In 2008 on the caving expedition to Cambodia, we spent time exploring and surveying caves in the Battambang area. The best known hill is Phnom Sampov (Sampeu). Phnom Sampeu is the famous hill which contains the killing caves and is on the tourist itinerary. It is a striking limestone outcrop with a wat on top.
Towards the end of a day spent surveying caves on the hill, we descended and had a look at the northern side, which is on the opposite side to the killing caves. Here we saw Bat Cave.
In our reports, we called the cave La Ang Pracheu. Our description (from BHB 34) - "Called “PSW4 (Million Bat Cave) by Herries (2006a). This cave is located at the base of Phnom Sampeu near to where an 18 m high Buddha is currently being carved out of the rock face. A steep 15 m climb is needed to reach the large cave mouth. However, a strong stench of bat guano and the noise of the large bat colony successfully keeps explorers out of the cave, which consequently remains unsurveyed."
Apparently the bats of Bat Cave have become a tourist attraction. The Khmer Times, 7 Jan 2004 has an article "Phnom Sampov bat cave attracting more tourists". The article says that during the last months of 2023, more national and international tourists flocked to visit Phnom Sampov (Sampov mountain) bat cave in Battambang province. It goes on to say -
And a photo taken from the Khmer Times, AKP -
There are lots of photos of the bat flight on Trip Advisor.
To the right of Bat Cave, a large statue is being constructed (2008) -
I had seen the statue on a visit in 2004. In my diary, 4 Sept 2004, after visiting the caves up on the hill, I wrote "We began the long descent to the car park, using the 700 (?) stairs. This killed my poor knees. I went to look at the cliff face where they are just starting to carve a 38 m high Buddha. The mural will be 120 m long and will take 7 years to complete. Quite a feat. I had to give a donation. Women were manually breaking stones.
In 2008 I wrote in my diary "Bat Cave, this has the large entrance and is to the right of the new Buddha they are carving. There has not been much progress on this since my 2004 visit."
I googled the statue and
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Exclusive Cambodia Travel |
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Ret Bopha |
There are hundreds more photos on the internet, especially on Google Maps, under Bat Cave Phnom Sampov.
References :
Berliner Höhlenkundliche Berichte BHB 34 (2009) Cambodia (Battambang) and its replacement BHB 77 (2019) Cambodia 1995/96–2017.
Herries, A. (2006a): Battambang Karst, North West Cambodia. – unpublished report, 11 p.
Herries, A. (2006b) Explorations in Cambodian Karst. Battambang Province, North West Cambodia. – SUSS Bull., 46 (2), 8-13; Sydney.
And my 2008 blog, Battambang Caves 1 - Phnom Sampeu 2008
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