Battambang, Cambodia is famous for its “bamboo railroad.” A local entrepreneur runs “trains” that consist of a bamboo platform on wheels on a stretch of the defunct Phnom Penh to Battambang tracks. Tourists can go on a leisurely ride between two villages through the green countryside. There is only one track, so every time a train comes in the other direction, the drivers take one of them apart to make way. Then they put the other one back together.
There are also several ancient Khmer temples in the countryside. I didn’t realize that two of them were high up on mountains. I had to climb many steps to reach the tops, but the views were spectacular. I visited on a holiday, so I shared the temples with hundreds of Cambodian tourists.
It’s impossible to escape the Khmer Rouge’s legacy when visiting Cambodia. A cave in one of the cliffs was known as the “killing cave,” where thousands of people were thrown to their deaths. There is a shine there now, and a glass case containing the skulls of the victims.
On a happier note, a different cave contains millions of bats. At dusk they start flying out of the cave, a process that takes hours. It was quite an impressive site to see.
