I was up early and had time for coffee and English breakfast.
At 9am Mr Bunther and his tuktuk were ready. Backpack stuffed with sun lotion, hat and zip on trouser lower halves, we set off.
The French really wanted control of S.E.Asia so they could have a go at China and try to own its valuable trade links. But that was always a step too far.
Ta Dambong was a farmer who struggled to understand his purpose in life, he was guided to a tree which had a magic stick within. It gave Ta huge power and he used the stick to overthrow the King. Many years later, after doing much good in his province, Ta was challenged by the King’s son, Ta threw the stick and ran away into hiding. The ‘lost stick’ (Battembong) was never found, but a great city grew where the stick landed.
The Bamboo railway runs between the outer villages of Battembang. Originally used to bring goods and cattle to the area, it runs on an active railway line with scheduled trains.
If a train comes you simply dismantle the Bamboo train, let the big one past and rebuild yours. We didn’t see a train but you still have to turn the whole thing round when you want to go back the way you came.
Martin was the guy I met at the station and we shared the cost. Martin is travelling S.E.Asia and has an impressive 18 months to complete it.
After I returned to the tuktuk, Mr Bunther took me to his aunts home, where they make rice noodles.
Despite being outdoors and covered the place was a furnace of boiling pots and machinery. The process is a continual cycle taking 36hrs from raw rice to the prepared noodles. Working every day, the lady produces noodles for local resteraunts and families. They certainly didn’t look to be wealthy off the back of it.
Next we went to the killing cave and bat cave (no, not that bat cave). It was all in one complex, firstly some depictions of Buddha cut from the rock face. Then a short drive in a 4×4 to get to the temple at the top. Another temple taken over by the Kmer Rouge and used to exterminate anyone with, or trying to gain an education. Their treatment was brutal and deaths undignified. No photos taken.
So, just after sunset, the cave that sits to the right side of the big statue is the scene of a mass exodus of bats. They leave at sunset and return 8hrs later, having eaten their fill of insects, mostly mosquitos. Approximately 1 million tiny bats exit in just ten minutes. It was an incredible sight.
Then the fun of getting back in the dark on terrible roads and manic traffic. Mr Bunther had been an absolute gem, full of so much knowledge, both about his home and the area.
Earth, Wind and Tyres 