Day 14 16.12.2014 Looks like there will be no late sleeping in this hotel without earplugs. Although it was really quiet overnight, the noise of people getting up and moving around started very early and very noisily ! Afternoon naps it will have to be then. After a leisurely morning, a bit of a walk around town to find a supermarket and a really good lunch at Yaan Bai (restaurant run by an NGO to create funds for children at risk), we left by TukTuk for a temple on a hill ( about 12 kms from town and 10 minutes walk up) - which has fantastic views of the countryside, shows the brutal side of the Khmer Rouge in the Killing Caves and also the bat cave. It seems as if most of the hill is hollowed out by huge caves, that have stalactites and stalagmites forming. At the temple, one can follow a very steep staircase into one of the caverns - which has large statues at the bottom and is open on the one side. At the top of the temple there are openings in the cavern roof with about a 10 meter drop into the bottom of the cavern. It was dark and eerie going down the stairs. I made 2 attempts to walk down on my own, but such a negative feeling overwhelmed me, that I waited for the boys before going right to the bottom. Even then I could not shake this dark and sinister feeling and quickly ascended to the sunlight. Exercise for the day ! The views from the top of the temple are stunning. Battambang province is the main rice producer in the country and as far as the eye can see there are rice paddies, with some trees and homesteads scattered around. The Killing Caves are a similar cave construction, with a hole in the ground at the top of the hill and then deep vertical drops into the depth of the caves. Here the victims were beaten to death and thrown into the caves. One can only hope that htey were dead when they reached the bottom ! Some bones and skulls of some of the 10 000 victims of the Khmer Rouge are displayed in a small temple built in the cave, with a statue of a reclining buddha. The brutality of people against one another, especially of communist and fascist regimes, is just overwhelming and goes totally beyond belief. It always shows that the veneer of civilisation is extremely thin. Before returning to town we waited at the entrance to the bat cave (with several other tourists) waiting for the approx 3 million bats to exit the cave at sunset. These are small insect-eating bats. Once the sun had set on the other side of the hill, the stream of bats started exiting the cave ...looking like black streams of locusts. This dense black river of bats continues to flow out of the cave for about 40 minutes. The magnitude is incredible. While they were still exiting we left our spot via tuktuk - so that we could see the streams disappearing over the fields. What a sight...everchanging formations of black jet-streams ! Dinner was back in town at the local food market. The red curry was not as good as I had hoped ....but not bad all the same. Day 15 17.12.2014 Another late start ...after reading until the early hours of the morning. The book "Sapiens - A brief history of humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari has certainly gripped me ...with an interesting grasp and analysis of history. It doesn't always have the answers ... but certainly raises some interesting questions. Off to rent bicycles (should have our minds read to even attempt to ride bicycles in this traffic !) and then to find the Coconut Restaurant for lunch. Managed to get into the traffic routine relatively easily...just go ...others give way and you just make an attempt to go around them too...expect the unexpected and just be a bit more wary of cars. The lunch with the young man LyLy was amazing. The traditional Khmer Mango Salad, LokLak and Amok, accompanied by Pineapple and Coconut Fruit Shakes was fantastic ! This young man managed graduate from a renowned cooking school in Cambodia and has now started a restaurant on the ground floor of his parent's house in Battambang. Everything is clean and neat, tastefully decorated and one can sit comfortably on beautiful solid wood chairs. LyLy also runs cooking classes ....so we signed up to do them on Friday morning ! After lunch we meandered along the river for a few hours on our bicycles ...seeing the rice fields, fishing boats and villages along the river. Everywhere we get greeted with happy "hello"s from the children and lots of waves and smiles from the adults. It is dusty now being the dry season ...I can just imagine the quagmire in rainy season, when this clay soil gets soaked and the raging river cuts away even more from the already crumbling riverbank, where houses perch precariously. Wouldn't take much for them to topple down the steep embankments. Another interesting and laid-back day ! Day 16 18.12.2014 Another morning of cycling ...this time along the river on the other side of Battambang. It turned out not to be quite as rural and scenic as yesterday's cycle ...but very interesting all the same. Interesting to see the daily life unfold ...as the houses are generally very close to the roadside. We saw monks walking through the village with their food bowls, and locals ready at their gates with rice, vegetable and fruit and sometimes money for them, in exchange for a prayer and a blessing. We passed several Wats, that often also serve as the local schools. Interesting that on both sides of the river - both in northerly and southerly direction there are Moslem Mosques and one notices that the local community there is mainly Moslem due to the dress code of the women. Interesting, this move from Bhuddism to Islam. Some impressions around Battambang : Hygiene is not at the top of the priority list and plastic litter covers embankments and small channels and dry river beds, Electricity cables run higgledy piggledy on poles between the houses Sanitation and running water is not the norm A lot of cooking is still done on open fires Some homesteads are kept neater than others, Some homesteads are still built with bamboo, woven reed walls and wood - generally on stilts Some are extremely basic, spartan and people seem to live in squalor There are wooden houses and There are also ostentacious brick and mortar houses. The more wealthy the house owners seem to be, the more security the houses have - gates, spikey fences, rolls of razor wire. One sees lots of burglar baring and steel fencing. The very wealthy live door to door with the very poor. Privacy is either not a priority or not possible in terms of the living conditions...there is often only a curtain as a front door and the big room is often not divided at all or just sectioned off by curtains, and neighbours are very close. Extended families live under one roof or in separate units on the same plot - it always looks rather cramped in terms of living space In spite of the basic standard of living without modern amenities, cellphones, computers and wifi seem to be everywhere. High tech ...yet no sanitation and running water. Interesting ! Businesses are run from homes and generally are family businesses, most people sell something or other from their homes or run food stalls or small restaurants, Banana, mango and papaya trees along with palm trees surround the houses, Lemon grass is grown at most homes, Chillies, bananas, rice paper and rice is dried next to the road on the ground outside of the houses, Many children don't seem to go to school, t There are lots of NGOs and privately funded schools as children's aid centres ( saw one which stated that itmwas a gift from Juliette Binoche ) General mode of transport is scooters (6 children on one scooter going to and from school !) or bicycles. Bigger tuktuks seem to function as "schoolbusses" Roads are not great - generally very narrow, few road markings, lots of untarred roads (causing lots of dust for the people living on the verges of the roadways) and lots of potholes I now understand why people wear face masks - lots of dust and polution, especially when travelling on a bike. There is little refrigeration - people tend to buy big blocks of ice for cooling their food. The ice is bought from merchants, who drive up and down the roads with the huge blocks of ice on their tuktuks and they then saw off required pieces. One sees many dogs , generally neglected, mangey and ugly looking average sized mixed breeds (definitely a survival of the fittest concept) and scraggly looking cats with tails that seem to have been cut off to various length. Seldom does one see a clean cared for dog or cat with a long tail. There are a few cows (quite scrawny) and goats Generally people seem to be subsistence farmers ...they have their little plot of land and most people have a small garden. Generally small traders ...there are only 2 supermarket type stores in Battambang ...but it seems as if the general populace buys at the markets and from the small traders ...especially the daily perishables. Although this is a developing country with a serious backlog due to its turbulent recent history, it is incredible how many people speak basic english. Everyone seems to just get on with building their lives, working at something or other to earn a living, without waiting for someone to do something for them. Generally people are poor by our standards, seem to live on or below the breadline, earn very little, possess very little, yet are industrious, friendly and positive in their manner. One does not see beggars and one is not hassled by people at all. We stopped at a local family run restaurant for a bit to eat - very neat and clean with good food and sweet Cambodian coffee. Tasty food and friendly environment ...what more can one ask for. The Circus took care of the evening programme. The Art School in Battambang was initially developed by an NGO on the Thai-Cambodian border refugee camps to assist children and teenagers cope with the trauma of the Cambodian civil war. It is now run as a free school for the visual and performing arts with volunteer lecturers from around the world. Some students have been accepted to international circus schools. The performing arts section has as its main component the acrobatic school and the circus performances, which creates an income stream. The students display their paintings, which show great talent and innovation, and these are also for sale. The circus performance was captivating, the acrobats talented and skillful, even though not that polished or choreograped to expertly show off the amazing abilities. Definitely worth a visit for an entertaining evening and a very worthwhile project to support.