BATtambang

Today we got a nice new tuk tuk driver caller Sam (later nicknamed Samwise). Sam drove us into town so we could pick up a sandwich for breakfast (I got a Nutella one) and helped us source out a cash machine that would work. It took us a while to get money out as none of the ATMs would work for us (maybe all the machines have been hacked and now all of my money has been stolen) so that wasn't the best start to the day. And then it got worse. Samwise had a problem with his bike and so it wouldn't work. He had to push it to a garage (we offered to help but he wouldn't take it, or he didn't understand that we were trying to help and thought we were just rude and impatient) and so we waited for about 45 minutes. Samwise did buy us a can of pop each (neither of us like fizzy drinks much) and so we felt we should drink them. I had some berry fanta which turned my lips very pink. It was just full of sugar. 

Finally back on the road, we stopped off first at the bamboo train. I hadn't a clue what this would look like and so was imagining this beautiful carriage made from bamboo. It was just the floor of a carriage with a motor on one end. I was a little disappointed with its appearance but when we were on it it went pretty quick. We had a tatami mat and a couple of cushions so it felt like we were on a magic carpet ride. I sang 'a whole new world' for most of the journey. It took around 20 minutes to get to the end but we had to take the train off the track a couple of times due to people travelling in the opposite direction. This again tested out our sun cream as we were stood directly in the sun. Our sun cream doesn't work. Matt became beautifully pink. 

At the end of the track some locals had set up shops selling drinks, clothes and bracelets. I bought myself a bracelet from a shop but then got mauled by the children selling their own. We quickly got back on the train to return to the start. Our train driver was pretty cool though. He tried teaching us some Khmer which we forgot 5 minutes later. 

Back in the tuk tuk we travelled through the countryside, hoping to see the 'real Cambodia' where people live without electricity and refuge collection. The wires running along the street were an instant indication to the fact that we were nowhere near the 'real Cambodia'. We stopped to view a load of bats sleeping in trees in a fishing village which was pretty deserted. However, the heavens seemed to open and throw buckets down on us so we put down the covers on the tuk tuk and headed back to Battambang. 

We grabbed some lunch at the central market in town. I ate rice with pork which had been coated in a marinade. I was also given some pickled cucumber which was really tasty but I didn't eat too much of it as I'm still a little cautious with veg. As we had time to kill before going to see some killing caves, we found a little cafe to have a drink in. It was called Coconut Water and was another place that aided underprivileged children and mothers. There was a roof terrace with hammocks that we took advantage of and sat there whilst it rained again (there was a cover). 

At just be before 4 we met up with Samwise again and set off for the killing caves. As we were nearing we could clearly see the large rock that stood in the middle of flat lands. It was impressive. When we got there we went on the back of a bike up to the caves (I was bricking it a bit as I had no helmet on and the road was super steep). There were 3 caves: the first was for older people, the second for children and the third for pregnant ladies. Each cave was filled with the bones and skulls and even skin of these 10,000 victims that were brutally killed between 1975-79. The largest of the caves now holds a small shrine for people to show their respects for the deceased and a large Buddha has also been placed a short walk from the caves. 

We then headed to the top of the big rock to see some temples, not realising that monkeys roamed around those parts. The monkeys were cute but I stayed away from them as I was unsure of their intentions. The view from the top was also pretty spectacular. Cambodia is really flat though. We could see for miles. 

Back down on flat land we sat before a large cave high up in the rock and waited to see the daily appearance of thousands of bats who fly out of their cave at dusk. We waited for nearly an hour before any movement occurred. It happened a lot slower than I'd imagined but eventually the bats flew out in a stream, flying through the sky like smoke. We left not long after but apparently it goes on for half an hour. We drove along the road, looking out at the bats flying above us. It's not something you see every day. 

We'd read up about the circus that is shown in Battambang so we wanted to go. I thought the ticket price was a little steep as the show was only an hour ($14 each) but the young people that performed were great! Some of their acrobatics were amazing to watch and as a big Diablo fan, I was super impressed with one guy's Diablo skills. It may have been pricey but the money was going to a good cause as there are over a thousand young adults that attend the circus school and none of them pay for their education. 

We were dropped off back in the town centre at just after 8 so we could grab some tea at the night market. A guy enticed Matt in with the promise of five star food and everything you can think of on the menu. He was exaggerating a little but my food was really good, the best I've had in a while. I chose beef Lok Lak but they ran out of beef so I ended up with pork. Not the end of the world. It was pork in a nice sauce with a pile of tasty rice (they'd put something nice on the rice) and a fried egg (runny centre). It might have tasted so good because I was hungry but I'm just going to think it was really good food.