We enjoyed working and living in the Cambodian village of Phnom Sampov, but after one week we were ready to make a weekend excursion to the nearby city of Battambang. So we booked an Airbnb there for Saturday night, and headed out on Saturday morning to spend a couple of days exploring the city.

One reason we wanted to make a getaway was to shop for supplies. Technically, our meals were all provided at the little open-front restaurant around the corner (one of the perks of being a WorkAway volunteer at a local school). But we sometimes supplemented the food they served with other ingredients, like nuts. And we usually provided our own breakfast of oatmeal at home. And there were no grocery stores in Phnom Sampov except for a handful of tiny “mom and pop” stores. (Eventually, we discovered that there was also a little marketplace where vendors sold produce. But it was well hidden and not on our route we walked to twice a day to and from the school .)

But another factor that influenced our decision was the desire for peace and quiet. We mentioned in a previous post how grossly magnified music can be a problem in this community; and how the mountain next to us amplified it even more, hurling it back into our faces. One of the offenders was a temple that gifted the world with its chanting every day at dawn and dusk. Okay, that much we could handle.

But on this particular Saturday morning, they couldn’t wait for the sun to peep over the horizon before flipping the switch. They started at FOUR in the morning. And it wasn’t chanting; it was a clanging instrumental track (or live performance?) played on traditional stringed instruments, a pentatonic tune that seemed to our western ears to ramble on endlessly and without structure. To tell the truth, it might have been interesting to listen to under the right circumstances. But the right circumstances did not include when we were in the middle of REM. So that pretty much cemented our decision to vacate the premises for a while.

As we didn’t even have anything on hand to have for breakfast, this time we ate breakfast in the restaurant where we had our other meals — which put us a little farther away from the music. We were served a soup containing eggs so, it was sort of what we might be accustomed to for breakfast.

Then we got our overnight bags together and tried to book a ride into town with our phone app. Tried and tried, but without success. Getting a tuk-tuk into the city early in the day can be a challenge, especially on the weekend, because far more people are interested in booking a ride in the other direction. Phnom Sampov is famous for the bat caves in the mountain; tourists coming in from Battambang often hire drivers for the day, to bring them in earlier, and then take them back later after the bats have made their massive exit shortly after nightfall.

Finally, we spoke to the attendants at the entrance to the bat viewing area, and asked if they could suggest how to find a driver. They put us in touch with a friendly, talkative fellow named Pao, who spoke good English, and not only agreed to give us a ride that day, but ended up being our go-to driver during our entire stay in the area.

As he drove us into Battambang, he constantly regaled us with chitchat, some of which we had difficulty hearing because of the noise of the traffic. He often pointed out sites of interest along the way, and explained that there was a special occasion this week, and thus the temple playing music at abnormal hours.

When we arrived in Battambang, we had trouble finding the Airbnb, because it was, one might say, off the beaten track — and down a maze of narrow alleys. Pao called the host for us, and got directions, then gave us his phone number before dropping us off.

Respite in Battambang

The room was quiet, comfortable and immaculate, and the host family was very welcoming. It was going to be a restful respite away from the noise of the temple — while there were temples in Battambang producing amplified sounds as well, they were far enough away that they didn’t disturb us.

The stay, by the way, included breakfast, and after our sound night of sleep, our hosts prepared a rather tasty western-style breakfast of omelet and toast.

In the meantime, we went into town to scout out a couple of supermarkets; and for the most part, we found the things we needed. This included nuts, dried fruit, cocoa, and a few toiletries. And of course we also felt compelled to indulge in a couple of luxury snack items. One of which was rice chips that were… um… “snow flavored”. Not sure exactly how they did that or why, but we just had to invest in some to find out what toasted snow tastes like. But we’re still not sure we know.

Anyway, with our provisions provided and our escape from the hubbub completed, we headed back to our home in Phnom Sampov, where things had quieted down. Meanwhile, the mountain in front of us, with its bats and monkeys and historic temples, was beckoning, luring us to come up and play. So we decided we were going to have to go for it in the very near future. Which, as it turned out, was later that very afternoon.

Return to Phnom Sampov Village

1/28-29/2023