Battambang Caves - Phnom Sampeu, Cambodia

My first blog on Battambang Caves is a general article. This page is specifically on the caves on Phnom Sampeu, which is the mountain visited by tourists. It is famous as it contains the killing caves and is a striking limestone outcrop with a wat on top.

During our caving expedition in June 2008, we stayed in Battambang in northwest Cambodia and drove out to the caves each day. Although the distances are not huge, travelling time was very long due to the appalling road conditions.

It took almost an hour to cover the 14 km to Phnom Sampeu. The road is very potholed and is dusty in the dry and full of small lakes in the wet.

At the car park they are building a large statue of Buddha. Work had started when I was there in 2004, and when I returned in 2008 there had not been much progress due to lack of funds.

As you walk up the hill on the long and winding road, you pass various shrines

Baby Buddha

Wat Mereoum

You reach the killing caves. This is where adults and children were pushed off the cliff top to fall down to the cave entrance. Some were bludgeoned or knifed before they were pushed, but many survived the fall and endured lingering deaths from starvation, thirst and injuries, as other bodies piled onto them.
In the cave where adults were killed there is now a shrine

and a display showing how the killings were done and asking for donations.

This was during the gruesome days of the Khmer Rouge massacres. An estimated 10,000 fell to their deaths here.

There are quite a few changes since my 2004 visit. For instance this Buddha and stupa were not there then

There is a nice view over to Crocodile Mountain

The path continues to the top of the hill, past new Buddhas,

and monks

At the top is a German field gun used by government troops against Khmer Rouge. There are macaque monkeys hanging around hoping for food.

A long staircase leads down to Diamond or Vishnu cave

At the top of the hill is a wat

and an apsara







There are more Buddhas and shrines as you start descending and come to Wind Cave

We surveyed all the caves

and the results have been published in the Atlas of Great Caves and Karst of SE Asia.


© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Laos Vieng Xai caving expedition 2008, part 1

In Jan 2007 we first visited the Vieng Xia area of Houa Phanh province of NE Laos. The Vietnamese border is only about 40 km away and there are extensive cave systems there.

Vieng Xai's claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of Lao PDR (People's Democratic Republic). Lao gained independence from France in 1949, this was followed by a civil war, and then the communist Pathet Lao came to power in 1975. Around this time, Vieng Xai got caught up in a secret war and became the site of an unprecedented but little known episode in world history.

See my blog on Vieng Xai. See also part 2 of this blog.

The expedition consisted of 10 members, plus a film crew from Germany filming for Arte TV. We drove from Luang Prabang to Vieng Xai, stopping for a late lunch at Vieng Thong.

restaurant kitchen
We stayed in a hotel at Vieng Xai. This is the view from the hotel

The town is surrounded by limestone hills

Film crew

We were up early each morning and the lake by the hotel was always covered in mist due to the freezing temperatures at night

Each morning we went to the market to buy food for lunch.

buffalo head and blood

Young girls in the market, dressed in their best clothes as they are going to a ball game where they hope to meet a suitable husband.

Walking to a cave

having lunch








This cave was also used as a hospital and the ampoules are already being covered by calcite

Before caving we had to visit the village headman to get his permission

The caves were generally very big, but this particular one had some small crawls

View of the valley

This cave is high up on a hill and was used as an observation place. The entrance

defence wall
We had to be careful where we walked as there were still bomb heads and ammunition lying around

One cave was used as a hospital and there are still lots of ampoules scattered around

Thick walls and fortified door

UXO or unexploded ordnance is still a problem. This marker shows this area has been cleared

Bomb crater