2019-10-01 Wanderlust

70 wanderlust.co.uk October 2019

‘theplaceoftheloststick’.

Legendhasitthatalocalpeasant

herohadamagicstick,whichhe

usedtowardoffdemons.Heused

ittobecomeking,butlosthis

throneandthemagicstickwhenhe

refusedtorelinquishpower.MrTin

tookmetomeettheheroking–

thefierceTaDumbongstatue–

whichsitssome30-feettallinthe

middleofaroundaboutatthe

gatewaytothecity.

Akingwhorefusedtorelinquish

powerseemsafittingpatronfor

atownandacountrythathasseen

somanypowerstruggles.Fromthe

18thtotheearly20thcentury,

Battambang(likemostofwestern

Cambodia)wasThai.ThelastThai

governorChhumAphaiwonglooked

likeamini-RamaIV(ofTheKingand

Ifame)–handlebar-moustached,

militaristicandadornedwith

medals.Hisfadedphotographsstill

hangonthewallsofhisformer

palace–alavishItalian-designed

mansionsetinlovelyfrangipani-

scentedgardensnexttotheriver.

TheThaipeoplemadetheirmark

onCambodia–therearetrademark

steep-gabledBuddhisttemplesall

overBattambang,withtheir

sabre-toothedguardianfiguresand

head-dressedgoldenBuddhas.They

werethenoustedbyFrench

conquerors–whoseBelleEpoque

townhousesstilllinethestreets

aroundthemarket.TheVietnamese

tookoverinthe1980s–littering

BattambangwithStalinist

monumentsofnobleleadersguiding

thedestinyofpeasants.Butthemost

lastinginfluencewasleftbythe

KhmerRouge.MrTintookmetothe

templesofEkPhnom,builtby

Angkor’sgreatmonumentalistking

SuryavarmanIinthe11thcentury.

Now,itwaslargelyrubble;littered

lintelscoveredwithelaborate

carvingsofdancinggodsand

Apsaras,smashedforconstruction

materialbytheKhmerRouge.

AbrandnewconcreteBuddhistwat

sitsinfrontofthem–adecadeorso

old,risenfromthedestruction.We

visitedthe17th-centuryBuddhist

shrineatSamrongKnong–usedas

aprisonandwithastupafilledwith

skullsandbonestakenfromthe

adjacentkillingfields.

“WhenIcomehere,Ifeelverysad,”

Tintoldme,“Iwonderaboutmy

parentsandmysisterswhoalldied

underPolPot’sKhmerRouge.”

PolPotemptiedCambodia’scities,

destroyeditsindustryand

infrastructure,leavingCambodiain

ruins.ThebambootrainsthatIrode

thenextdaywereoneofthefirst

greenshootsofthecountry’sslow

recovery.TheKhmerRougehad

destroyedtheoldsteamlocomotives

andrailwayline,sothelocals

‘I’d see the legacy of the Khmer

Rouge – so fundamental to

Cambodian identity’

Blood red

(clockwise from left)

A stupa with the remains of

Cambodians murdered by the

Khmer Rouge at the Wat

Samrong Knong Killing

Fields; the new Buddhist

of Wat Ek Phnom; stacked

skulls in the stupa of bones

at the Killing Fields