Battambang and two easy riders! Day one.

Battambang is a very sleepy town and this suited us after the faster pace in Siem Reap. People stop to take the time and chat to you here so we had many a conversation. We took two day trips out on the back of a small motorbike known as 'motos' here. This gave us the opportunity to see more of rural Cambodia and hear the amazing, and at times heart rendering stories of our moto drivers.

On our first day, Mony and Ket took us to see how people live in the rural parts of Battambang and visit a few temples along the way. The first stop was made at a carpenters. During the horrific period of the Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge Regime, many artists who had knowledge of Cambodia's arts were murdered. They believed in order to start Cambodia from year zero they had to rid the country of all its history including the people who held such talent. The man who owned this shop managed to survive and he is now training boys in the style of Angkor so Cambodia can retain and pass on its wonderful artistic history. Unfortunately, there are no photos as there was little light.


The flat fields of rural Battambang province.


We visited a rice factory and watched this woman sift all the bad bits out of the rice with a straw.


A woman makes rice wraps which are then left out to dry. These are used for spring rolls etc.


Dried fish. Smell was pungent but not as bad as fresh fish in the heat. This is mashed up and used in a lot of cambodian food, particulary Prahoc which is a fish paste that they use in cooking and also eat whole as a snack- an acquired taste!


A very large Buddah!


Buddhist monks shading from the heat.


A quick, tasty snack. This is sticky rice sweetened and placed in bamboo.

During the time of the Khmer Rouge over 2 million people were systematically murdered between the time of 1975-79. Everywhere you go there are stark reminders of this genocide. Cambodia became a killing field during this time and every person in this wonderful country has their own harrowing story.


This memorial was almost finished when we arrived. The lower part shows how they arrived to 'free' Phnom Penh in April 1975 and then ordered all the people out of the city. The capital became a ghost town during this regime. The pictures above show some of the torture methods used. You can see how they would place them near a makeshift grave before killing them with a blow to the head. Next to this a man is torturing a victim and a man is suspended from a rope until he becomes unconscious to then be dipped into foul smelling water to awaken him. This would go on for hours.


This is part of the memorial. Men, women and children. Each of them with a family and history, murdered by the Khmer Rouge.