Tiger Air flies from Singapore to Siem Reap three times a week. On Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Leaving on a Tuesday, I felt returning on Thursday would make the trip too tight. Returning on Sunday would mean too many days of temples in Siem Reap, and would be too short to add a side trip to Phnom Penh. So I gave myself a whole week and decided to go to Battambang instead over Phnom Penh, since PP is a larger city and easier to get to with more flight options.
So Day 5 saw me get on a bus to Battambang, the second largest city in Cambodia. Siem Reap sits between these two cities. Battambang sort of to its west or left of the main highway and PP to the east, or right of the main national highway 6.
The hotel booked the bus to Battambang (US$6.50 for a 4 hour ride) that included a pick up from the hotel. I was asked to wait at the hotel from 0630. I waited and waited. The hotel staff thought I’d been forgotten and rang the company up. They were running late as they apparently had a lot of other passengers to pick up. The bus finally picked me up at 0730, empty. They brought me to the bus station in town, which would really just have been a 10 minute walk without luggage from the hotel. I only had essentials for an overnight stay.
There were many other passengers already in a dubious looking bus. And I was ordered to take a seat.
In about 10 minutes we were on our way. Only, it wasn’t quite a left turn that the bus took toward Battambang on National Highway 6. They took us to what seemed like the main bus station. More than half the people on board then transferred to nice big buses heading to PP. I remained in the dubious looking bus. It was quite empty.
We returned back to Siem Reap city, then took that left turn on Highway 6, and were well and truly on our way to Battambang. The bus was meant to leave at 0730. It was nearly 0800.
From my Vietnam experience, I knew the bus wouldn’t remain empty. So I decided to count the number of stops it would make on its way to Battambang to fill up seats. The number is 10.
I arrive in Battambang at 1245. I’m picked up by Pow, sent by Asia Hotel where I’m staying for the night. Pow turns out to be quite good in English and I’m regretting my decision to hire the guide based on recommendation at the hotel in Siem Reap.
Anyway, I stick with Dom, who is the son of the guy I actually want to hire. Yes, another hand off. I hate those.
The thing about young Dom is that he’s vain. I saw him check himself out in the mirror several times. And when we stopped at Wat Banan, instead of telling me that I needed to get tickets, he looked in the mirror at his face and I had to work out that we’d arrived, I needed to get a ticket.
Wat Banan is up on a hill. The air seems cooler and there was a pleasant wind. Here, local tourists outnumbered foreign tourists, which is quite a nice change from the usual in Siem Reap.
Before Wat Banan, the ride took us through countryside.
We stopped at a place to look at the fruit bats hanging from a tree. Some were even flying in daylight. I tried to capture them flying. But this is the best I could do.
It was also at this spot where I had a taste of goreng pisang. It was also very good. Unlike in Siem Reap where they roll the banana flat, here, they use the banana in it’s natural shape and form.
From Wat Banan, we headed on to Phnom Sampou, which to me is, all gold, all garish and all spoiling of the natural landscape.
To get to Phnom Sampou, one either hires a motorbike and rides pillion, or one walks.
I decided to walk. It’s not easy walk, simply because I was in a rush to make it down again to see more bats at 1730. And it wasn’t made clear to me just how near or far these bats were. But Dom reminded me several times that I needed to be down at 5pm. So I hightailed it up the hill and was panting away. It’s a steep walk, and having more time, it’s not terribly difficult. But at speed, that’s different.
Halfway up, there are the killing caves. The Khmer Rouge blodeoned people to death and pushed them into the caves from above.
In the cave are a collection of bones and skulls of the victims. I didn’t spend too much time there.
More uphill walking and eventually I was up at Phnom Sampou, looking at monkeys, being blinded by gold paint.
Downhill and a three minute walk later, I was outside waiting for bats to emerge from a cave. It was no more than 1705 when I got to the bat cave. I really could’ve had more time up in Phnom Sampou and the killing caves.
The bats usually leave the cave between 1730 and 1800. And so, I waited and waited.
At some point, Dom came up and decided to actually do some extra work that might help with his tip. He plucked the pods off a plant and placed the pods on my hand.
He poured some water over them and after a few seconds, the pods started popping, dispersing their seeds all over. It was quite painful. But fascinating to see.
Closer to 1800, after waiting nearly an hour, the frenetic activity of the bats crescendoed and they finally made an exit.
Millions of them. Billions, perhaps.
And after a while, we followed them along the road.
And watched them split into two paths. Every day they do this. Why do they split? Do they always choose the same split?
At night I wandered through Battambang that had mostly shut down. Walked along the Sangke River to the a hawker centre along the river. They call it a Night Market, but all it is is food stalls. This is where I had my first pong tia koon, and it didn’t seem all that tasty. I also had a beef noodle that was plain awful. I was not having much luck with food in Battambang.
I looked for water. Some fruit stalls at the central market, called Psar Nath, wanted to sell a bottle of water for US$2. I was having none of that. So I went up the more touristy section of Battambang – where the Caucasian tourists hang out – and found a convenience store, some liquor stores and water 1500ml x two bottles for US$1, the regular going rate.
Tired, I headed back to the hotel, which was slightly out of the town centre. Outside the hotel, there was a wedding dinner going on. One of the guests was Pow, the tuk tuk driver who picked me up earlier. I made arrangements with him to take me around the next day.