Battambang – the Land of Bats

Time was running out as Christmas was approaching, and we had places to be! But there was one last place on our list that we had to squeeze in before Thailand part 2, and that was Battambang. We got an early bus from Siem Reap, and by some weird fate it happened to be the same bus that Alpa and Rachel were on, coming from the other side of Cambodia. Hooray!

The Best Looking Tuk Tuk Driver

3 hours later we arrived in Battambang, and the as the bus pulled in (to the middle of nowhere, as standard), about 10 Cambodian men came up to the windows with jumping up and down and holding signs. The most entertaining was the one that said ‘best looking tuk tuk driver’. He wasn’t particularly good looking (sorry mate), but he took us to our hostel for free as we ended up booking him for the afternoon to take us around all of the sights on Battambang – we only had that day to see everything so we had no time to waste! Tuk tuk man (whose name escapes me) turned out to be quite a character.

The Bamboo Train

After a quick lunch, we were in the tuk tuk along with a nice Irish couple, and off to ride the bamboo train! The bamboo train was certainly an experience. Up to four people sit on a platform made of bamboo with a cowboy-made engine on the back, which runs along a narrow train track through the countryside. The train doesn’t go that fast, but it sure feels it when you’re sat there with nothing to hold on to! We whizzed along for a while, until we saw another train coming along the same track towards us. ‘What happens here?’ we wondered. Both trains stop, and then the unlucky one (us) makes everyone get off the train, and the drivers then dismantle the bamboo train, dump it on the side of the track, and then leave us the wait for passing trains, of which there were many. Pretty hilarious. Once we got the all clear, the train was reassembled, we hopped back on and off we went! There were also points where we encountered cows crossing the tracks so had to halt for a while. All in all a thoroughly entertaining experience, and some lovely countryside to admire when our knuckles weren’t turning white from fear.

Next we headed for the caves to see the bats at sunset. Time was running out with daylight wavering, and we discovered the walk up to the top of the mountain took 45 minutes – time we didn’t have.So instead we hired a guy on a bike to take us both to the top (yep, 3 people on one bike…sorry again parents). It was a thrilling ride up, but our first stop was a little harrowing.

The Killing Cave

The first cave we visited has been renamed the Killing Cave. We walked down steps into the cave, and looked up to a large hole in the roof of the cave above, maybe 30 feet above. Our motorbike guide told us that this is where people were executed during the Khmer Rouge Genocide – by being pushed from the top to their deaths. I asked him how many people died in the cave, and he said it was estimated to be 10,000. This was only one of many killing caves and fields across the country. Chilling. Our guide was from the neighbouring town, and I wanted to ask him about his experiences of the genocide, and how it affected his family, but I was unsure if he would’ve been comfortable talking about it. One man who survived the genocide had turned the rest of the cave into a Buddhist shrine in respect for those who lost their lives there.

Next we went further up the mountain and saw some cracking views of the countryside. I couldn’t believe how flat the land was – it looked like Holland. Except in Asia. There were monkeys galore up here, and we managed to get some nice snaps of them!

‘I think you’ve caught the sun today dear’

Monks overlooking the view of Battambang

Bats

Finally, we went down the mountain and around to the other side where we said goodbye to motorbike man and began the big climb up a hill to catch the sunset. We made it just in time, as we caught the sun moments before it disappeared behind the mountains. After taking around 300,000 pictures of the sunset (its a weakness of mine) we sat and waited, and waited. Where the hell were the bats? A Cambodian guide joked that they weren’t coming out tonight. But finally, one lone bat flew out of the cave – probably the work experience bat sent to go and inspect the conditions. Once work experience bat reported that all was hokkkaaaayyy, out came about 400 million bats. The bats against the pinky-orange sky was a superb sight, and we sat and watched them until the last light of the day had gone.

We headed back and met the girls Alpa and Rachel for dinner, then called it a night.

Day 2

Our second day in Battambang was only a short one – we had an afternoon bus back to Siem Reap, but we wanted to make the most of our time there. We met with Alpa, Rachel, and a French guy (I’m really good with names) for breakfast and had some awesome bagels.

Art Gallery

We’d read great reviews about a gallery in the town, and as cultured folks we decided to head over.

The Human Gallery was owned by a Spanish photographer called Joseba Etxebarria. The man had travelled the world by bicycle, and had photographed the people and communities he had met along the way. His English wasn’t very strong, but luckily an awesome Spanish girl stood up next to him and translated as he talked about his life’s work. He ended up talking for at least an hour about the photographs in his gallery and the stories of the people in them. By the end he said he only normally talks for a few minutes, but aided by a translator, and with a captive audience, he gave us his fully story.

Some of the people included in his stories were three young Cambodian girls who lived in an Orphanage. One little girl had an undiagnosed illness, and he raised a lot of money for her to get a diagnosis and subsequently brain surgery which saved her life. His work in the communities was admirable. He now sells his work and donates some of the profits to deprived children in Cambodia. He currently sponsors three children to go to school, and covers the cost of their materials, as well as a bicycle for them to get to school. He hopes in the future to make enough money to sponsor more children. It was an inspiring morning.

After that it was a time for a quick lunch then back to get our bags and head for the bus station – back to Siem Reap!

We arrived and checked back into Onederz hostel which felt so familiar by now. It felt only right to spend our last night on Pub Street enjoying the beers. We returned to our favourite restaurant with our friends Emily, and twin brothers Michael and Andy, before hitting the beers and ‘enjoying’ some questionable live music.

No idea why this picture looks like this. But here we are with Andy, Michael and Emily!

And thus our time in Cambodia had come to an end. I’ve heard it described as the ‘wild west’ of South East Asia, and in some respects I’d agree, but it’s a truly beautiful country, with wonderful, warm-hearted people, despite their tainted history. 2 and half weeks was probably not enough in hindsight, and I’m pretty sure we’re both keen to return!

So the journey continues back to the place where it all started – Bangkok!

Annie x

Siem Reap and the Kingdom of Angkor

After sampling our first Cambodian night bus, we arrived in Siem Reap. With a big few days ahead of us exploring bucket list item Angkor Wat, we decided to take it easy for the day, napping by our hostel’s rooftop pool and arranging with a tuk tuk driver for the next day.

Phare Circus

Phare Circus has become legendary not only in Cambodia but all over the world. Established in Battambang by a group of refugees who escaped the Khmer Rouge, the organisation offers training and employment to vulnerable or socially deprived young Cambodians. Phare has grown to include training in circus, music, fine art and animation. Graduates of Battambang’s circus and music schools go on to star in the show in Siem Reap, or tour around the world.

We had been recommended the show in Siem Reap by friends who had already been, so we met up with Karima, Nelson and Luiz to watch the show. The performance was set in a bar, taking the audience through one night of hedonism, with various quirky characters coming in and out and performing death defying stunts and acrobatics. Accompanied by Phare’s music graduates with original compositions, the performers took on contortion, balancing acts, aerial hoop and silks, juggling and much more. From start to finish we were on the edge of our seats, and the stunts were punctuated by genuine gasps from the audience.

At the end we were encouraged to meet the artists and chat with them, an opportunity we gladly took! We were blown away by this show and by the outstanding work that Phare does every year, helping hundreds of young Cambodians and providing them with positive artistic outlets and potential future careers. They tour internationally so if they are ever in your town, we would highly recommend booking tickets!

Angkor National Park: Small Loop

After much deliberation we decided to book the three day pass for Angkor Wat. It was possible to see both the small loop and the grand loop in one day, but friends that had done it said it had taken around 14 hours, and we thought we just wouldn’t enjoy it as much with that level of exhaustion. Although it is more expensive to book the three day pass, for us it was worth it to be able to spread the temples out and really take our time.

On our first day we were picked up by our tuk tuk driver at 4am ready to see what must be one of the most photographed sunrises evert. We parked up in the dark and tried to find our way to the legendary spot in front of the reflection pools. It was starting to get busy when we arrived but we were still able to get a good spot, only three rows back.

Unfortunately there was some pretty poor behaviour from a lot of the tourists around us, people standing up for prolonged periods of time to the detriment of everyone else’s view, others getting irritated and starting arguments, and one woman attempting to move in front of people who had got there far earlier than her. As always with these once in a lifetime experiences, they become so popular that other people can put a dampener on the experience.

We weren’t too bothered by the other travellers in the end, when the sun started to rise. Although it was a little cloudy, it was a beautiful sight – a completely iconic view we’d been so excited to see ever since we’d booked the trip.

Once the sun was well and truly up, off we went to look inside the incredible temple – first stopping on the way in to see this cheeky little monkey scavenging a can of coke!

We made our way around the outside of the temple, entering from the side rather than the busy front. The architecture truly is breathtaking and we spend the whole time marvelling at how a structure like this could possibly be built by humans. The sheer scale and the minute attention to detail in every intricate carving is incredible.

The view of Angkor Complex from the top of a tower

Next up was Angkor Thom and Bayan Temple, a temple we loved so much that we spent almost double the time our guide had recommended there. Walking through the narrow walkways and between the high walls, you really feel you’re being engulfed by the stone. We climbed to the top and saw the famous stone heads carved into the spires. The whole day we really struggled to put our cameras down, with something amazing to capture around every corner.

We also visited the smaller temple and elephant wall in the Angkor Thom complex. Another temple that was completely unique. We once again climbed some really steep and sketchy stairs to see amazing views of the park.

The final temple of the day and possibly our favourite was Ta Prohm, made famous by its appearance in Tomb Raider. It was the most dilapidated temple we’d seen that day, with lots of poles and wooden structures having been built to prop up the parts that were crumbling. The image of the huge trees growing through the stone are iconic to Ta Prohm, and were just as beautiful in real life. We were truly in our element and felt like real life explorers wandering around the ruins.

Ta Prohm: home to the most incredible trees

We were very pleased with our decision to book the three day pass – by the time we finished the small loop at 1pm we were exhausted and struggling with the heat. We headed back to the hostel to hit the pool and rest up for our next big day of temples.

Angkor National Park: Grand Loop

Many people had told us that one day was absolutely enough to get temple fatigue, but we were not done yet and raring to go on our second day. I’ve written more than enough on the temples in the small loop so for Day 2 I’ll just let the photos do the talking!

We’d intended to stay the full day on day 2, arriving at 9am and returning to Angkor Wat for sunset. We found we were just too exhausted to make it that far, and decided to retire at around 4pm, having had a thoroughly excellent day and feeling we’d really got our money’s worth of temples.

Eating, Drinking and Relaxing

We spent the majority of the rest of our time relaxing and recovering from the collective 24km we’d walked around the park in two days. Siem Reap has so much to offer and it’s the perfect laid back place to chill after long days at Angkor.

The night market has some incredible food options, stalls where you can buy t-shirts for $2 and get a foot massage for $1. When we weren’t at Angkor, the night market was the place to be.

Siem Reap also has a lively nightlife scene, revolving around the countless bars and restaurants on Pub Street. Most evenings we would wander along the street in search of cheap beer, and one evening went to one of the bars with live music with friends we’d met in Hoi An.

We absolutely loved Siem Reap and our visit to Angkor Wat was one of the highlights of the whole trip. We just couldn’t get enough of those magic ancient temples, something tells me we’ll be back for sure.

Chloe x

Koh Rong Samloem

A short post incoming!

We took the speed boat over to Koh Rong Samloem, the smaller of the two main Cambodian islands. Our destination was party paradise – the Mad Monkey Hostel which was situated in its own bay, only reachable from the rest of the island by their own private boat. Oh and they didn’t have an ATM or WiFi. Basically we were headed off to be stranded in paradise!

After waiting for the boat to our hostel for way longer than was comfortable in the heat, we were greeted with spectacular scenery and a free cold beer. The hostel was right on the beach, the water was crystal clear, the sand was white, they had a bar and restaurant, hammocks in the sea, and a pier bar where you could jump into the sea… it was totally idyllic. We were led to our room which was actually just a hut! It was a 10 bed ‘dorm’ next to the beach, with one side totally open, facing the sea. We were basically sleeping in the open-air in the jungle – so cool. Luckily we had mosquito nets!

Before we knew it we were swimming in the beautiful calm sea, and floating in hammocks in the ocean. Suddenly the weather turned dark and stormy so we got out, got showered and headed to the bar! A big night of drinking occurred, which resulted in a 2 day hangover. Fantastic.

That night they put on a fire show on the beach, where the bar staff suddenly turned into fire wizards – throwing flames high into the air and somehow catching them without burning themselves to death. After the show we walked into the sea to see the spectacle that everyone talked about – the bioluminescent plankton! They were more subtle than I was expecting, but by gently moving your hands around under the water you could see sparkles everywhere. Chloe went out for a second look later than night, and said the stars were probably the most beautiful she’s ever seen – away from light pollution, we really were in the middle of nowhere!

The next couple of days were not so good – we were both very hungover, possibly alcohol poisoned (oops), so we didn’t do much except sleep on bean bags in the shade.

We came back to life again in time for Alpa and Rachel’s arrival on the island! Our last day was spent enjoying the sea, the pier bar, and soaking up all the sun we possibly could.

Annie, Alpa, Chloe and Rachel. 4 English girls enjoying paradise!

Sunset overlooking the sea and the pier at Mad Monkey, Koh Rong Samloem

Then before we knew it, we were back on the very rocky boat heading out of paradise and back to reality! As much as we try not to be on our phones too much on this trip, it was quite nice to be back on WiFi and in touch with everyone again!

Annie x

Kampot

Kampot was one of those places that everyone we met said we absolutely HAD to visit. It has earned itself the same beloved reputation among backpackers as Pai – a chilled out river town with gorgeous mountain landscapes and endless ‘happy pizza’ restaurants, Kampot has it all. This leg of the trip also marked our return to the Mad Monkey, the chain of party hostels were it all began in Bangkok.

The bus into Kampot was one of the more stressful ones, with a reckless driver speeding along in the rain, in the dark, on very dodgy roads. A journey that should have taken 2 hours was more like 4 (no longer surprising at this point in the trip) and we spent the majority of it holding our breath and avoiding looking out the window. Nevertheless we arrived in one piece, very much ready to avoid the bar and jump straight into bed.

Salt Fields

We enjoyed a leisurely morning exploring the sleepy little town, lazing around the pool and hanging with some girls from Australia and New Zealand we had met in the hostel.

In the afternoon we headed out to the countryside to check out one of the many surrounding salt flats (Kampot is famous for its condiments, particularly its world renowned black pepper). We were a short tuk tuk ride away, and we negotiated with the driver to take us there and back with a quick stop to get out and have a wander. We didn’t see the huge hills of piled up salt that are sometimes there during harvest, but the mountain views alone were worth the journey out of town.

River Cruise

With Prek Tuek Chhou River being the star attraction of the town, one of the first things we booked when we got to the hostel was their nightly sunset river cruise. We boarded the boat with a lovely group of Mad Monkey volunteers and other backpackers, chatting and swapping travel stories. Once we’d made it out of the harbour we climbed up to the roof deck of the boat to sip beers and take in the glorious sunset.

The cruise offered the chance to use the hostel’s Stand Up Paddle Boards when the boat stopped in a wider section of the river. Despite it being pretty dark by this point, Annie and I jumped straight in from the boat. We were happily floating along on the boards when we spotted a very suspicious silhouette coming towards us. Both freaking out just a tiny bit, we did our best to paddle away from the creature, letting it pass us and getting back to the boat as quickly as we could. We’re still unsure what it was, but both thought it looked like the upturned wings of a stingray – which, upon googling later, we found definitely do live in the river and are deadly poisonous. When retelling this story it will, of course, be the time we were almost attacked by stingrays.

On the way back the boat stopped in a little grotto, to show us Kampot’s favourite tree, inhabited by fireflies. There was a bit of light interruption from other boats, but there were points where we could see them, flickering as though they were stars just visible through the branches.

Cambodian Concert

Earlier in the day we had caught wind of a concert setting up a little further along from the town and went to check it out when we got back. What we found was a full blown open air pop concert with stalls selling sweet treats and balloons, and a whole lot of sponsorship from a green tea brand. We were mesmerised by our first experience of Khmer pop and it took us a while to tear ourselves away!

Arcadia Waterpark

Long ago we’d seen videos on YouTube of the river water park at Arcadia Backpackers hostel. We cycled the 7km out of town to get there, an enjoyable but fairly strenuous journey in the heat. We had decided not to stay at this hostel as it was quite a way out of town, but we somewhat regretted it after we’d spent a day there and seen all that was on offer, from the water park to volleyball and table tennis. We spent the whole day there, largely relaxing in the hammocks and recovering from the bike ride, and trying to work ourselves up to some of the scarier looking water rides.

In the end the bravest we managed to go was the rope swing. Beforehand we were looking forward to the huge slide that threw you up in the air, but upon seeing it in real life, decided it was absolutely not for us. We instead amused ourselves on the smaller kiddie slide and floating around in rubber rings, a day well spent!

The view from our hammocks – Russian swing and ‘the blob’

Bokor National Park

On our final day Annie, Mon & I hired scooters to explore Bokor National Park, around 30km outside of Kampot.

The roads, built by the Chinese for the large tourist resort recently opened in the park, were the best we’d driven on in Asia. We truly felt like we were on our own Top Gear challenge driving round the winding mountain roads, able to properly drive at speed for the first time with barely anyone else on the roads and no annoying pot holes. It was one of the most fun and exhilarating adventures we’d had!

We first visited Popokvil waterfall, stopping on the way to see the sitting Buddha halfway up the hill. The waterfall was running dry as rainy season had ended, but we were still able to see the impressive rock formations all the way down to the bottom of the falls.

Most of the other points of interest were on the other side of the park so we continued our drive, stopping at various viewpoints and an abandoned church. It was particularly foggy weather but this led to some of the best views – one viewpoint we found was surrounded by a sheer wall of cloud descending into the valley below. We felt like we were on top of the world!

We spent a long time looking for the famous abandoned casino in the National Park, and couldn’t understand why our maps were telling us we’d already passed it. After riding around for a while we concluded that there was only one building in the vicinity – a hotel, and we went to ask for directions at the reception. It turned out that our abandoned colonial casino had actually been turned into this (empty) colonial hotel and was no longer a casino, shame.

By this point we could hear thunder and the skies were looking threatening, so we started to make our descent down the mountain. At points we were actually driving through cloud, and the ride was even more thrilling with the threat of a storm behind us! Whilst none of the sights we’d seen in the park were particularly spectacular, we loved the chance to really test our new scooter skills and go for a proper mountain drive.

Beer Pong Fun

It wouldn’t be a stay in the Mad Monkey without a beer pong tournament, and our last night was no exception. Alpa and Rachel had just arrived in Kampot and got into the spirit straight away, smashing the tournament and winning a round of shots and those coveted Mad Monkey T-Shirts!

We’d had high expectations for Kampot and it absolutely did not disappoint. We adored the quiet, chilled out vibes of the place and everywhere you turned was a stunning vista to gaze at. This photo of the view from our favourite riverside restaurant speaks for itself, how could we not love it here?

Chloe x