Mastodawn

Greetings from Granny Sampov

Somehow this elderly lady reminds me of some certain members of my family. Namely the ones who always wonders why younger family members haven’t called lately, and why they’re not married yet. With an added advice to settle down and start a proper family.

Met this not easily impressed lady macaque in the temple complex on top of Phnom Sampov, outside Battambang.

More than bat caves
These hills are well known for its bat cave and sunset departure of hundred of thousands of bats for the night hunt. But there is much more to the “ship mountain” Phnom Sampeau/Sampov than bats. There are several sites in the hills worth a visit.

Two larger monasteries with pagodas and stupas, monkeys and large caves are worth visiting both for cave fans and people of all parts of Cambodian history. The caves on this and the other small mountain hills in this cluster carry with it stories of tradition, happiness and deep tragedy.

It is worth spending some time walking these hills. For the well fit, there is an opportunity to trek the stairs and tracks up the hill. The fast alternative is to pay a driver to take you up to the sites by car.

Phnom Sampov is north-west of Battambang city in the west of Cambodia. It takes about 30-40 minutes by car to get there from the city.

Do not feed the monkeys
The monkeys are a part of the pagoda experience. These longtail Macaques are normally very friendly because they expect to get, or steal, food or items for play from the visitors.

Please, do not feed the monkeys. It reduces their ability to hunt and gather their own food. It may lead to malnutrition.

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AskDRZ in Asia Feb 10

When your home *is* a temple

Temples in Cambodia are marvels of intrinsic details, but sometimes the cohabitants are, too. Like this one at Phnom Sampeau.

The monkeys at most of these temple sites around Asia are peaceful, knowing they are safe and have access to food and water. But they are also nosy and cheeky, and any seasoned traveller know to keep their belongings, food and water well contained or hidden.

#batcave #deathcaves #visitcambodia #macaquemonkey #PhnomSampeau #visitbattambang

Dag-Rune Z Feb 5

When your home is a temple

Some of the temples you see in Cambodia are marvels of intrinsic details, but sometimes the cohabitants are, too. Like this one at Phnom Sampov/Phnom Sampeau near Battambang.

The monkeys at most of these temple sites around Asia are peaceful, knowing they are safe and have access to food and water. But they are also nosy and cheeky, and any seasoned traveller know to keep their belongings, food and water well contained or hidden around these rascals.

No feeding or fighting
Even if they are small, they are strong and have sharp teeth. So there is no use try picking a fight.

And never, ever feed the monkeys. It reduces their ability to hunt and gather their own food, leading to malnutrition and they become more aggressive in close contact with humans.

Small gene pools
Another challenge for these monkeys are the limited numbers of members in each family group in each temple. That is causing some problems with inbreeding due to small gene pools.

We are talking severe Habsburger jaw and bulbous lips, to use a European reference to tragedy and disaster when science is absent. I have observed this inbreeding problem to become lesser over the last few years in Cambodia, as the caretaking of these cultural heritage sites improves. Including for the animals.

But the monkeys also ad personality and scale to these photos. So I would miss having them around, if they where to disappear.

#battambang #batcave #PhnomSampeou #watsampeou #stupas #temple #gold #bluesky #roadtrip #countryside #2019CE #Angkor #architecture #art #Battambang #bluesky #Buddhism #Cambodia #gallery #gold #Hinduism #Kampuchea #khmer #Nikkor #Nikon #Phnom #Sampeou #siemreap #sightseeing #southeast #asia #southeastasia #stupas #KR #deathcaves #tragedy #temple #visitcambodia #visitsiemreap #watsampeou #PhnomSampov #ឡូរីជើងភ្នំបាណន់ #green #guardian #hill #macaque #macaquemonkey #nature #Pagoda #PhnomSampeau #PhnomSompov #visitbattambang

Dag-Rune Z Aug 28, 2025

When your home is a temple

Some of the temples and pagodas in Cambodia are marvels of intrinsic details. Sometimes the cohabitants are, too. Like this one at Wat Sampov at Phnom Sampov/Phnom Sampeau near Battambang.

The monkeys at most of these temple sites are peaceful. They are adjusted to be relatively safe and have access to food and water. But they are also nosy and cheeky, and any seasoned traveller know to keep their belongings, food and water well contained or hidden around these rascals. They will try to steal anything they fancy from the humans.

And never, ever feed the monkeys. It reduces their ability to hunt and gather their own food, leads to malnutrition, and they become more aggressive and can be dangerous towards humans.

Challenging small gene pools
Another challenge for these monkeys is the small number of members in some of the temple groups. That is causing some problems with inbreeding due to limited gene pools.

We are talking severe Habsburgian jaw and bulbous lips, to use a European reference to tragedy and disaster when science is absent. I have personally observed this inbreeding problem to have become lesser over the last few years. Hopefully it means the caretaking of these cultural heritage sites improves. Including for the animals.

The monkeys also ad personality to the visits to the temple, and scale to photos taken there. I would miss having them around, if they were to disappear from the temple grounds.

https://drzinasia.wordpress.com/2021/05/04/when-your-home-iff-a-temple-some-of-the/

#2016CE #Angkor #architecture #art #batcave #Battambang #bluesky #Buddhism #Cambodia #countryside #gallery #gold #Hinduism #Kampuchea #khmer #Nikkor #Nikon #PhnomSampeou #roadtrip #Siem #Reap #siemreap #sightseeing #asia #southeastasia #templevisit #Cambodia #visitsiemreap #watsampeou #guardianhill #landscape #macaquemonkey #Mountains #nature #Pagoda #Phnom #Sampeau #PhnomSompov #teeth #temple #visitcambodia