Febuary 1st Day 50-51 of my travel. Battambong!

The moment I arrived in Battambong, i am yet again sent into swam of moto drivers, tuk tuk drivers and countless other accommodation touts. It happens just about everytime i step into a new town. What is special this time however is that among all these people, there are mainly just 2 hotel names. Royal hotel and Chaya hotel. So imagine this, a crowd of people shouting and pushing one another, even though they are holding signs of the same hotel. Well since they provide free transport, i decided to pick the cheaper Chaya hotel. At the hotel(or so they claim it is), they told me that the room type(US$3) i wanted is full and they would give me another room and change it the next day. One look at them and i know he is trying to bull shit me. The moment i threatened to leave, he fished out a key and gave it to me at the end.

Extremely hungry, i went to look for food. On my Lonely planet, a few blocks down is White rose restaurant, which was described as cheap and good food. Neither of which i think is true anymore. The food tasted bad and is more expensive now. As expected, many foreigners flock to this place.

Cambodian love to eat, even the children. I passed by a school where the kids happen to just finish school and the mobile snack stores outside is crowded to the brim, leaving the hawker hardly any space to breathe.

A food that can make the children want so eagerly is definitely something i must try!
Cambodian Style rojak! US$0.50 very tasty!
I wonder if she is happy that her business is good or frowning due to the hectic selling

As i savour my "rojak", i made my way towards a distinct sound coming from the other side of the river.

MUI! PI! BAI! BOON!! MUI! PI! BAI! BOON!!

At the river was a big group of ladies of all ages doing aerobic with a local hunk leading them along with local music. It is pretty funny watching them dancing to the beats. As i sat down on the grass patch to observe the people, i was motioned over by a group of people.

Put your hands up in the air!!!!!!!
Even the young is encouraged to exercise
Meet Chorleoun, her brother, her sister and nephew!

Chorleoun had come back to her hometown battambong on her holiday and brought her sister and nephew to the park. She works as a card dealer at a casino at the thailand-cambodian border, providing a retreat for thai gamblers as they cant gamble in their country. Meeting a card dealer, how can i resist showing her my card trick which i bought some time ago! After i refused to tell her the secret behind it, she said she will ban me from her casino... Oh well..

If you do ever visit battambong and the park, do remember to head directly opposite the river for a delicious and cheap local meal.

Day 52 of my travel, Febuary 3rd. On my 2nd day in battambong, i hired a moto taxi to explore the surrounding area of battambong. First up, Phnom Banan(Banan Hill) where there is a nice temple at the top which provides a good view of the surrounding landscape. Phnom Banan

Beneath the hill near the foot, there are 2 caves which can be explored with a flashlight and a local guide which can be found nearby.

To get to the first cave, you will have to craw through a small unmarked hole for about 5m in total darkness. When you finally emerge from the other end, you will find yourself in a much cooler cave with a towering skylight above you. Among you are dozens of fruit bats chipping away. The whole experience of crawling through the small hole in darkness and emerging in this totally different really provides a surreal feeling that seems to have transported you to another land.

The 2nd cave is much larger and is reached by climbing over large boulders into a larger space with a half a dozen human sized figurines and loads of bat droppings(watch your head) on the floor. I tried to find the caves on my own and fail miserably
So i hired a local boy to show me
Total darkness!
Very high Sky light!

Next we went to Phnom Sanpeau, passing through extremely dusty and bad road. There is so much dust that i had difficultly even keeping my eyes open behind my shades. The pot holes are so huge that if i did not hold onto the back of my motorcycle tightly, i would have been flown out at least on 8 occasions.I had to get off at some parts so that the motor can cross!

As the name suggests, i will need to do another climb up the hill... At the top, i met a monk lying lazily in a hammock. Turns out he could speak some english and i sat down and chat with him talking about cambodian girls! HAHA!

Full view of the surroundings
I can see singapore from here!!

Between the submit and there antenna, there is a staircases leading down a canyon. As you descend with a few dozen monkeys jumping overhead between the 2 vines dominated cliff and lush vegetation on both sides, the temperature rapidly decreases and at the bottom, the sight of 2 angkorian warrior statue comes into view as the smell of fresh damp air seeps into your nose. In just this 1 minute, all your 5 senses will experience a complete change.

Stairs to another world
As you gets nearer
2 Angkorian warriors stand to greet you
from the caveNobody was around, so i started fooling around again with my camera and my gorrilapod!
On top of the world!
Fire!!
Modern day toilet

One unique feature in Battambong is the Nori, which actually is wooden planks, fitted with wheels and a motor running on the still in use rail way track. Since there is only 1 track for everybody, whenever 1 nori meets a train or another nori heading in the opposite direction, the one with a "smaller" load will have to unload and disassemble everything to allow the other to pass, then they can fix everything back together again and carry on. It is considered a sight in battambong and you can hire a private 1 hour ride for US$6-8. It is also then that i found out that i could have actually taken a nori to my next destination!! DAMM! if only i have not bought my bus ticket!!Waiting for a nori to come
All aboard!!

My last night in Battambong, i met Chorleoun again for a while at the same spot and after she left, i while my time away, sitting at the road side with a big plate of "rojak", a cup of cold sugar cane and listening to MUI! PI! BAI! BOON!Yum Yum!!
No Money no honey man dancing in this all female group. The hawkers at the side all laughed unanimously at his weird dance moves!