The bats were late. They were meant to start at 5:20.
‘Maybe it’s the first sign of the apocalypse,’ said Mark, the Scot, next to me.
Then it started. They poured out of the hole in the mountain like water pouring over a waterfull. A constant stream accompanied by the high-pitched squeal. The bats of Battambang.
The bats of Battambang. The stream lasted an hour.
‘Can we meet up a day earlier?’ I asked my Dutch cycling friend Bernadatte who is currently in the outer suburbs of Bangkok. ‘I’m ahead of schedule.’
She couldn’t, and sent me a list of things to do in Battambang. One by one I ticked them off – a ride on a bamboo train (a bamboo platform on two dismountable axles, run by a lawnmower engine), a temple, a ‘killing cave’ from the Pol Pot era, and a bat cave.
The bamboo train
Me and Mark (the Scot)
Phnom Banan
The Khmer Rouge killed about 30% of the Cambodian population. It was a dreadful part of this country’s history.
The killing cave
View over the Cambodian plains
Fascinating stuff. How far from Siem Reap?
Battambang is about 100km from Siem Reap by boat and 176km by road.