The Bat-Cave show

Finally, I managed to visit the Battambang Museum. I woke up earlier today to go before work -earlier by Western standards. Here the day starts at around 5pm. Although small, the museum has a good collection of sandstone lintels from the 10-11th centuries, lavishly decorated with reliefs of apsaras (heavenly dancers) and nagas (the guarding snake). There are also several fine Buddha heads and statues of Hindu deities. 

However, the most interesting part is the room dedicated to the Cambodian genocide. A series of panels explain how the people were forced to relocate from the capital and other major cities to their hometowns or to the countryside, and the brutal treatment that the Pol Pot army dispensed to them. From forced labour to torture, not to mention the systematic killing of intellectuals and people with higher education... or glasses, for the matter. Although there are no artefacts from the period, just written information, the real stories from real people are vivid and more valuable than a thousand ancient statuettes.

But, although we are not under the rule of the Khmer Rouge, one wonders how much has really changed when you see this sign on the road very fifty metres:

Even though Cambodia is a democracy now, this is pretty much the only party 

After a relatively quiet morning at the office, I had lunch at the HOC café. HOC, which stands for "Hope Of Children", is a local NGO that provides shelter to orphan children while teaching them life skills and a profession so that they can become self-sufficient. I was lured into the place because of the food, since I was told it was top-notch. And it is.The Japanese-run café is spacious, neat and tastefully decorated, apart from offering a great chance to skip the Khmer staples for a change and sample some real Japanese dishes -a rare gem in Battambang. I had the most delicious iced matcha tea, and tomorrow I will be coming back for a coffee frappe. The pictures on the walls were painted by one of the cooks -a child of the orphanage himself. If you want to learn more about the HOC project, you can find more on their website. They have volunteer opportunities (wink, wink).

The HOC orphanage

When we were back from English class, Thearout kindly offered to take me to Phom Sampeau to the bat show I went to see -but missed- last week. This is how it works: the crowd gathers at the foot of the cave and when the sun goes down -at 6.15 approximately- millions of bats dart out of their lair in a massive swarm. This natural curiosity is not to be missed... and if you are a bit late you might even still catch them as it goes on for a good twenty minutes!

The swarm on their nightly expedition to get dinner