Battambang

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It was just a couple of days in Battambang for me. The call of Phnom Penh was drawing me. I went out for the day in Battambang and visited the Killing Caves and on the advice of my favourite 'sexy man' I went to the Bamboo Railway.

Just before I got on the tuk-tuk that I had arranged, the heavens opened. I was sitting outside thinking that the trip would have to be called off. The tuk-tuk driver appeared whilst I was eating my lunch and told me that it would be fine, the weather was going the other way. Lo and behold he was right. After I had finished my lunch, the rains had stop and we were ready to go.

Normally I wouldn't just book a tuk-tuk, but the sights are all out of town, and a distance apart from each other. We drove out towards the Bamboo Railway first. I had only Gordon's recommendation to go on, and didn't really know what I was letting myself in for. Apart from the obvious clue in the title!

What you get is a 14km round trip, and part of the disused railway system that they have cut the bushes back a bit from. Most of the rails are joined together, but there are enough that are slightly apart or out of line that it guarantees you are in for a bone jarring ride, as they hurtle along the tracks as fast as they can get away with.

You sit on a bamboo platform that is balanced on two axles. The engine looks like it came from a mo-ped, which is attached to the platform with a stick through a loop, and a dodgy looking drive belt to the rear axle. As I was on my own, three locals decided to get on for the free ride home, paid for by me. Saying that, the owner probably charged them as well. Although I can guess that it wasn't the same $10 I was charged.

After the obligitory photo, we were off. I am sure it really doesn't go that fast. But as I was sitting cross legged with my bum about six inches from the floor, it certainly felt fast. The track is basically straight for the next 7km. You hurtle along, trying to avoid falling over after any of the larger jolts, griinning innanely. For the most of it, you are encased in a long natural tunnel with bushes either side as walls, and the sky as the roof. It was a great flashback to previous episodes of tunnel vision I have experienced over the years. I wish that I had videoed it, but didn't think about it at the time, Doh!

At the other end of the track, there are bascially two shops next to the railway, a farm and a few shacks dotted around. I got to stand around for a while, having a couple of smokes. And then it was time to go back. This is where I found out just how well put together these things are! The engines was off in two seconds, the bamboo bed straight after. It was then a case of quickly swapping the axles around and putting it all back together. This took about two minutes.

It was the same bumpy, trippy trip back. Stopping once on a bridge to take some scenic photos. And once to dismantle my railcart again to let another one coming the other way through.

The scam here is them all shouting to tip the driver at you. This I thought was a great way for the owner to pay the driver pittance, and have the tourists pay his wage for him, my contribution 200 rl... That works out as nearly nothing.

Next it was on to the Killing Caves. This is where the Khmer Rouge had turned a temple into a prison outside of Battambang on the rocky outcrop. There was a nice convienent hole at the top of the cave, where they used to drop their victims through. I am not sure whether the stairs that I walked down were there at the time, and the bodies were then collected. Or if they just left them there to rot. I had missed the cave the first time round the hillock, as it is hidden away behind what was the prison, and is now a brightly painted temple again. This meant that I came to it late in the afternoon, with the sun behind the hill. The lack of light made for an eerie place, and seeing the skulls look back at me in the sudden flash of my camera made for a surreal moment.

I had missed the cave as they want you to employ the local children as guides, or the local lads as moto drivers. I did neither, as the kids were all missing when I walked past where I later saw them all hanging out. And I declined the moto driver, as I like torturing myself by walking up steep hills in the afternoon heat!

The walk up was fun, if not a bit sweaty. But I took my time, and made it to the temple at the top. Wondering where the cave was, I asked a nice french gentleman where it was. He kindly gave me wrong directions, and sent me down the stairs to the bottom again! I still had forty five minutes to wait for the event I had really come for, so this time I got a moto driver to take me to the cave and back for a buck.

My real reason for coming here was the bat cave. With no robins in sight, as the sun sank towards the horizon. The bats that lived in one of the caves, started to swarm around the entrance. As the sun went further down, the bolder ones came further and further out from the entrance. All of a sudden a few flew out. This led to an exodus. They say that there are over a million bats in the cave. I doubt that is right, but they came out solidly for the next half hour. A constant stream of tiny, furry creatures. They were still coming out with no signs of slowing, but the sun was setting and it was time to head back to the hotel.

I had a quiet evening, the meal must have been uninspiring as I can no longer recall where or what I ate. The next day I was on a bus to Phnom Penh. A quiet journey of around six hours. The only things of note was the 9 o'clock bus turning up at 10. But then this is Cambodia, where time simes to mean little. The other thing of note was the downpour on our second toilet break. It started just as we arrived. Finished just as we left, and was so heavy you could see more than about ten feet in front of you.

I have already been to the Grand Palace and S-21 in Phnom Penh. With just the killing fields left that I want to visit. I will tell you about these in my next blog. I am heading back to the hotel now, to see if the cleaning lady that took my washing away from me and told me to keep quiet; actually brings it back. Her and a friend were giggling so much when they did it, I couldn't refuse. Lets hope I don't end up regretting that decision.

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