Today is the day of our trip around the sites if Battambang, so we got up and grabbed a baguette and waited for our diver to turn up. Whilst waiting we decided instead of staying another night we would get the night bus to sihanoukville - this meant we changed rooms to the cheaper ones and all piled our bags inside. Once sorted we jumped in the tuk tuk and headed to out first destination - the bamboo train. I wasn't too bothered by this but so glad we did it in the end. They have made a part of the old main line available for tourists to use and they use (in try SE Asian style) a make shift bamboo train - this consists of a bamboo raft, two sets of wheels and a small engine, originally they used to push these by hand! The experience is amazing as you travel along the rickety old track with the wind in your face is really cool. The views either side show why this province is the main source if rice as the 29 minute ride showed vast rice paddies either side! Once at the other end you stop in a small village where we took a little walk around and eventually ended up at a small hut where we got a couple of cold drinks and chatted to the very friendly owner. She told us that the chanting (that had been going in since we arrived) and the larger furnace was all part of a 3 day funeral service for an old lady who had recently died. It was sad but amazing to see how the locals mourn and we were told this is the same service for any death in the village. After our cold drink we happily jumped back onto the train and headed back the way we came. The interesting part comes when another train comes towards you - the drivers slow down (and we think our driver had seniority as we never had to get off) and every jumps off one often trains and lifts everything off the track, the other train then pulls by - simplicity at its best! After we got back it was another short ride to our next destination - Wat Banan. Once we arrived we sat in the shade for a second and started talking to our driver, who explained a lot about the Khmer Rouge and the after effects it had. This subject always makes me feel a bit thoughtful and sad. However we ploughed on and started to walk to the stairs that lead to the temple, as you walk up it takes a while for you to see the top - and the top was a fair way up. Although we nearly had rain yesterday it felt like one of the hottest days we've had today! So we started to make the climb when we acquired a set if new friends in the shape if some small Cambodian children wafting fans at us. These kids followed us all the way to the top and around the small hill too complex. The temples were partially rebuilt and amazing as usual and the views were incredible, this made all the better with our individual friends following us. Hanas friend was dead cute and sang and skipped (with no shoes on) all around the top but left her when new visitors arrived at the top. My mate, clad in a Chelsea kit, followed me all the way from bottom to top and back, we even raced back down the stairs, all the way still waving his fan at me! At the bottom we have them a tip and went back to the shade for some food! Once fed we headed out to our next stop - Phnom Sampeau. To get here we asked to see a bit more of rural Battambang, so the drive took us along what I imagine is just a farm road, the unpacked road lead us through miles of fields and paddies with not a single building in sight. We finally reached a small village when the tuk tuk overheated a little - so we stopes and enjoyed the views of the cliff top temple and spoke to our driver more about his country. Bike all ready to go again we made the last little trip to another little village, from here you can either walk or take a bike taxi to the too - of course we walked! For me there are 3 things to do at Phnom Sampeau - the first is the temple, the second is the view and the third is the killing cave (also known for its amazing nightly show of thousands of bats). This cave was another part of the Khmer Rouge dark history and was used as a cheap method of killing prisoners. Our first stop was the caves which involved quiet a bit if uphill walking in midday heat, near the top we picked up another Cambodian friend - this one has an amazing character and helped us find the caves and told us a little about it. As you descend into the cave there are many things that catch your eye. The first being another cave at the bottom
Which drops even further (will come back to this) the second is the decorated glass box which contains some of the remains of the victims. As you reach the paved area you can then appreciate the killing cave, as you
Look left and up the cave roof opens up to outside, this is where they threw the bodies down. Our small guide told me over ten thousand people we killed using this method - again slightly intense subject but amazing to see a true part of Cambodian history even if it isn't the good kind! From here we asked our guide to take us into the area where the bats live (this is the second drop I mentioned earlier), we walked down a set of steps and by this time Hana had walked back to the top and then back down again trying to decide if a bat cave or being alone with a box of skulls was worst - she decided bats was the best option. As we dropped down deeper the screech and flutter of wings got more frequent and the odd time we shined our torches in bigger crevasses you would get a group of bats all go at once. Our guide made this part really funny by making strange noises and trying to wind the bats up. All done in the cave we headed back up and tipped our guide and headed off to the temple. This was yet more walking up hill until we reached the top - first port of call was view, where you walk on to a concrete balcony with views of the ridiculously flat farmland for miles around. After this we wandered around the temples, both old and new which was really good, admired some more views and on the way back out I decided to check out one more bit, which lead behind another statue and gave a good view upwards of the temple. As a walked a little further I found a small wooden ladder that lead up between some rocks - by this point Jen had joined me so I decided to take a look, and it was definitely worth it. On one side the country side spread for miles and on the other an amazing view if the temples. Hidden little gem! After this we were all ready to make our way back to the tuk tuk. We decided to take the stairs which lead us through another small temple complex and past many statues. Once back, we jumped in the tuk tuk and headed back to our hotel to finish packing and grab some food. En route we stopped at a ticket office and purchased the tickets, the bus didn't leave until 11.45pm so when we got back we showered and headed back to the geko place for some food - and as the beer was a lot cheaper we went to the lotus for some drinks and another game of euchre. Finally we left the bar and grabbed our bags and headed to the bus - after an hours wait (now 1:00am) the bus turned up and was defiantly a suprise. We had booked the sleeper bus and this was deffinetly a sleeper, but instead of being similar to our last one the bus was a series if bunks with a very thin corridor. We jumped on, a little bit of fuss with who was where etc and we finally got our heads down and slept. The journey was a bit bumpy but both of us managed to sleep most of the way (we woke up a couple of times but it was good enough) we arrived in Phnom Penh around 10:00am - as this is now another day see the next blog for the rest of our journey south.