08:00 pick up from your hotel by Tuk Tuk & English speaking guide discover the city of Battambang, a charming big city where you can watch the elegant houses in the French colonial style along the river. We pass through traditional villages along the route where you can attend the manufacture of family rice cakes and contacting people about their daily lives. We drive to the Bamboo Railway Station. The Bamboo Train has been set up by the villagers to facilitate the transportation of goods and people. The train in itself is very basic – one platform on 4 wheels activated by a small motor. Sitting on the platform we travel the 8km to the next station through beautiful landscape and rice paddies. On arrival, we visit a village and discover the daily life of the Cambodian countryside.

We continue to the well-preserved 11th century mountaintop Angkorian temple of Phnom Banan. After climbing the 350+ steps you are treated to a wonderfully peaceful setting with superb views across the surrounding countryside, with small villages dotting the endless rice paddies, punctuated with the characteristic sugar palm trees a wonderful sunset location.

Departure to Phnom Sampeu Mountain. Phnom Sampeou means 'Ship Mountain' because its peculiar shape reminds of a ship. Atop a 100-meter-high mountain stands a pagoda and three natural caves: Pkasla, Lakhaon and Aksopheak. Pkasla cave is full of uprooted stones and is considered important because it is where Phnom Sampeou residents come to celebrate after a marriage. Arrive and start our visitting by climbing up through the old stair, around 500 steps. Take few stops on the way and you will reach a Buddhist Pagoda. Continue on foot to the Lakhaon Cave where Cambodian people were killed and drop down into the cave during Pol Pot regime. Skeletons of their victims still remain in the caves. We continue to visit a giant Buddha statue being meditation with 5 monk statues in front.

We will now start our descent down the mountain, just in time to catch the bats! As darkness falls, we will begin to see thousands of nocturnal bats taking flight from the surrounding caves in a massive formation of dark, black clouds. Be sure to photograph this amazing and staggering sight!