Phnom Sampeau

Phnom Sampeau, meaning Boat Mountain in Khmer, is a dramatic limestone outcrop rising from the flat rice-plain landscape 12 kilometers southwest of Battambang city. The hill is topped with a complex of active Buddhist pagodas and shrines accessible via a long stairway or by tuk-tuk along a winding road to the summit, where panoramic views stretch across the surrounding countryside. Carved into the hillside are several caves including the infamous Killing Caves, where the Khmer Rouge threw victims to their deaths during the 1970s, now memorialized with a stupa and glass-enclosed bones. A large reclining Buddha is enshrined in the largest cave. In the evening, millions of bats emerge from crevices in the limestone cliff in a spectacular nightly display that draws visitors from across the region.