Day 3 - Battambang
The Chicken Express had today flown the coop and we were back on board a smaller, yet familiar Intrepid bus this time draped with burgundy tassels and bunting around the windows. Classy! We departed Phnom Penh during peak hour chaos and headed northwest for Battambang, the third largest city in Cambodia. Founded in the 11th century by the Khmer Empire, Battambang is the country’s leading rice-producing province and remains the hub of Cambodia's northwest connecting the region with Phnom Penh and Thailand.
The long drive was punctuated at the half way mark with a planned stop at a village called Kampong Chhnang famed for its local pottery. Literally translating to “Port of Pottery”, the Kampong Chhnang Province is home to the neighbouring Krang Dei Meas, or “Golden Mountain” which is of course the primary source of their high quality clay. Nearly all households are involved in the ceramics trade with the ancient craft passed down for many generations - over 1,500 years in fact. Vital to the local economy, all villagers are involved in some capacity and during our visit we saw young men readying their motorcycles for a journey up the mountain to collect clay, young women preparing the clay for various different pots, and skilled older ladies creating them with seemingly little effort.
We were privileged to visit two of these households and welcomed by their owners to see first hand how the items are made. Traditionally, creating clay pots is a strenuous process performed completely by hand with clay moulds placed on a stationary dias while the craftsman walks countless concentric circle around it carefully shaping and whacking the clay with a small wooden paddle as they go. In a period less than 10 minutes these wonderfully skilled ladies created bowl after bowl each virtually identical in shape and size to its predecessor.
Obviously a skill taking many years to perfect, it has only recently been surpassed with younger generations introducing a throwing wheel to the process. With this somewhat modern technology, artisans are now able to produce ceramics at a much faster rate. That is beneficial for the locals as an increasing number of tourists are now making their way to Cambodia’s epicentre of pottery to witness this time honoured tradition and purchase a few souvenirs for themselves.
As we walked down the main road from house to house, we were passed by children heading to school receiving never failing smiles as they did. Cows too meandered at their own will leaving an old cart to be tendered by Fatpap and Tom Tom for the daily clay run up the mountain.
Kampong Chhnang Province, Cambodia
On the road we stopped again for lunch at an oddly positioned roadside restaurant for the usual suspects of rice, Pad Thai and beers. Refuelled and rested we continued only another hour to Battambang where everyone was of course delighted by the presence of a pool. It must be said all hotels on this entire tour had been fantastic. Clean, roomy and each unique in their own way, the 3-4 star accomodation selected by Intrepid were a wonderful starting, and ending point for every day we were away. Checked in we camped poolside for some cocktails, water fun and decompression before our scheduled afternoon activities.
Battambang by day
Situated on the Sangkae River, a small body of water winding its way through Battambang Province, Battambang’s collection of French Colonial architecture are some of the best-preserved examples in the country. Established as an important trading city in the 18th century, the population centred along a single road parallel to the Sangkae River. In 1795 Siam (modern day Thailand) annexed much of northwestern Cambodia and ruled Battambang as a provincial capital through the Thai-speaking branch of the Khmer royal family which governed for six generations until 1907. Not unexpectedly, like everything else at the time, it was ceded to the French and reunited with Cambodia as part of the French Indochina colony.
Following colonization by the French an urban layout was developed resulting in the structure of the town found today. Well defined streets were laid in a grid pattern parallel to the River and the linking of both banks by the construction of two bridges in 1917. The railway soon followed connecting the city to Phnom Penh with large residential villas and public buildings erected during the period significantly changing the landscape of the previously remote city.
Tuk Tuks magically assembled once again for our crew and we boarded in fours for an afternoon city exploration. Naturally the first stop was the local markets, Psar Nat right in the heart of town on the western bank of the river. Its stalls were extremely vivid showcasing an array of fruits and bbq’d meats in bright colours not always seen up to now. We walked the perimeter spying the goods and the locals equally witnessing the daily lives of the Cambodian people play out as it has for generations. Adult or child, these people never stop smiling and despite our inquisitive intrusion all welcomed us gleefully.
From the markets we scooted further afield to visit an area called Sangkat Svay Por which is a captivating neighbourhood offering a unique blend of history and vibrant culture. As one of the city's most historically significant areas, Sangkat Svay Por boasts a delightful mix of colonial architecture and traditional Khmer structures. Our first stop was Wat Damrey Sor, one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Battambang. Constructed in 1904 under the patronage of the chief wife of the Lord of Battambang, it cleverly blends Khmer and Thai architectural styles reflecting the cities history under Thai control. Historically Wat Damrey Sor has served as a sanctuary for poor students from rural villages to reside as they pursued their education. Today it remains a haven for poor families, particularly children, to come and beg for donated food or money. On our visit the Tuk Tuks were soon overrun by these street urchins who blatantly asked for money after only performing a high-five. One even suggested the handing over of our camera would be fair compensation for taking his photograph.
Wat Damrey Sor, Battambang, Cambodia
Next was a brief visit to the Governors residence, also known as the former Battambang Provincial Hall and Royal Residence. Built during the era of Thai occupation and designed by an Italian architect in 1905, the French used it as the provincial hall and governor’s residence during the colonial era and later as a school. It then served as the provincial hall for Battambang until 2005. The cannons out front originate from nearby Wat Kdol Don Teav, a contemporary monastery and pagoda that was once heavily fortified as the gods were presumably not protective enough. We were allowed only a few photo opportunities because we were now running late for the bats!
The penultimate slice of todays tour was a short drive out to Phnom Sampov mountain for the nightly migration of small bats into the night sky. However, first we’d been promised, or maybe threatened, with some Cambodian roadside delicacies and needed to find the right seller of these on the way. The 14 km ride to the caves was incredibly dusty but the creation of a nice breeze on our face made that worth it. Scattered along the roadside, pretty much at every driveway of local homes, were bbq grills filled with both rats and snakes like kids selling lemonade at $2 a pop. Caught locally from the nearby rice fields, these free ranging critters are prepared by each family using their own secret marinate sauce creating a point of difference in an otherwise saturated market. Not entirely sure what the marinate actually was, we tried both the rat and the snake which were surprising delicious, and as Toneth promised, tasted just like chicken. Picking the minuscule rat bones from our teeth, we quickly scurried onto the caves before sundown.
Phnom Sampov is a limestone mountain standing only 100 metre high among the surrounding rice fields but home to a vast network of mostly unexplored caves. Used by the Khmer Rouge as “killing caves” during their genocides, Pkasla Cave is considered culturally important and Sampov inhabitants go there to celebrate after a marriage. However it is at night that most visitors come to witness the exodus of up to 30 million hungry wrinkle-lipped free tailed bats. The population is so high it can take upwards of 20 minutes for the cave to clear, but once out the hordes of flying mammals paint the air with fluid black shapes against a sky tinged with the last of the sunset colours. We arrived just in time to find a good location, sip a complimentary beer and deal with the mosquitoes in equals numbers to their flying counterparts.
Close to the exit point of emerging bats stands three grand Buddhas carved into the rock face. A smaller one depicts the Buddha’s birth while two bigger carvings represent the Buddha’s enlightenment and death. These were truly spectacular, and in truth, perhaps more interesting than the bats themselves. We re-boarded our awaiting chariots to head back into town for yet another piece of the Battambang puzzle to round out our first day in town.
As experienced in Vietnam only days before, tonight we dined in the outside pavilion of a local family home on traditional dishes made in their very own household kitchen. That came to be an extremely humbling experience showcasing the true warmth of the Cambodian people and the beauty, and simplicity of their food. After hearing the story of how the pavilion was built by hand with off cuts salvaged over years by the owner, his wife enlightened us with an entree of shallow fried eggplant slices. Wow! Absolutely wow! These were spectacular and extremely moorish when accompanied by a peppery dipping sauce. Rice, noodles and chicken dishes followed but the show stopper was a Cambodian styled Yakiniku dish. Over a table top stove a flavoursome broth simmered with select vegetables and we placed thinly sliced strips of beef, pork and chicken on top to complete the cooking process. The whole experience was wonderful and a welcomed change from restaurants.
The last chapter in this amazingly eclectic day was cocktails on the hotel rooftop bar overlooking the city of Battambang in all directions. That was completely unexpected and the cocktails absolutely stunning. Carla managed to select one served with an upturned beer in a bucket three times the size of her hands which needless to say she sat on for a while. Given the day started in Phnom Penh 16 hours earlier, looking back we crammed so much into one day and saw so many amazing things it was hard keeping track of it all. At last call we called it a night in preparation of another day to come we’d been told would be as equally fulfilling.
Battambang by night