Starting my 20 hour journey to Battambang

At four o’clock in the afternoon I left Koh Rong Island by ferry and made my way back to Sihanoukville. From there my overnight bus went to Battambang at 5:30 pm. However, the ferry did not go directly back to the mainland, but first made other stops along the island of Koh Rong. Of course it got later and later and I got more and more nervous. I didn’t have much time left until the bus picked me up.

When we finally arrived in Sihanoukville at 5:20 pm., I still had to wait until the last one for my luggage. In the meantime I called the bus company to tell them I’m going to be a few minutes late. However, I suspect that they didn’t really understand me even if they spoke English.

When I finally had my luggage, I made my way to the meeting point in a hurry (by the way, running with a 20-kilo backpack on your back doesn’t work, as I now know).

As soon as I got out of the port, I arrived at the bus stop where I arrived three days ago. The staff came right up to me and asked for my ticket. I showed them and they said I should just wait there, the bus would pick me up at 6pm.

Shortly before six I got another call from the bus company. I didn’t really understand what they wanted from me. I was supposed to take a TukTuk to the bus stop all of a sudden, but I wasn’t told where the bus stop was supposed to be. At that same moment a TukTuk stopped in front of me and the woman from the company I was waiting at said that this TukTuk would take me to the bus stop.

My first Sleeperbus in Cambodia

Together with three other people including our luggage, I then had to squeeze into the TukTuk. Due to all the people and the luggage, the TukTuk was of course much too heavy and we only made slow progress. Eventually we arrived at the bus stop and I finally stood in front of the bus that was supposed to take me to Siem Reap. Since there was no bus that went directly to Battambang, I first had to go to Siem Reap, change busses there and then continue to Battambang.

The overnight bus was fine. There were single beds and double beds. But if you are alone, the drivers will make sure that you get a single bed and that you don’t have to share a bed with a stranger. Unlike the sleeper buses in Vietnam, I had a real bed to lie down on.

Nevertheless, a sleeper bus is not perfect for sleeping. Whenever the bus stops, you are naturally woken up by the light. In addition, I always go to the toilet during breaks and that’s why I’m awake for a while. The next morning at 6 am. we arrived in Siem Reap.

I thought I could then transfer to the next bus to Battambang, but the bus didn’t come until 8 am. So I had to wait two hours for the bus to Battambang, completely exhausted.

But it left punctually at 8 am. and we made our way to Battambang. I only booked one night in Battambang as I had to be back in Siem Reap the next day. That’s why I only had one day to explore Battambang.

A lot of stress in Battambang

The drive was supposed to take three hours, but since we kept stopping to pick up people, the drive was quite long. When we were 12 kilometers from the bus stop, the bus drivers took a longer lunch break. Everyone then waited to continue while the drivers took their breaks. I just don’t understand why the drivers always take a break a few kilometers before the destination instead of dropping everyone off so that everyone else can go to their accommodation.

At 12 noon I finally arrived in Battambang. There was an employee of the hostel I had booked at the bus stop holding up a board with the names of the people who were supposed to check in that day. So I had a free shuttle that brought me to the hostel.

As soon as I checked in I was offered a half day tour of the Bamboo Train, Killing Fields and Bat Caves which would depart at 1:30pm. One person had already signed up and the more people would participate, the cheaper the tour would be. Since the tour for two was just as expensive as if I had rented a scooter, I decided to sign up for the tour. After all, the Bat Caves and the Bamboo Train was exactly what I wanted to do that day.

However, I only had an hour to check in, get ready and have breakfast. In a hurry I got ready, changed, handed in my laundry and then ate. I didn’t have much time to eat, so I had to wolf down my fried noodles quickly.

Driving the famous bamboo Train in Battambang

Shortly after half past one I was ready at the reception. There were now four of us, which is why the tour only cost $6 USD per person. We were picked up by a TukTuk, which first took us to the Bamboo Train.

The bamboo train began after the Khmer Rouge left Cambodia. People carried everything with the bamboo train: people, produce, goods for trade. Today, the bamboo train is largely used for tourism.

We then took the Bamboo Train for about 10 minutes one way. The Bamboo Train was much quicker than I expected. At times it felt like we were going to derail at any moment or the Bamboo Train would collapse. The view we had over nature while driving was really nice and driving the bamboo train was a lot of fun as well.

Finally we stopped, the Bambootrain was rotated and then we drove back. On the way back another Bamboo Train came towards us. As soon as we stood in front of each other, we had to dismount. One of the Bamboo Trains was then pulled off the tracks while the other continued. After the other Bambootrain had passed, our Bambootrain was put back on the rails and we were able to continue.

Temples and the tragic story of the Killing Caves

When we got back, our TukTuk driver picked us up again and took us to the Bat Caves. Huge swarms of bats fly out there in the evening. But since there was still some time until the sun would go down, we could still visit a few temples and the Killing Caves, which were located on top of the mountain. We could choose to drive or walk up the mountain. Since it was very hot and the car ride cost us $3 USD per person, we all agreed that we would drive up the mountain. So we had more time there.

We were then taken by jeep to the first temples that we looked at. There were also vantage points from which we could enjoy the view of Battambang and nature. There were monkeys running around all around the temples, which we had some respect for.

After looking everywhere, we were taken to the Killing Caves. Like the Killing Fields, the Killing Caves are also a memorial to the many victims who died in the Caves and in the genocide in the years 1975 – 1979.

In contrast to the Killing Fields in Phnom Penh, no audio tour was offered there. Still, it was extremely depressing to visit this place knowing what happened there. There were also figures that illustrated the torture of people. Of course, seeing that was extremely terrifying. We went away from the Killing Caves as soon as possible.

Sunset over Battambang

Our driver then took us back down to the Bad Caves. There we were supposed to wait another half hour until we drove to a sunset point, where we absolutely wanted to go before we would watch the bats. We could then lie down in hammocks and wait there. At 5.30 pm we were picked up by our TukTuk driver who took us to Sunset Point. We first had to climb up there, but the view of nature and the many palm trees behind which the sun was slowly setting was incredibly beautiful.

While watching the sun go down we chatted with our tuktuk driver who spoke really good english. He told us more about Cambodia, Battambang and the Khmer Rough, which was really interesting. He was also quite funny and kept cracking jokes.

Watching the Bats flying over Battambang

Once the sun went down we drove to the Bat Caves. On the way there we could already see swarms of bats flying over our heads.

Arrived at the Bat Caves, we saw directly how numerous bats streamed out of the cave and all flew in a swarm in one direction. The Bats sleep in the cave during the day. After sunset, an estimated 7-9 million bats fly out of the cave in search of food. The bats only return to their caves at sunrise.

Shortly before seven o’clock we were driven back to the hostel. It took a while to drive as the Bat Caves are outside of Battambang.

Arrived at the hostel, we just put our things down there and changed before we went to dinner. We went to a night market not far from the hostel. The food there was really good and much cheaper than in the hostel.

But after dinner we were all so exhausted from the bus journey and the tour that we all went straight to bed.

The next day I made my way back to Siem Reap. I spent two weeks in Siem Reap because I did volunteer work at a school there and taught children English. Soon I am going to upload a full volunteering guide for Cambodia.