Phnum Sâmpŏu

Battambang has many different areas on the outskirts of town. This was one of our favourite things to do; exploring the countryside. Our first tour, involved taking a Tuk-Tuk to the Killing Caves of Phnom Sampeau mountain. The Killing caves were an execution site for the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970’s. We both felt an eerie and sad energy. But it was important for us to see a part of Cambodian history. Many memorials and statues of events that occurred during the Khmer Rouge regime could be viewed. After the caves, we walked up the mountain and visited various temples. Over our heads, we saw a family of monkeys playing in the trees and an aerial view of Battambang’s countryside. Our end goal of the day trip was the famous bat caves. It is hard to put it into words, but watching thousands upon thousands of bats leaving from a single crevice in the caves was an amazing sight. We left before all the bats had flown out of the cave, because it takes roughly one hour for 1 million bats to leave the cave. As we drove off, we saw bats flying in the sky as the sun was setting!
Our second tour of the countryside involved a pit stop viewing fruit bats. These bats were much larger, and we enjoyed listening to them and watching them fly from branch to branch. Fun fact, they are active during the day and are called fruit bats, because they can be confused with fruits hanging in the trees. After watching the bats we visited the Banan temple on top of Phnom Banan mountain. This Ankor-era architecture was crafted in the 11th to 12th century. We were delighted with the different colour stones and engravings from hundreds of years past. On the way back to our hostel, we stopped at the roadside for grapefruit and oranges, sold by locals. Our driver also showed us a giant highway under construction. He explained that it will be a connection between Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam in a few years time. But during closed hours, locals were seen riding up and down the bumpy gravel road, and many just stood, enjoying the view of the setting sun.Baca lagi