He was on the phone. She was asking me about my destination. We were all waiting at a crossroads of a dirt road and a small paved road. We had been dropped off at different times by the same bus company and told to wait for a bus that never came..

My adventure had started at 6:30 this morning . The night before I had purchased a bus ticket to Battambang, Cambodia for $6.00. The bus would leave Siem Reap at 7:30 a.m. but I would be picked up at my hostel sometime between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m.

My recent bicycling partner, Antonio (Portugal), had taken the same bus to the same town yesterday. I was to meet him there today. I had plans for one more day in Siem Reap when he left. I saw him off yesterday morning and the bus picked him up on time right at the door. This should be a simple trip.

My bus did not come by 7:30 and the agent of the company at the hostel gave them a call. Then I was loaded on a motorbike taxi and taken to a bus station in town. I was given a ticket and told my bus was parked right there and to wait in the waiting area, which was the sidewalk.

After awhile, they put me in a tuk tuk and we headed off down a dirt road. Shortly, we stopped for gas. The gas is in bottles at roadside stands . Then, he took me to the spot where I am now. I think it's called the "middle of nowhere".

After awhile the woman at the stop came up to me and asked where I was going. She was a Cambodian but spoke good english. I showed her my ticket and she said her husband and her were going on the same bus but to a further town. They had been dropped off here by the same bus company earlier.

Her husband was trying to get the company on the phone. They didn't seem to want to help us much. We waited and a while later a local, very old, small bus came along and stopped. The cambodian man talked to the driver in cambodian. He was not connected with our company but looked at the ticket and called the company. Apparently, they told him to put us on his bus and return us to town.

Back in town we stopped at the bus station, but were told not to get off. A man from the station got on the small bus with us and we rode to another bus station in town . This was not the same company, but the man from our company told us to get off anyway. He went inside with us and bought us tickets on this bus. We originally paid $6 but the tickets here were $3.75. He didn't return the difference to us, though. Eventually a van showed up and we, along with others, were crowded into the old van. I thought, "This is not too great, but if it gets me to Battambang, let's go".

After a 10 minute ride through town, we stopped again at another bus stop and had to get off. It was just a little dirt field with a wooden platform where people were waiting for their busses. We waited until finally one bus arrived and my cambodian couple friends told me this was the one to get on. Everything was written and spoken in Cambodian, so if she had not told me I would not have known this was the bus. The bus pulled out of Siem Reap at 9:40 a.m. We were supposed to leave at 7:30 a.m. on our bus.

The bus shook and rattled all the way . The road had big potholes along the way that we had to drive through, making the going slow and the trip much longer than it should be.

My seat was at the very back. I thought that would be good. But, as bus moved, the engine in the back put out so much heat on my back that I had to ride leaning forward in my seat the entire way.

About 10 minutes out of town, the bus just stopped in the road. It was a paved road with one lane running each way. We didn't pull over to the shoulder but just stopped right in the lane of traffic. The other trraffi went around us. I could see the driver was on a phone. I thought maybe we had broken down. After 10 or 15 minutes of sitting there, the bus just started to move again.

I have heard that on long distance busses in Cambodia and Thailand sometimes there is a person that hides in the luggage compartment under the bus. He rambles through the bags as the bus travels . When the bus makes an unscheduled stop, he takes what he found valuable and gets out. I wondered if this was what was going on. I carried my backpack on the bus with me instead of checking it, so didn't have to worry about it.

We had assigned seats and the cambodian couple I had met sat right in front of me. She kept me posted about the towns we passed through and let me know when we stopped for lunch that that was what we were doing. She was very nice and I was lucky to have met them. At the lunch stop there were large trays of fried crickets for sale. I didn't try them, but will before leaving SE Asia, I hope.

Once back on the bus, my Cambodian lady friend gave me a small bag of some round things they had bought at the stop. The man turned around to me and showed me how to peel and eat them. I was surprised to find they were the eyeball looking fruit I ate once while on Jomtien beach. They are large (about the size of a jumbo olive) and clear with a large round black seed in the middle . They look like somethings eyeball to me. They have a leathery outside covering that easily peels away to eat the clean fruit inside. But, they are very good. The German man in Jomtien could not tell me the english name and, so far, no Cambodian has been able to tell me.

(Update: I did some google research and found they are called longan. But, I don't know the correct pronunciation. At least, now I know the English word for them.)

4 hours later, my Cambodian lady friend informed me we were pulling into Battambang. Otherwise, I would not have known this was my stop. They still had a long way to go from what I understood.

I have learned patience here in Asia. If a local says 7 they seem to mean 7:45 or 8, or later. You wait and take things in stride. The trip didn't upset me, but by the time I arrived in Battambang, I was ready for the adventure to end.

Antonio, had come to Battambang the day before and reserved a room for me . We were to meet and go biking to some sites. I knew I was running a couple of hours late, but he knew how the time works here, so I was sure he would understand.

I found the hotel but Antonio was not in the lobby. I asked the owner/clerk and he said my friend was gone. Did he check out? No, be back. I watied and soon Antonio showed up and a girl was with him. She was Analee from Germany. We would all go bicycling together to see the sights.

Battambang is the 2nd largest city in Cambodia, but it feels like a small town. It is filled with statues. It seems every walkway and circle, or park, or plaza has a statue. It seems if someone can carve it out of stone, you will find it in Battambang.

Throughout its history, Battambang had flip-flopped back and forth between Siam (Thailand) and Cambodia.

Battambang is the main hub of the Northwest connecting the entire region with Phnom Penh and Thailand, and as such it’s a vital link for Cambodia . Battambang city is a peaceful and pleasant place these days.

The Sangker River runs through the middle of the town. There is a lot of French architecture in the quiet town. It does not seem near as touristy as Siem Reap, but has it's own atmosphere that I find relaxing.

Antonio from Portugal, Analee from Germany and I, started out on our rented bikes by around 2 P.M. We are biking to Phnom Sampeau about 8-10 miles from town in the countryside. It's a hilltop temple and an important religious site. It's well known through all of Cambodia. It's a limestone mountain and one of the must-sees during a visit to Battambang.

With still a few miles to go, we see two lop-sided hills rising over the flat land we have been travelling. They are said to resemble a sinking boat, Phnom Sampeu is the broken hull and Phnom G'daong is the broken sail bobbing around in the water. We stop our bikes for some photo shots .

We arrive on our bikes and go up the many steps leading to the top of the mountain. There are pagodas, war remnants, and holocaust memories to see. We walk through the Temple on top of the mountain. The view are amazing. There are wild monkeys playing along the roof of the building.

The Khmer Rouge had control of the country in the mid to late 1970's. I will go more into detail on this murderous regime in a later post. But, for now, let me say during this rule, a small temple on the hill's summit was used as a prison.There was only one way out. The Khmer Rouge marched the Prisoners 300 yards or so to a small cave opening, having their throat cut, or bludgeoned to death or pushed live pushed down a 45 foot deep hole to their deaths. There were separate "killing caves" for women, men, and children.

Many of the bones have been retrieved and placed in a glass enclosure as a memorial . Nearby. One area of the cave is roped off, because human bones are still buried there.
Nearby, a reclining Buddha watches over the remains.

We continue down in the killing cave. It trails eerily downward in the pitch darkness. The footing is very slippery. There are millions of bats living here now and further down, there are still human bones remaining. We use phone lights to help see some, but eventually the darkness is just too great. We go as far as we dare with no lights and the slippery footing.

A smaller cave nearby houses a primitive cage full of more bones and skulls, with victims' clothes hanging from the vines. This was the torture chamber.

Before the murderous Khmer Rouge, these caves had a pleasant role. The larger cave was used for plays and theatrical productions. The nearby slope provided the seats for the audience. The smaller caves off to the side were used as dressing rooms and props storage .

We walk back to the bottom of the mountain to watch the nightly exit of the bats, but each of us has the gruesome killings on our minds.

I stop at the base of the mountain to take some photos and tell Antonio and Analee to go ahead and I will catch up in time to see the bats fly.

The bats come out in great form, flying out into the evening. I take photos and go to find the other two. I find them chatting with a Cambodian boy on a motorbike. It will be dark soon and we have a long bicycle ride back to town. Antonio invites Villa, the Cambodian boy, to come to Battambang, later in the night, and eat with us. He agrees and we say our goodbyes.

On our ride away from the mountain there are a group of high school boys playing volleyball. Analee asks if we can play. It is 4 Cambodians against 3 foreigners. The Cambodians are leading 1-0 when the rain hits and we abandon the game and head for shelter .

We have been caught in three rain showers while biking today. Once was about half way from town. A huge downpour forced us to seek shelter under a lean-to. A few motorbike riders joined us. Then, just as we reached the mountain, another rain forced us to get under a food sellers umbrella. While it rained we watched a Cambodian woman and girl picking up some sort of beans that were falling from the tree. They would boil and eat these later as I understand.

We all take out bikes and go inside a large building. It is used as a school and boys whose parents cannot afford to send them to school get to live there for free and go to school. The ones we were playing with turn out to be about 15. They are great boys and speak good English.

Once the rains stops, we say our good-byes and ride into the night toward town, 15 miles away. We are glad to discover there are lights mounted on the spokes of our bikes. The boys all make sure they are working and adjusted before we ride away. The fun never ends.