After such a great first day exploring with our driver in Battambang, we didn’t even think twice we booked him again. And what a follow up it turned out to be. Wild fruit bats, ancient ruins, a lightning storm of epic proportions, and one very soggy tuktuk ride made this a day we’ll never forget.
Giant Bats and Village Life
We started the morning with a visit to see fruit bats in the wild, and they were absolutely massive. Hanging in clusters, wings outstretched, squeaking loudly as they glided through the trees like something out of a nature doc but louder and more chaotic.
From there, our driver took us deep into the countryside, winding through quiet villages. He pointed out crops we hadn’t seen much of before carrots, cabbages, runner beans, and long beans growing in neat rows alongside the road. Locals watched curiously as our tuktuk clattered past it’s not every day a tourist family comes rumbling through in the middle of their fields.
365 Steps to the Past
Our main stop was Banan Temple, perched high on a hill with exactly 365 steps leading to its ancient ruins. It’s over 1,000 years old, and you feel every bit of that age as you climb.
Georgia gave up 99% of the way up, she was done. Ali stayed behind with her in a shady shack, while I powered up to the top. The sky rumbled as I reached the summit but looked clear enough. I took a quick walk through the temple ruins, snapped some photos, admired the views and then swapped. I came back down and waited with Georgia, and Ali made her way up for her turn.
That’s when the storm hit!
Lightning, Waiting, and Walking Through a Monsoon
At the top of the temple, just as Ali had started exploring, the sky cracked open. Thunder rolled across the hills, lightning flashed over the horizon, and then came the downpour not rain, a full on monsoon. She found shelter in one of the old temple buildings and waited.
She stayed up there for around 15 minutes, hoping it might ease up. But it didn’t let off for a second. Just crash, bang, rumble, with sheets of water hammering the trees. Eventually, Ali decided she wasn’t waiting out a lightning storm on top of a mountain.
She stepped out into the storm, poncho over her, and walked the the short first descent and was soaking wet, thunder cracking above her head. She arrived back to us drenched but still smiling. So… we waited another 30–45 minutes with the girls hoping the storm might ease so we could get back down, but it just kept coming.
A Watery Descent and a Wavier Ride
In the end, we accepted we were in it now. Georgia and Ali had a poncho. I didn’t. A man who wondered up and down offered me an umbrella but kept stopping every few steps, so I gave up and just went for it.
The steps had turned into rivers, the rain pouring down in torrential waves.🌊
When we finally reached the bottom, our driver was waiting, just as soaked as we were barefoot, his poncho on, laughing through the rain. “I’ll drive in the rain,” he said. And drive he did.
The tuktuk ride back was like something out of a film flooded roads, children coming out of school on mopeds splashing through puddles, road rivers and what can only be described as lakes, they were waving at Georgia, who gleefully waved back through the back window. We were all soaked, all tired, and somehow all still loving every second of it.
A Day to Remember
Back at the hotel, we grabbed a quick dinner, hung up our soggy clothes, and collapsed into bed. Tomorrow we move on to Poipet for a quick stop before heading up to Bangkok.
Battambang gave us two full on days. But this one was a chaotic, thunderous, completely unforgettable adventure.
We’ll be telling the story of those 365 steps and that monsoon for years.
And yet there is more, to this day…
After dinner, just when we thought the day couldn’t get any wilder, Georgia and I had one last job: get the pushchair dropped off for our 3am bus to Poipet. We jumped in a tuk-tuk—and realised straight away this wasn’t your average ride.
The driver had his baby on his lap, calmly drinking milk from a bottle as he steered. On his other side, a young boy presumably his son leaned out the tuk-tuk, honking the horn at traffic like a little king of the road. Georgia and I squeezed into the back with the folded pushchair jammed awkwardly beside us, wheels jutting into the air as we rattled through Battambang one last time.
It was noisy, cramped, slightly ridiculous and the perfect end to a truly unforgettable day!
