After almost 2 weeks in Siem Reap we were definitely looking forward to a change of scenery., although Battambang wasn't likely to be vastly different. Our bus service picked us up from our hostel bright and early at 7:30 and dropped us off at their offices in the centre of town. Our bus was already waiting for us, so we all piled on and took our seats. Battambang on the opposite side of a lake to Siem Reap, so we had to drive to a town and make a u turn and almost head back the way we came. It was a quicker ride than we had anticipated and we pulled in to Battambang around midday. As with most Cambodian accommodation, our hotel offered free tuk-tuk pick up from the bus station. Amongst the hordes of drivers looking for a fare, ours was there holding up a big sign with my name on it. He led us over to his tuk-tuk and lead us through a thick booklet of tours and excursions we could do, using him as our driver. We politely looked through it, already knowing that there would be a couple of things that we would need to get a tuk-tuk to. It was only a 5 minute ride to the hotel but it would have been unbearable luggin our backpacks all they way in the heat, so we gave him a couple of dollars and told him we'd speak to him later about a tour. We checked into our hotel room, noticing that every other door seemed to be open and empty, so it seemed like we were the only people staying there. Somehow exhausted, even after 2 relaxing days in Siem Reap, we both managed to sleep for most of the afternoon. When we awoke, the time was pushing 6 o'clock so we decided to leave the town for the next day and went to the restaurant in the roof of our hotel for some dinner. We had chicken and cashew nuts and chicken and rice, together with some very cheap Anchor beer (not to be confused with Angkor beer. We actually preferred Anchor to Angkor). We set up a tab as the restaurant was so cheap, we had a feeling we'd visit again. We went back down to our room and were greeted by a good selection of creepy crawlers. Most notably a couple of hefty cockroaches and ants on the bed. The cockroaches we could tolerate but we decided to give it a night and see how much of a nuisance the ants were.
Tuesday
With no breakfast at the hotel we had to head out into town and find our own. We had a look on the Wikitravel page for Battambang and picked out a few that had a good write up and marked them on our appaling excuse of a map. On our way out of the hotel we were collared by our tuk-tuk driver (who seemed to be waiting there just for us) to see if we wanted to go anywhere today. We told him we were fine for today and that we were just going to walk into town to have a look around. We still wanted to take us to do that but we declined and left him behind. It seemed hotter than that in Siem Reap. Even the air had a thick warmth to it that just clung to you. Our hotel was located on the opposite side of the river to the centre of town but it was a nice walk along the river to the nearest bridge, past trees decked in the colours of the Cambodian flag. The cafe we had picked was a little out of town compared to others but we were happy to have a look around. After dodging a couple of angry looking dogs we found it rucked down a quiet, dusty road. As we sat down, there were 3 German people taking part in a cooking class, so we decided to sit facing them so we could watch what they were doing. The breakfasts were cheap and nothing special but they filled a hole and set us up for our wander around the city. We paid and set off into the afternoon (it was a very late breakfast). We had researched Battambang and already knew that there was very little to see and do so we thought why not get most of the town done on our first day then we can relax for the rest of our time. On our way in we had seen a statue on a roundabout and thought we'd make that our first port of call. We got slightly lost along the way but eventually found our way by following the general flow of traffic. It turned out it was a statue of the Hindu God Shiva. It wasn't worth hanging around, so we snapped a few photos and headed on. Our map showed a park, so we headed in the direction of that and managed to get lost again thanks to the map. After a few minutes we found our way again and entered the very narrow park. It was flanked by trees and even had a few worn out statues of animals tucked in between. It was also very littered everywhere but, there was a lady doing some cleaning as we walked along it. We passed a statue or two and took some photos but the whole park took us no more than 10 minutes. The park ended at the river and we turned right and followed it back in the direction of the centre of town. Along the riverbank there was a market that seemed to deal exclusively in king size mattresses and what was even stranger was that they seemed to be doing a good, consistent trade. To pass an afternoon we hunted down a very highly recommended coffee shop tucked away down a street called no. 1 1/2. We'd read that it is considered some of the best coffee in South-East Asia and worth hunting down. We sat inside and ordered a coffee each and also made the most of the endless free bottled water they were dishing out. The coffee was actually really good and we both enjoyed it and it was nice to agree with a review for once, maybe that is the cynicism in us though. We crossed back over the river and had a stroll through another park that ran alongside the river, taking note of another cafe along the way. Battambang town was pretty covered, apart from a few things we had deliberately left out of our tour, so we wandered back to our hotel and enjoyed a relaxed afternoon. Our hotel restaurant seemed like the best bet yet again.
Wednesday
On our way out to breakfast in the morning, we were once again collared by mr.tuk-tuk. Today we actually needed him to get to a place called the Bamboo Railway but we told him we need to pop out and get breakfast first. Ever enthusiastic he offered to take us to the cafe and then onwards to the railway but we told him we fancied the walk and wouldn't be much more than an hour. Our food stop was cafe Eden, located almost opposite our hotel, across the river. It was modern and clean with a nice small menu which made it easy to choose (most of the restaurants we had been to Cambodia had menus the size of War and Peace). A "Hungry Man" was in order for me, while Charlotte went for the breakfast bagel. We finished fairly quickly, but lingered just a little while to get our driver worrying that we wouldn't return. We got back to the hotel, picked some things up from the room and went down to find the driver. The railway was a pleasant 15 minute drive out of town, passed the impressive Ta Dumbong statue on a roundabout (the Cambodians seems to love their roundabout statues), down some bumpy dirt roads until we arrived at the 'station'. It wasn't really a station, just a few rickety houses around the train line where numerous Cambodians seemed to be loitering. We disembarked and were immediately confronted by a police officer, who explained to us how much it was and what we would do. It was only $5 each, so fairly reasonable. The Bamboo Railway is simply something set up to make money from tourists. They use a stretch of disused railway line, which is in various states of disrepair and run "trains" (pretty much just a flat platform) made from bamboo along it. We got allocated our driver, hopped on and we were off. The platform was incredibly uncomfortable to sit on and it was made worse when we hit the joins in the very warped rails; the cushions provided didn't really save our backsides from punishment. It started of at a pedestrian pace as it made its way across a very old rickety bridge but soon picked up some speed. It was actually very thrilling but neither of us could stop worrying that we might get thrown from the rails at anytime. We didn't though and ploughed on through the Cambodian countryside. The line is just a single track, with trains going in both directions. When two meet each other head on, one lot has to hop off, while the drivers remove the platform, that are just spotted on to the wheels, and lift the wheels off while the other lot continue their journey. On our outbound journey, we were the lucky/unlucky ones who had to get off, as their was a convoy of about 8 platforms heading our way. We stood to one side while they all rolled past and then hopped back on our rebuilt train to continue to the end of the line (it isn't, it's just where the trains stop). At the end, you are told to hop off and told you will return in about 10 minutes. It was no surprise to us that there were shops selling clothes, cold drinks and souvenirs there, most probably run by the families of the men driving the trains. We didn't want anything but it took quite a while for any of the people to realise this, as they constantly pestered us. After a while they did give up, with the exception of two young girls who were trying to sell us bracelets and an elderly man who couldn't get over the fact that the time on my watch was the same as the time on his mobile phone. As I had my flip flops on, one of the girls noticed that I didn't have any big toe nails and enquired as to why this was. Naturally, I exaggerated and told them I was attacked by a Lion and we think they actually believed me. The girls and the man eventually lost interest, with the girls leaving to go and play on a bike and the old man off to cut coconuts with an incredibly sharp machete while he gave us a sinister stare. There was another couple wandering around that took the attention of us and before long we were both hopping back on the platforms to go back to the start. Just as we were pulling out, one of the shopkeepers came over and told us to tip the driver as they don't get much from the initial fee we had paid. We had read that this happens but we're still annoyed as it seemed a bit unnecessary. On the ride back we were in the convoy, so anyone coming towards us had to disembark and take in our smug faces as we cruised by on our uncomfortable magic carpet. It seemed a bit more sedate on the way back, although I did get attacked by some bushes which Charlotte had had to endure on the first leg. After about a half an hour round trip, we pulled back in to where we started and hopped off. We did tip the driver but not because the lady had told us to. Mr.tuk-tuk was waiting for our return, so we climbed back onboard and headed back to the hotel. On the way back we managed to get a snap of the afore mentioned Ta Dumbong statue while on the move. The rest of the afternoon was spent coming up with a few possible incinerators for after New Zealand. For dinner, we headed down the road to the Green Mango cafe, which is the cafe we had spied from the park the day before. We both ordered a burrito but we think we got stinged out of rice as it was so close to closing time. We left but I was still hungry, so we got back to the hotel and I got some chicken noodles from the restaurant to top up.
Thursday
We frequented the same cafe for breakfast this morning and afterwards finished the few things we had left to do in town. We wandered round in an attempt to find the White Elephant Pagoda. It was located at the end of street number 2 and pretty much stumbled across it while we were looking for a supermarket to buy some water. Compared to previous pagodas and temples this one was a little bit underwhelming. It was quite rundown and worn out, in need of a bit of a lick of paint. We had read that it had been left as it is for 100 hundred years, so maybe the delapidation was intentional. It was also closed when we visited (for renovations by the look of it, actually) so all we could really do was wander round the perimeter and take a few photographs. For a slight change of scenery we carried on up the river from our usual bridge and crossed at the next point. On our side of the river, on the corner by the bridge was Sangke Pagoda. This one was even more closed than the White Elephant one and just had a few children playing hide and seek in the forecourt. The sculptures outside were worth seeing though. The whole site was walled and on top of the walls were endless amounts of Buddhas playing tug of war with a Naga, the mythical snake used in Cambodian architecture. We took some snaps but didn't hang around. We popped back into town for some lunch which was highly rated for its chocolate cake. We went for a cheese and salad sandwich each instead though. The rest of our day was spent doing some planning and eating dinner at our hotel. Today was Victory Day in Cambodia, a public holiday established to celebrate the end of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979. This may have explained why the pagodas were closed. While we were sat on the rooftop at dinner we were treated to an excellent fireworks display from the centre of town, it seemed like we were in the right place at the right time, our position was probably the best in Battambang.
Friday
We went to the highly rated coffee shop for breakfast for a change. After a toastie and an omelette we continued our endless planning, only interrupted by lunch (it's only ever about food). Come 3 o'clock though we had Mr.tuk-ruk waiting for us again though. We had arranged a trip to a placed known as the bat caves for the evening. It was about an hours drive from our hotel and while we were on the road the heavens opened. The driver stopped and strapped up his Magenta curtains but they didn't really do anything to stop us getting wet. It wasn't too bad and it was nice to have a bit of rain for the first time in about a month. We pulled up and were told that the bats don't appear until about 6 o'clock and we had time to climb the mountain and have a look around the temples and killing caves (the the Khmer Rouge killed people and dumped the bodies). We had 2 options, walk up the road or pay out for a motorbike to drive us up there. No prizes for guessing we walked. It was quite a steep walk and a cracked Tarmac road but it provided good views across the local area. The motorbikes were whizzing past us and everyone else seemed to be taking the easy route. First, we passed a temple which had statues of all the Chinese New Year animals outside it. The temple wasn't much to see but we had to wander through to get to the Killing Cave. It was dark and damp inside and, just like the Killing Fields, a pretty depressing sight and experience, but significant. We carried on up the mountain, our t-shirts soaked through with perspiration clinging to us and making the walk quite uncomfortable. At the top was another temple, hawkers trying to sell cold drinks and coconuts and a few more caves to explore. The views were still impressive and on a clear day we could have probably picked out our hotel in Battambang. The walk down was the dodgy part. The steps were covered in wet leaves which made the going very slippery, there was no handrail to maintain your balance and the light was fading fast. There was a couple of times when we nearly went over but we just about managed to make it down to the bottom in one piece. Now we played the waiting game. In the side of the mountain there is a cave where, allegedly, a millions bats roost (obviously there are bats roosting there but 1 million might be exaggeration by the locals). When the evening comes they all fly out in a big, long precession to feed on insects in the surrounding fields. There were numerous bars lining the road where we were waiting and the owners all tried in vain to get us to sit at there's. They seemed so confused when we told them we would be perfectly happy standing up. At about 6, little black clusters started appearing from the mountain and more and more started to flood out as the time went on. Eventually, it turned into a wide black smudge in the sky that went on for a good 10-15 minutes. It was a wonderful piece of nature to observe but it was just a shame about all the bars and electric signs around that ruined the experience somewhat. We had originally doubted the 1 million claim but after seeing them flood out and fly overhead they might not be far off. When the last few bats were out we hopped back on the tuk-tuk and joined the convoy heading back into town. Despite the traffic, it took the same amount of time to get back as it did to get there. Rather than get comfy in the room we went straight up to the restaurant for dinner. I opted for the chicken with hot basil after a failed attempt to get it a few nights before and Charlotte went for the Chicken and Cashew Nuts. My dish was nice but the hot basil certainly had an acquired, anise taste to it. I only had a couple of leaves and moved the rest to an empty plate. While we sat finishing our drinks my armpits started to itch but I didn't really think much of it. We went back to the room, had a shower to wash all the sweat off and got ready for bed and I noticed a line of what looked like bites under my arms that were incredibly itchy, we put some cream on them, just assuming they were mosquito nibbles from the caves. Charlotte dropped off and I was reading my book, trying to take my mind of the intense itching. I couldn't help it and kept going back to them at about midnight I put my book down and had a good scratch and was slightly alarmed to see that they had multiplied very quickly. My fidgeting woke Charlotte and we started to get slightly concerned and wonder what they were. We even got both our Mums involved, sending a photo to mine who asked at Boots in Worthing what they thought it was. We went through numerous possibilities like Mosquito Bited, Bed Bug bites, ant bites, flea bites and prickly heat. The latter seemed the most like possibility due to all the sweating I had done earlier but the symptoms weren't quite the same. It got to 2am and we were no closer to deducing what the problem was. We decided to try and get some sleep and see what they were like in the morning.
Saturday
After a broken sleep of endless scratching we were up and out at 7 to get a tuk-tuk to the local clinic. The lumps had just got worse overnight, my back was covered and my armis looked like they had burns on them. After a fairly long wait I was seen by the dermatologist who guessed it was an allergic reaction. I took a tablet and had a blood test and was told to report back in a couple of hours to get the results. To pass the time we went for breakfast at cafe Eden and noticed that the tablet had calmed the itching a bit and the lumps were beginning to go from my arms, after a couple of hours making the most of the free water we headed back to the hospital, where, at 11:30 the doctor was already on his lunch break apparently. He was quickly down to see us though and told us that the results pointed to an allergic reaction. I'd never been allergic to anything so it came as a bit of a shock. The only thing we could think it may have been was (as the title suggests) the hot basil from the previous nights dinner. I was given some vitamin tablets, antihistamines and some cream and we were sent on our way. It was all a bit of a shock and we considered it lucky that the reaction only caused a breakout of hives and not something more serious. We would just have to be careful with what I eat while in South-East Asia. I didn't feel great and we had both had a terrible night sleeps, so we stayed in a watched a couple of films on tv and carried on with some planning. It was fortunate we didn't have anything planned as it poured with rain for most of the afternoon. We ate at the hotel for our final night but I went with something I'd had before that hadn't caused a problem.
We did enjoy Battambang but probably gave ourselves slightly too long there. It was a nice change from the business of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap though. As for the allergic reaction, it still surprises me and I can't understand how you can be allergic to something that you didn't even know existed and had we not done this trip, probably would never have eaten in my life. We had a bus back to Siem Reap to catch in the morning before moving on to Bangkok the day after that to meet up with a former work colleague.
James and Charlotte
