Saturday 7th – Monday 9th September 2024

My lovely Mr Rattana collected me in the morning to take me to the bus station. We left after our group photograph! 

The coach was great, very similar to the one I arrived in Cambodia on. Air con, reclining seats, free water! 

The drive out of Siem Reap was interesting. We traveled on a long major road out of town lined on one side with lots of very large very ornate Hotels most of which looked empty. I know that Cambodia and places like Siem Reap have not yet recovered from the huge impact of COVID and tourism is down quite a bit. Apparently all these hotels used to thrive. I think people have started to return to places like Thailand but not to Cambodia. Steps are being taken to try and encourage more Cambodians to travel around their own country and visit these places. It is so sad to see how devastating Lockdown was on these countries. 

We stopped on route for a loo break, interestingly we had just passed a large, modern Petrol station and comfort stop, so I assumed we would stop in around 30 mins. But, no, we stopped just down the road at a local store. Which was ok but the owner was selling clothes, trinkets and food and drink. She said to me “You buy something” this was phrased not as a question but a demand! So I reluctantly bought a packet of peanut brittle 😂 I hope my teeth survive! 

As we boarded the bus one of the passengers came and started chatting, her English was excellent and she was heading back to her home in Battenbang ( pronounced BattenBong) She was lovely. We agreed to chat some more when we arrived.

Battenbang is a city but it was not quite what I expected. It seems a little rustic and rundown. 

When the bus arrived at the station, before we even stopped we were surrounded by Tuk Tuk drivers touting for business. I opted for a gentleman who had a kind face(he could be a serial killer for all I know but he seemed nice! 😄) 

The lady I’d met, Thida, and I had a chat and agreed to meet a little later for coffee so she could tell me about Battenbang. 

My Driver, SumNita duly took me to my hotel which was just across the river and we then arranged for him to take me in a day tour the following day. 

My hotel is very large and very ornate inside, lots of fancy wood carving and a beautiful staircase. My room is fine, clean and a reasonable size. 

The hotel weren’t able to change any of my large $ notes, which I’ll need to pay for tomorrows trip and also to pay for any other small items. So I set out to find a currency change place. I eventually found one, after a pretty long hot walk through what appears to be a deserted city! Unfortunately they would only change 1 $50 note. But it’s better than nothing. By now I am dripping with sweat and in need of an iced coffee. Not that easy to find a coffee shop in an unfamiliar place that looks deserted! I knew I’d seen one back by the hotel so I walked back to find it. I had arranged to meet with Thida at 3pm and it was around 2 so I sent a WhatsApp message to meet at the coffee shop. 

Thida is lovely, she is from Battenbang but has worked all over Cambodia with an international group researching Malaria treatments, funded by the Bill Gates Foundation, it sounded fascinating and really helpful. 

The idea is to work with families and communities to encourage them to stick with any treatment plans for Malaria. They often don’t do this as they return to work before treatment finishes. The project helped to fund them during treatment and then show them the long term benefits of this. Preventing resistant strains developing. They worked to educate the rural communities on other things that would help limit the Impact of malaria. 

We headed out of the coffee shop around 4pm and the area around us was a large park by the river. It was starting to get busy as local people came out in the cooler air to exercise, walking, jogging, playing and generally having a good time! It was fab! 

It was such an unexpected pleasure to meet and get to know Thida. I think we are going to meet up again before I leave. 

My hotel is quite large and has around 10 floors the top one being a restaurant and bar. I headed there after saying goodbye to Thida and it was so wonderfully breezy! 😍 I grabbed  beer then had a good catch up with my Rebecca. 

I opted to go out for dinner to a pace that Adam in Siem Reap had recommended called, Jaan Bai, It was a lovely little independent restaurant that works to employ and up-skill local people. My food was yummy! Sadly it was very quiet. 

I thought I’d get a good nights sleep after a long hot day. My bed was a little a hard and the room a little warm, the aircon isn’t the best. But I eventually fell asleep only to be woken at 5am by music, tinny, plinky, plonky music reminiscent of an Ice Cream van. 

I managed to ignore it but then at 7am a bloody siren started going off! Initially I was unsure what it meant, a warning ⚠️ ‼️ possibly. I googled it and apparently it goes off every day to remind residents to pay their respects to the nation!! The siren is located on top of a water tower which is around 100 meters from my window….Great. 😳

Breakfast was buffet style, but I had a busy day ahead so opted for good old English Tea & Toast! 😍

SumNita (pronounced Sumnip) arrived on time and we set off to our first stop, The Bamboo Train. This is tucked away outside of the city and it was a fascinating drive to get there. We went through a few villages past local markets and then a short ride along the motorway 😳😬 Having first crossed both carriageways! The speed limit is 80 we were doing around 10! Scary. 

The Bamboo Train is a popular attraction. It is essentially a Bamboo platform that is assembled on the tracks then you trundle along around 20 – 25kph from one village to the next! 

When we arrived at the tracks and parked in the metal shed, the guys come out and put the Bamboo platform together, it looks simple but the pieces look very heavy! 

There was some debate about me joining a couple of other guys on their platform but in the end I had one all to myself! 

Whilst it was being put together I ended up buying a few handwoven bracelets from a small child! 

It actually feels quite fast, and as I was on my own we were going faster than the others and soon caught up. As you pass all the rice fields there are so many different birds, ones I’ve not seen. 

It is really good fun, and I’m happy I did it, as I had contemplated not bothering.

When you arrive at the next village you are greeted by local people trying to sell their wares. 

I really didn’t need anything else, but now have another couple of handwoven bracelets! 🤦‍♀️😂

The guys disassemble the platform, turn it round and we trundle back!

A Weird witchy thing happened, on the way back, tbh this sort of thing happens to me on a regular basis. I was just pondering if Cambodia has many Raptors 🦅 as I hadn’t seen any when not 30 seconds later I look up and there are 2 hovering above me! 😍😳

All in all a really fun experience. SunNita and I then meandered through more villages and made our way to a village near the river. 

The river that runs through Battambang is the Sangker River. As it’s the rainy season it is quite high, but SunNita assures me it will rise at least another 10 feet by December! 

The village was also where we visited a traditional Khmer House that is now a museum. It’s built with various woods, some hardwood for the outside and some different wood inside. I was shown round by a lady whose family had built and owned the house. During the Khmer Rouge’s rule they commandeered the house and it was used as a communal Kitchin and feeding station. Over 200 people a day would be served a watery soup or tiny portions of rice. The family that owned the house were fairly wealthy and were also intellectuals, Lawyers, teachers etc. This made them prime targets for the Khmer Rouge and they lost over 100 members from one family group. 

After this visit I went back to the hotel for a short break and a refreshing swim. 

The evenings entertainment was to visit the Bat Caves that are again outside of Battenbang. 

On the drive there we drove past lots of stalls selling barbecue meat SunNita stopped at one of the stalls and asked if I’d like to try a local favourite, Barbecued Rat!! 🐀 They catch the rats in the rice fields and they were pretty big. I was told that they taste just like chicken. I decided to give it a miss! 

The Bat caves are in a mountain/hill that also has a large Buddhist Temple on top. Also this is another sad Khmer Rouge spot, The Killing Cave. There is a cave at the top of the mountain and the Khmer Rouge Soldiers threw people into it. They executed over 9000 people at this site. 

In order to visit the temple and the Killing Cave you can either walk up or have a driver with a 4 x 4 due to how steep it is. No surprise to say I opted for a driver 😍

It really was very steep in parts and lots of steps once you arrive. 

I found the Killing Cave very difficult, I think in part because there were a few local children running around inside playing and outside are lots of people selling stuff which just felt wrong to me at a site where so many people lost their lives. 

The views were incredible and the temple was impressive, especially having been built so high up! 

Once back down we had a little wait for the Bats to make an appearance, over 9 million of them stream out of the Cave every evening. There is a pretty large crowd today as it’s Sunday, so lots of locals and only a handful of tourists.

SunNita and I find a spot, grab a beer and settle in to wait. I used the time to have a long overdue catch up with the lovely Jenna! ❤️

SunNita treated himself to another local delicacy, baby duck. This is exactly what it says. They boil a duck egg with a fully formed baby inside then serve it with a lemon & pepper sauce. They eat the whole thing, feathers, everything! It looked hideous 🤢 I will put a photo in, so be prepared! 

Finally at around 6.40 the Bats flood out! Wow! It’s incredible. 

SunNita says that in the dry season it’s even more impressive. It takes approximately 40 – 60 mins for them all to leave! 

We head back to Battenbang on a pretty busy road, in the dark. Scary enough in a Tuk Tuk but we are passed on a regular basis by families on scooters. By that I mean whole families. 

Imagine you decide you need something from Tesco Express one evening or you want to visit a family friend, so you, your husband, your 5 year old, your 18 month old and let’s not forget Trixy the Dog all climb onto your 50cc moped and head off down the A1/A30!! Insane 😳🤣🤣

I arrived back, hot, sweaty and very dusty. I grabbed a quick beer and some fried rice in the Hotel had another lovely catch up with my Grantley. Then showered and tried to sleep 🛌. 

Unfortunately I didn’t sleep well again, noise, hot, uncomfortable bed. Finally I dropped off around 1 – 2 am to be woken again with the godawful bloody Plinky Plonky music at 5! It’s so fucking irritating 😠 and I can’t get back to sleep. 

I admit to feeling a tad grouchy! 

SunNita and I are due to do a few things this morning, temples etc. when he arrives I say I’d like to do a small tour and be back at the hotel by 12.- 1pm. He says thats fine. I end up paying what we’d agreed, so he’s happy. 

Once again we travel out through all the villages. So much going on. One curious thing is the number of barbers there are! Just random barbers chairs in sheds along the road. Most of the boys/men you see have smart haircuts, short and not a bloody Mullet in sight thank God! 🤣 

There are also lots of stalls selling petrol in reusable old bottles, these are everywhere.

We visit a place that makes a popular Cambodian breakfast, Bamboo Sticky Rice. I bought a couple to try. SunNita loves his. Me, not so much. It’s sticky and a mix of sweet & salty with black beans in. I can see why it’s popular but must be an acquired taste. 

We also visit a small place that makes rice paper for spring rolls. Wow! So many processes, all done by hand the traditional way. 

We then visit another Temple 🛕 but by now I’m really hot, tired and still feeling grouchy! 😬

I get SunNita to take me back to the hotel where I have a large iced caramel latte and a cooling swim, chat to some friendly Australian women in the pool, read and try to relax. 

I had arranged to meet Thida again at 4.30 but was tempted to cancel as I was still a little grumpy but I didn’t. For which I’m so glad. We met and had another nice walk by the river, then sat watching all the locals taking their exercise in the park. So much going on, it had such a great community vibe. I watched an old lady walking barefoot on a large pebbled  surface, apparently it’s supposed to be good for your pressure points….i gave it a go! Fuck! It’s so hard and so painful! Respect to the lady! 

Thida and I had such an interesting chat about all manner of things, Religion, architecture, politics, covid, communism, capitalism, geo politics, racism, white saviours, Brexit. 

Totally fascinating getting her perspective on all of these issues. 

It made me laugh when she asked about leaving Europe and said that her father, herself and a lot of Cambodians thought we’d lost our collective minds leaving Europe! I agreed! 

It’s been such a pleasure meeting Thida and getting to know her. 

I had dinner back at the hotel as I’m too tired to go anywhere else. I tried the local curry Amok., Delicious 😋 

Battenbang has been interesting, not exactly what I imagined but definitely worth visiting. 

Something that Cambodia has in common with the UK right now is the current trend in women’s fashion seems to be Lounge Wear! Colourful, slinky Pyjamas!! 😍❤️🩷🩵💚

I’m up early tomorrow, not just with the plinky plonk Temple music but to get a bus @ 7.30 to Phnom Penh! 

I hope I can sleep, I’m absolutely bloody knackered 💤 🥱😴

Books Read

The Twenty Three, Linwood Barclay. Part of a trilogy. Enjoyable.

That’s it guys. 

Have a great week.

Hugs to you all. ❤️💚🩷🩵

I have a video of the Bats but I can’t seem to upload it! I’ll try next time.