Sydney, Australia

We arrived in Sydney early in the morning and were disappointed that our first glimpses of the city were through rain that persisted the entire day. Not exactly what you think of or expect from Down Under. We spent our first day adjusting to the new time zone and the "normalcy" of being back in a Western country.

The Bat Cave, near Battambang

Just before sunset Chin Chin brought us to a bat cave to see the evening entertainment. Every evening millions of bats wake up and leave this cave all at once to go hunting for food. It's an amazing sight to see. The bats stream out of a small hole in the rock and create a long black trail across the sky that undulates about the sky as if it were choreographed. And this goes on for over an hour.... It was quite dark out by this point, so the pictures don't really do it justice. Hopefully, you can still get a good idea of the spectacle:

The Bamboo Train, Battambang

On our Battambang day-trip, Chin Chin brought us to see the "Bamboo Train." The train tracks were laid by the French years ago to create a trainline between Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, and Poipet, on the Thai border. The train service was once a week and a little too expensive for the average Cambodian, so the locals developed their own makeshift train system to carry goods and people from town to town.

Battambang, Cambodia

We left the tourist lights of Siem Reap for Battambang, Cambodia's second largest city and the heart of the its rice producing region. It's also home to some of the best preserved French Colonial architecture in Cambodia. We arrived in the early afternoon on the weekend and were a little apprehensive - it seemed like nothing was going on in town and our decision to spend some time here might be a little misguided. We had faith in our friend Robina though. She had already set us up with a driver to tour the area, so we relaxed and enjoyed the laid back atmosphere on our first evening.