Northwestern Cambodia - Cambodia - page 468

ALL ABOARD THE BAMBOO TRAIN
Battambang's bamboo train (1hr ride for 2-plus passengers US$5, for 1 passenger US$10; 7am-
dusk; private US$8) is one of the world's all-time classic rail journeys. From O Dambong, on the
East Bank 3.7km east of Battambang's old French bridge (Wat Kor Bridge), the train bumps 7km
southeast to O Sra Lav along warped, misaligned rails and vertiginous bridges left by the French.
Each bamboo train - known in Khmer as a norry (nori) or lorry - consists of a 3m-long wooden
frame, covered lengthwise with slats made of ultralight bamboo, that rest on two barbell-like bogies,
the aft one connected by fan belts to a 6HP gasoline engine. Pile on 10 or 15 people or up to three
tonnes of rice, crank it up and you can cruise along at about 15km/h.
The genius of the system is that it offers a brilliant solution to the most ineluctable problem faced
on any single-track line: what to do when two trains going in opposite directions meet. In the case of
bamboo trains, the answer is simple: one car is quickly disassembled and set on the ground beside the
tracks so that the other can pass. The rule is that the car with the fewest passengers has to cede prior-
ity.
Phnom Sampeau
At the summit of this fabled limestone outcrop, 12km southwest of Battambang along
NH57 (towards Pailin), a complex of temples (admission US$3) affords gorgeous views. Be-
ware of the macaques that live around the summit, dining on bananas left as offerings, as
some can be bad-tempered and aggressive. Access is via a steep staircase or, past the eat-
eries, a cement road.
As you descend from the golden stupa at the summit, which dates from 1964, turn left
under the gate decorated with a bas-relief of Eiy Sei (an elderly Buddha). A deep canyon ,
its vertical sides cloaked in greenery, descends 144 steps through a natural arch to a 'lost
world' of stalactites, creeping vines and bats; two Angkorian warriors stand guard.
Near the westernmost of the two antennaes at the summit, two government artillery
pieces , one with markings in Russian, the other in German, are still deployed. Near the
base of the western antennae, jockey for position with other tourists on the sunset lookout
pavilion . Looking west you'll spy Phnom Krapeu (Crocodile Mountain), a one-time Khmer
Rouge stronghold.
About halfway up the hill, a road leads under a gate and 250m up to the Killing Caves of
Phnom Sampeau , now a place of pilgrimage. An enchanted staircase, flanked by greenery,
leads into a cavern where a golden reclining Buddha lies peacefully next to a glass-walled
memorial filled with the bones and skulls of some of the people bludgeoned to death by