Sep 19, 2020
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Day 10: the bat caves of Phnom Sampov! 🦇🦇 #batcave #phnomsampov #Cambodia 🇰🇭 (at Phnom Sampov)
Day 10: the bat caves of Phnom Sampov! 🦇🦇 #batcave #phnomsampov #Cambodia 🇰🇭 (at Phnom Sampov)
Day 10: the bat caves of Phnom Sampov! 🦇🦇 #batcave #phnomsampov #Cambodia 🇰🇭 (at Phnom Sampov)
Day 10: the bat caves of Phnom Sampov! 🦇🦇 #batcave #phnomsampov #Cambodia 🇰🇭 (at Phnom Sampov)
Day 10: next stop, the bat caves of Phnom Sampov! 🦇🦇 #batcave #phnomsampov #Cambodia 🇰🇭 (at Phnom Sampov)
Day 22: Battambang’s appeal, and realities of Pol Pot
Today’s agenda: Phnom Sampov, Pailin, and cruisin Battambang
We had breakfast at the hotel (included with our stay). It was really good for a hotel’s buffet. I kept with the tradition of ordering kuyteav :)!
As we made our way to Phnom Sampov, I saw some interesting cuisines. In particular, it was grilled rat. I wasn’t brave enough to eat it.
Grilled Rat
When we arrived in Phnom Sampov, we were greeted/hustled by a tour guide on a moto. He tried to have us park down at the village but we insisted on driving up to the Wat. When we parked, we donated some money to him. He stayed though and acted as our tour guide. There were 3 monks we visited. Everything was fine until we encountered the second monk whom seemed exhibit bad behavior. It rubbed us and especially Ah Heng the wrong way.
On the way to the third monk, I visited a cave Pol Pot used to kill people.
Morbid Cave
It was morbid and disturbing. Human bone remains are still present. You can still find teeth and finger tips in the ground. I prayed for peace for those that passed away during that time. My mom did not like the cave at all. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why. I also did ritual where the monk read my future. It said good things. Coincidentally, it was the same exact one my cousin Ah Long selected.
After we did our final prayers at the third monk, we thank the tour guide and tipped him again. He was really good despite our initial reservations. There was a little girl who joined us too, she was cute and blessed us as we left.
Little girls
When we arrived at Pailin, we visited Lok Yey Yat. We were very close to Thailand (something like 3 km). I opted not to go because I rather spend more time in places than visit a bunch of places. Also, we were already short on time.
My mom did more prayers. What’s interesting about temples is there is a market to capitalize on religion. There are a lot of vendors who sell items for the temple: incense, tributes, birds in cages, etc. I only know this because my mom purchased it almost at every temple she prayed at. This time she released birds.
This temple was cool because it was colorful and had a lot of religious stories on the wall (pictures!).
It seems I have an appeal with old ladies or it could be the mom and son combo. Despite my lack of Khmer, they always give me a lot of compliments!
We had lunch in Pailin. The food there was great. It was fresh, the flavor was right, and the service was on point.
Lunch
Around 3PM we headed back to Battambang. We arrived just in time to see the sunset from our room. It was beautiful. Battambang is located in the Northwest and still has a lot of french colonial architecture.
Sunset
For dinner, we went to the riverside to eat. We ordered simple Khmer food but what was unique about this experience was our server. He was no more than 9 years old. I was so impressed with his charisma and personality. He first spoke to my mom in Khmer and thought she was a foreigner. She explained I speak english and asked if he spoke english. He confidently said yes.
Since he was so confident, I proceed to test him. I asked him 10 questions in English to gauge his ability. He performed very well. He wasn’t able to answer “How much english does he know” but he wasn’t afraid. Friendly, humble, and cute, I wish I could teach my kids to be like that. He pays $12/month to learn english one hour a day. He pays $40/month to learn Khmer four hours a day. Much respect for him.
After dinner, we cruised the streets of Battambang to see what it had to offer. Nothing too exciting, then again it was a Wednesday--I think.
The remainder of the night we all hung out in my room and just talked. It was again another quality bonding experience between family.