the temples: $15 between myself and Jason

Entry into the temples: $20 for a day, $40 for 3 days and $60 for a 7 day ticket.

Meal: surprisingly western foods were the same price as local foods, ranging between $3 and $5 per meal

Bicycle rental: $1 a day

Bus ticket to Battambang: $7