The coach to Battambang was much nicer than we had anticipated as we had heard horror stories from friends who have travelled around these parts using coaches or buses. Luckily it was just a standard coach with no chickens on board, there wasn't twice as many people as it can seat and people weren't spitting everywhere, so we were happy! On the shuttle from the hotel, we met 3 English lads who had also been staying at The Tropical Breeze and were heading to Battambang too. They are actually travelling as a group of 5 but they had had a heavy night and the other two had decided to stay in bed! As we climbed aboard, we all sat together so we could continue our chat, only to be told by the driver that our tickets have allocated seats so Matt and I needed to move to the front row of the coach! That put pay to any further conversation with them! We were quite happy relaxing and writing blog until the air conditioned unit above us started leaking and dripped on me every few seconds! After trying to ask the driver whether it would be ok to move and him not really knowing what we were talking about, we just got up and moved back to the other end of the coach! 


It took about 3 hours to reach Battambang and we were greeted by some very funny tuk tuk drivers running alongside the coach trying to get our attention with hotel signs in their hands . We didn't know it at the time but this was all futile as, when the bus stopped at a corner one of the men running stood by the window was a driver holding a sign with Matt's name on welcoming us to Battambang and the Lux Guesthouse! This was hilarious as we hadn't asked for a pick up so we weren't expecting this again. Although it was excellent as it saved us the hassle of getting our own tuk tuk. We joked that next time we would use my name so I could have a sign with my name on. He quickly drove us the short distance to our hotel and we were struck instantly by how lovely it was! The entrance hall and lobby were beautiful and clean with a big spiral staircase leading up to the rooms, even if it was 64 steps to our 4th floor room. We discovered the reception area wasn't just for show when we saw our room, as that too was stunning and much bigger than we had expected with a very impressive hand carved wooden bed frame.


We quickly dropped off our bags and went for a walk around the city centre . We realised almost immediately that this really isn't a touristy place. Along the dusty streets there were very few bars and restaurants, instead the streets were full of shops mainly selling mobile phone cases, electricals goods or clothes. We looked around the market to have lunch and we found ourselves sat in the usual dirty food area, on plastic stools surrounded by all sorts of meat and noodles. How they leave food in the open air like this just shows how we must worry too much about our food at home as it doesn't seem to make you ill. The food was so cheap and delicious and whilst eating we got chatting to a lovely English family who now live and work in Phnom Penh. They gave us some advice of other places to visit in Cambodia and gave us the excellent tip of trying the fruit shakes (known as tukalok) here! They really are delicious so we are very grateful to them for telling us about them as we now drink lots of them! Matt had been considering buying a small speaker as he had discovered he can pick up different radio stations on his phone including a really cool Hawaiian one and, of course, Sky Sports radio! In most of the places he has looked, they have been between $20-30 but in a shop here he found exactly the same one he liked and was amazed when the very young boy who was the sales assistant, told him it was $8! After testing it worked with his phone, he paid before the boy had a chance to up the price and we quickly left!


In the evening, a tuk tuk driver picked us up from the hotel to take us to the circus . The Phare Ponleu Selpak Circus School is a multi-arts centre for disadvantaged children, meaning they teach a wide range of subjects as well as circus skills. Each of the 4 classes within the circus school performs a show once a week and we went to watch some of the older students perform 'Eclipse'. I'm not sure exactly what we were expecting but I certainly wasn't prepared for the amazing talent and bravery they demonstrated. Even though all speech was in Khmer, they portrayed the story so well, we managed to understand most of the storyline and there were times when our mouths were wide open watching some of the tricks they performed! It seems silly but one of the most impressive was a young lad with a Diablo! Neither of us has ever understood how they work and every time we have tried, they just fall off! So we were mesmerised by him spinning it about and throwing it up in the air! The whole show was spectacular and we left feeling very uplifted. We had enjoyed it so much we even decided there and then that we would come back in a couple of days to watch one of the other shows! After the show, the driver dropped us at a restaurant called 'Chef's Secret' where we enjoyed some traditional Khmer food and our first fruit shake! Yum!


The next morning we had planned a day trip to the main sights around Battambang, so we got up early and walked to the sister hotel of ours (De Lux Villas) where they serve breakfast . Each of the options offered a very random mixture of foods, the one we went for included: crepe, pancake, bread and jam, fried bread and a doughnut?! It was all very beige so not the healthiest but tasted nice! Once we had eaten, we quickly freshened up before meeting our tuk tuk driver downstairs at 9:30am.


We had a packed day planned which included...


Ta Dambang statue: This stop wasn't actually part of our itinerary but when we came to a stop in the middle of a roundabout, it became clear our driver was a keen tour guide and was proud of his city's history. Apparently the name Battambang means lost stick and the legend centres around a stick with magical powers which went missing and was found in Battambang. This statue represents the finding of the stick and is a huge kneeling figure holding a cup with the stick resting on top. As our driver pointed out people will just stop and park on the roundabout to pray towards the statue as it's very popular and considered very holy, it's quite funny though just parking up in the middle of a roundabout!


Bamboo Train: This is one of the world's all time classic rail journeys which could sadly soon be coming to an end as the government replaces the train lines between Cambodia and its neighbouring countries . It starts at O Dambong on the east bank and bumps southeast to O Sra Lav along very warped, misaligned rails and rickety looking bridges. Each bamboo train (known in Khmer as a norry) consists of a 3m long wooden frame, covered lengthwise with slats made of ultralight bamboo, that rest on two barbell-like bogies, the back one is connected by fan belts to a 6HP gasoline engine. The genius of the system is that it offers a brilliant solution to the age old problem faced by any single track line: what to do when 2 trains going in opposite directions meet! In the case of bamboo trains, the answer is simple: one cart is quickly disassembled and set on the ground beside the tracks so that the other can pass. Apparently the rule is that the car with the fewest passengers must disassemble but in reality, we just seemed to take it in turns! The train travels much quicker than I'd imagined and we had great fun zooming along the track with the wind (and a few bugs!) in our hair. The village at the end of the track have caught on to the fact that lots of tourists arrive every day and we were quickly greeted by a big group of children all desperately trying to sell us bracelets! You get about 15 minutes here so we passed the time chatting to the children while I learnt to make some of the different bracelets and Matt played thumb wars! We did, of course, buy a couple of bracelets to say thank you but I seriously am running out of room on my arms!!


Winery: We made a brief stop at the home of one of the world's most exclusive wines which is grown on 4 hectares of vines and aged only for a short time . It is, in fact, Cambodia's only wine making enterprise, making it highly exclusive indeed! We had a guided walk around the vineyard, where our driver showed us some of the different grapes and explained the process to us before leading us to a lovely lounge area where we were able to try some of their products. For $2 each, we were given tasters of their red wine, brandy, grape juice and ginger & honey juice. Neither of us are big fans of red wine so we had to use the faces we have perfected during our many visits to wineries in Australia and politely say, "It's not to our palette!" As it was,quite frankly, disgusting. Matt quite liked the brandy, which was a good job as he had to drink mine too! The grape juice was okay but I wouldn't rush to buy a bottle! And as for the ginger and honey juice, I can see how it's good for you as it was very strong but it definitely tasted more like medicine than a drink I'd want to have more of!


Fruit bats: This was another random little stop as we pulled off the main road and followed a dirt track, over a bridge and into a small village . Here you will find a huge tree which is absolutely packed full of large fruit bats! Apparently there used to be quite a few trees like this around Battambang but people used to hunt and kill them so their numbers dropped dramatically. This village decided to protect the bats and allow them to live 'peacefully' in this particular tree. This has seen their numbers gradually increase again and the noise, even though it was daytime and they should have been asleep, was overwhelming!


Prasat Banan temple: 358 steep stone steps lead to this temple which locals claim was the inspiration for Angkor Wat. It certainly is similar in design and layout, both having 5 similar shaped towers, but according to historians there is no evidence to suggest this is the case! The temple is now pretty damaged and it's a wonder how some parts are still standing as it doesn't seem to get the care that Angkor Wat does to preserve it! There is a lovely cool breeze at the top though which was much needed as it was a boiling hot day and walking up those steps really didn't help much . Before it became so overgrown, there would have been some impressive views of the area around it as it stands on such a high hill but unfortunately you can now only see small pieces of its surroundings. 


Phnom Sampov temple & the Killing Caves: We recruited a 19 year old boy called Lang Sophiora (he said we could call him Sop!) to act as our guide here and I'm so glad we did as he hardly stopped talking for most of the visit. Not only did he teach us about the atrocities inflicted by the Khmer Rouge and explain the importance of the things we were looking at but he also explained to us about the education system in Cambodia and told us stories of his childhood and upbringing. He explained that he didn't start school at the usual age of 6 as his family lived too far away from a school (they lived out in the countryside where they worked the land). Instead he had to wait until he was 9, at which time he went to live with his Grandma which was closer to a school . This has meant that instead of finishing his education at 16, he is still attending high school at 19 but is due to finish this year. He is very passionate about learning though and works in a restaurant as well as these guided tours so he can pay for English lessons, which cost $10 per month and he wants to start IT classes soon. Some months go by when he can't scrape together $10 so he can't attend the classes but he is very determined to succeed. I found it so sad that he is desperate to learn and understands the importance of being well educated but often doesn't manage to source what seems like a tiny amount of money and has to miss out. Having said that, his English was very good so when he does manage to attend school, he obviously works hard! 


He led us up the hill to the Buddhist temple which was used as a prison during the Khmer Rouge era before taking us down a staircase into a cavern where a golden reclining Buddha lies peacefully next to a glass-walled memorial filled with the bones and skulls of some of the people bludgeoned to death by the Khmer Rouge before being thrown through the overhead skylight . Some were thrown into the cave alive as the guards knew the near 40ft drop onto the rocks below would cause serious injury or death anyway. The skulls and bones used to be scattered all over the cave, laying where the people fell but they have been tidied and cleaned up out of respect and to get rid of the awful smell. Next to the base of the stairway remains the old memorial, a rusty cage made of chicken wire and cyclone fencing which is still partly filled with bones. This was our first experience of the pain and suffering the Khmer Rouge inflicted on people and it was quite a shock standing where so many people lost their lives. Although we knew we were coming to the killing cave, we really hadn't thought about it being like this, it was very sad. From the cave, Sop led us further up the hill to Phnom Sampov temple, the views were beautiful as you can see for miles across the perfectly flat rice fields and over to the small nearby mountain range. The temple itself was very impressive as it was all covered in gold, we learnt here that some monks have to live inside these tiny temples for 3 months . We were a bit confused as he tried to explain it all but that usually happens when it comes to the other religions we've encountered. He then walked us back down a path through the forest and dropped us at the spot for our last sight of the day. It was a real honour to meet such a lovely young man and I hope the money we gave him for being our excellent guide will help him continue his studies and carve out a successful future for himself. He said how he would love to travel and, although it won't be easy for him, I really hope he makes that dream a reality one day. It's people like him I wish I could take to England just for a few days and show them how the rest of the world is and to show our kids just how hard it is for others growing up in such a poor corrupt world.


Bat cave: This was the last visit of the day and the bats certainly made us wait for their appearance! Basically, there is a huge cave which the bats sleep in during the day . As the air cools and it begins to get dark, the bats start to stir and you can hear them swirling around inside. Suddenly a stream of them shoot out from the cave to go off and feed for the evening and it really is a remarkable sight. Usually this happens around 5:45pm but we had to wait until nearly 6:30pm for them. Suddenly thousands of screeching bats flew overhead through the sky in a long line only separating every time someone made a strange whistling noise (which was interesting at first but soon just became annoying!). We watched in awe for a while but as it takes over an hour for them all to get out we were soon jumping back in our tuk tuk for the final journey of the day: back to the hotel! It had been a fascinating and varied day; all for just $20 (plus entrance fees, of course!) so we were very happy with our jam-packed day, if rather worn out, extremely sweaty and sticky and more than likely with some bat wee on us!


After having a bit of a rest and a freshen up, we decided to head out for dinner . There didn't seem to be too many options from what we had seen on our wander the day before and it was impossible to tell which ones were any good. So, we asked the receptionist at the hotel for his recommendation and he said, without hesitation, The White Rose. It wasn't far from our hotel so we walked down to find it. As we walked the ghostly quiet streets, firstly we found a couple of brothels so we carried on, then passed a rather raucous pub with some extremely loud live music on. It didn't take very long to find The White Rose and we were soon seated with menus. We had gone in with pretty low expectations so we were very pleasantly surprised when we were both served a delicious meal and very tasty fruit shake! While we eating, the hotel receptionist and his friend came in to have a meal, so his recommendation was clearly from personal experience! The only downside to this restaurant was that it was a prime target for some of the city's homeless people who came begging at the table and swept in like seagulls when people left to finish off their leftovers . It really was sad to see and made it hard to enjoy your meal especially as we were both beginning to feel quite full.


The next day, we set off with a map of the city in our hand and a route in mind for our own little walking tour! 


First we headed north to find the Vishnu roundabout: this is basically another roundabout with a huge statue in the centre, this time the god Vishnu. The walk there was actually much further than we had anticipated and took us through some areas that I don't think usually sees Westerners as we got some very strange looks and comments along with lots of stares! Neither of us felt particularly comfortable and definitely felt maybe we had strayed a little too far off the beaten track so, after a quick photo of Vishnu, we doubled back towards the city centre!


Next up were a couple of temples, Wat Phiphétaram & Wat Kandal: both of these looked very run down and in need of some TLC and, other than a small golden pagoda in the latter one, there wasn't really very much we could look at . In our Lonely Planet, it said there are lots of monks in these Wats who love to practise their English but we didn't see any at all which was a shame!


As we walked past The White Rose, we decided to call in for breakfast and, once again, we weren't disappointed! This pit stop gave us some much needed energy to continue our walking tour.


We had spotted a very ornate building on our tuk tuk tour the day before which we wanted to get a closer look at, so we headed there next. On the way Matt decided to put his modelling skills to good use as he posed with a line of mannequins outside a shop. He had done this before with Roman in New Zealand so we knew Roman would enjoy a picture of this. The mannequins were stood on the corner of a very busy crossroads so he got lots of funny looks whilst doing it. The beautiful building we had seen turned out to be another Wat and once again we couldn't get inside but it had an amazing entranceway as it was a perfect replica of the Gates of Angkor with the turrets of Angkor Wat, the faces of Bayon and huge elephants, along with a representation of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk along the walls just like the entrance to the gates of Angkor Thom . It really was spectacular!


From there, we crossed back over the river to see the Governor's Residence which, as expected being an official residence, was set a long way back from the gates and demonstrated the government's wealth.


By now, we were starting to struggle with the heat and were getting frustrated that we couldn't actually get that close to anything! This all changed though as we entered the gates of Wat Damrey Sar. This compound was filled with a variety of colourful temples and statues which we spent some time having a look at and photographing. Some of them seemed to tell a story but from what we could gather it had a bit of a strange twist as suddenly some of the people in the statues were a funny green colour and their intestines were being eaten by crows?! I'm not quite sure what the moral of that story was! There seemed to be more monks at this Wat but none of them fancied a chat, so we moved on to the final place on our tour .


Unfortunately, when we reached Battambang Museum, we discovered we hadn't timed our tour very well as we arrived during its lunch break! This meant our tour ended rather abruptly and, after a quick detour to The White Rose for another fruit shake, we made our way back to the hotel and the air conditioning. 


As we have already mentioned, we were so impressed by the Phare Ponleu Selpak Circus School that we decided to go back and see a second show. This one had a Khmer title which translated to "I've lost my bike" and was performed by the youngest class at the school. This was a much funnier show than the previous one but once again told the story very well despite being in Khmer. It involved a lot of contortionist acts, some hand balancing and juggling, a girl with a hula hoop which she set on fire but, most impressive, was a group of boys who did lots of acrobatics . It was incredible to watch as they were all so talented and fearless! The finale, in particular, saw the entire audience mesmerised as one of the smaller boys was thrown through the air to land on another boy's shoulders, while he in turn was stood on someone's shoulders!! Unfortunately, after 3 attempts, they still hadn't managed to land it correctly and gave up before anyone got injured but it was impressive just seeing them try!


After the show, we called in at a restaurant we had read about in our Lonely Planet: The Smokin' Pot, this was a very nice, small, family run restaurant, which also offers Khmer cookery classes, and we were able to see our meal being made in the open outdoor kitchen.


We had really enjoyed our fleeting visit to Battambang and had packed it full of many fun experiences. I'm so glad we got to ride the Bamboo train before it closes in a few years and we thoroughly enjoyed the Phare Ponleu Selpak circus. Battambang is often overlooked by travellers and therefore doesn't see too many tourists. This is a shame as it does have a lot to offer but at the same time it preserves the quiet calmness that makes it so appealing and it would be a real shame if it became just another tourist trap!