Tag 61: Big scooter ride around Battambang

Since we enjoyed the freedom of riding scooters in Kampot, we also decided to rent two scooters in Battambang. It was also much cheaper than taking a day tour with a tuk-tuk.

Early in the morning, after a quick refueling, we headed towards the first temple of the day. This temple could be reached via a long and steep staircase. Once we reached the top, we had a nice view of the surrounding countryside through some gaps in the nearby forest. The temple itself was impressive with its decaying state. We sat on a wall for a while and enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere of the temple. After descending the steep stairs, we had lunch at a nearby local restaurant.

After lunch, we drove just 5 minutes further to the 'Bamboo Train'. This train is very famous in the area and was one of the reasons why we decided to stay here for two days. Although the train was more made of metal than bamboo, it was still a lot of fun to ride on the wobbly tracks. When we reached the end of the track, the 'train' was turned around using a turntable, and after a 15-minute break, we headed back. It was already afternoon, but the day was far from over. From the starting point of the train, we continued on a red dirt road, which reminded Jan of Australia, to the second temple of the day.

The road up to the temple was actually prohibited by the scooter rental company, but we were curious to see what could be so exciting about this road. So we dared to go up the very steep and bumpy path to the temple. The scooter with Markus and me had to give its all, but we managed to reach the top quite well. There, an even more impressive view of the landscape awaited us, especially the view of golden pagodas beyond a cliff was very impressive. After enthusiastically exploring the temple and the view, we headed back down the hill. As we started driving, the locals bombarded us with warnings to drive slowly and be careful. However, thanks to driving slowly and cautiously, the descent was not a problem. On the way down, we also visited a cave that was used during the Pol Pot regime for the disposal of thousands of bodies.

At the foot of the mountain, we parked the scooters and waited with a cool Fanta/Sprite for millions of bats to leave a cave for hunting, just like we had seen in Thailand. The spectacle started right on time at sunset. Since we had already seen this before, we drove back to the city in the last light of the day. Shortly before reaching the city, it started pouring rain heavily, so our scooters felt more like speedboats as we drove through 20 centimeters of water on the road. We were super happy when we reached the hostel.

After the rain stopped, we went to celebrate this exciting day by enjoying a delicious (French) pizza.