Phnom Sampeau
This hilltop temple on the road to Pailin is one of the main locations of Battambang's killing fields, with a large cave where victims were thrown either after being bludgeoned or having their throats cut, or simply to their death.
Phnom Sampeau is best visited in early morning or late afternoon when the light and the spectacular views are at their best. The road out is partially sealed. Ask your motodop to take the main road out, but come back via one of the many back dirt routes that meander through the paddy. In the late afternoon light, it is beautiful.
Between the summit and the mobile-phone antenna, a deep canyon – its vertical sides cloaked in greenery – descends steeply through a natural arch to a ‘lost world’ of stalactites, creeping vines, air roots, bats and statues of two Angkorian warriors.
In the area between the two sets of antennas stand two government artillery pieces, one with markings in Russian, the other in German. They still point westwards towards Phnom Krapeu (Crocodile Mountain), a one-time Khmer Rouge stronghold.
- Battambang
Overview
This Temple has many Buddhist Shrines and Statues, and a beautiful mountaintop setting, but it's perhaps best known for its dark history during the time of the Khmer Rouge. There is a large cave in the mountain, open at the top, where people were thrown to their deaths.
