52-BATTAMBANG

A hulking mountain with a horrifying past, Phnom Sampeu is a harrowing yet important day-trip from Battambang. At its top are a number of temples and caves with tragic links to the Khmer Rouge; many of the buildings here were used as prisons and interrogation centres, while not far away lie the infamous killing caves. It is believed that as many as ten thousand people were thrown to their deaths here. One cave has been turned into a simple temple, where the bones of some of the victims are kept in a metal cage under the watchful eye of a Buddha statue. Try to visit with Mr Ol (ask at Bambu Hotel), a local tuk tuk driver, who can take you to the mountain via a series of scenic backroads and small villages.

For a ride on the bamboo train
The lack of scheduled train services in Cambodia has given rise to the norry, a quirky railway that runs along a short section of track just outside Battambang. People, rice and livestock are shuttled back and forth upon squat wooden platforms, which are placed on top of a wheeled metal carriage powered by a small engine. Neither of the train’s destinations, O Dambong and O Sra Lav, are of much interest to visitors and you are likely to get a pestered by touts, but the experience of riding the bamboo train is worth it.
During the thirty minute journey the train at times reaches 40km/hr, crashing through jungle undergrowth, rattling over little bridges and whizzing past rice paddies. Meeting another train on the track travelling in the opposite direction is an event in itself: the train with the fewest passengers has to be dismantled and cleared to the side to allow the other train to pass – an impressively swift operation.