28.11 - Day 318 - Battambang, KHM
Thursday 28th November - Battambang (Day 318)
My early stroll along the rough edged roads with iced coffee brings me back to the baked banana man which is my breakfast, whilst the others devour a couple of mangoes on our balcony at Lotus Blanc Homestay.
Flitting between our two rooms, school work is completed in the rest of the morning before we slowly walk (to not get hot) to Green Mango, a charity kitchen teaching young girls cooking and hospitality. The chicken nachos, sweet potato fries and pork fried rice are good but it’s the banana crisps that has Sienna and Seb asking for more.
Keen to allow Sienna and Seb to foster their interest and excitement in reading we head back to the library cafe of yesterday for a quiet hour.
After more down time in our room, it’s a tuk tuk ride to town for early dinner at Lan Chov Khorko Miteanh, a Chinese dumpling and noodle joint that reminds us of a similar place in Ashfield Sydney visited after a swim, complete with uninterested but efficient staff. As usual it’s a full meal for four for US$8-12.
Our main event is next, a visit to Phare Ponleu Selpak, a circus show on a Performing Arts Campus, frequented by 800 students.
A wander through as alumni art gallery - images of memories of some of the horrors of the Khmer Rouge - for which this was set up as an escape (one lady started giving art classes to the children in the refugee camps and it grew from there).
The show itself by students starts with a slow graceful fan fluttering dancers followed by a 40 minute story of a lady dying and then coming back to haunt her village - a bit darker than expected for Sienna and Seb, but the acrobatics interspersed in the story are very impressive, team jumps and flips, hanging from a ring, fire juggling and skipping.
There are probably 60ish people watching the show, some locals, but mostly tourists. When the performers graduate from the Art school they have an option to join the Siem Reap campus and perform there.
The students during COVID decided to try and beat a World Record of the longest non-stop performing circus, they performed for 24 hours non-stop and now hold the World Record.
The energy in the show keeps everyone engrossed in the small high-top tent, before a tuk tuk takes us home.