Battambang Today we left Siem Riep and headed to a place called Battambang. I'd heard a lot about this place because many of the refugees from the cities moved out to rural areas during the Khmer Rouge atrocities in 1975. A book I was reading about the killing fields described how 3 million Cambodians were killed and
that many were taken to Battambang.
We arrived early morning and organised our day trip. It began with a trip to the famous bamboo trains. An old railway line built by the French many years ago is now, or recently was use by the locals to ferry themselves and goods to and from small villages along the track. The train or carriage is quite an interesting invention, consisting of two axels and a platform made of bamboo that simply rests on the axels. A tiny engine sits on the platform and is connected to the rear axel by a belt. This tiny little carriage rumbles down the track at 20km/hr which actually feels quite quick being so low down on the tracks. The most bizarre aspect of this experience is what happens when another bamboo train comes the opposite way. The train with the lightest load is obliged to dismantle their train (which takes about 20 seconds), and allow the opposing train through. Then the dismantled train reassembles and off it goes! Its quite funny to watch.
Unfortunately the track is in a really bad shape as it has not been maintained for years, I am sure it's only a matter of time before an accident happens, but we had fun and got back in one piece.
Our next spot was a vineyard. Grapes on our travels have been a luxury we have not been able to afford, believe it or not they are $7 a kilo in Cambodia! Anyhow we explored the vineyard and the shiraz grapes hanging in perfect bunches were just to good to resist! By the time we finished the sneeky plucking we were both full and Sophs bag was housing a large bunch for later... Yum yum! We then did some wine tasting and were quite impressed with the Shiraz we tried... although it was kept refrigerated which was strange!
We then headed to the dreaded killing cave. We had heard and read about this in our guide book and is a vivid reminder of the genocide here in the 70's. The cave was a long winding walk up a hill, the views were amazing overlooking the plains of farmland. We eventually entered the cave, and some steps lead us down to a platform. on our left was an opening in the ceiling about thirty meters up where those executed were just thrown down the hole, dead or alive. We then came across a large glass box. Unassuming at first, but on closer inspection by Sophia revealed a shocking collection of human skulls and bones. This huge box was just full of human remains and this made us both feel queasy . The atmosphere was quite eerie and was a full on reminder of Cambodia's recent dark history.
We left in a subdued mood and headed to the top of the hill for a view, and then onto our final event of the day. At the bottom a large opening in the side of the hill houses millions of bats, and at dusk everyday they all leave in a stream producing a giant cloud that can be seen for miles.
That was our day and we had fun!
