Battambang is a nice stop on the way traveling through Cambodia. It is a fairly small town located 3-4 hours drive from Siem Reap. It has a relaxing atmosphere that will take your worries away. The river runs through the city centre and gives it clean air and space. This is where the market and pubstreet are located, and "what's happening" is happening here. However, if you are interested by a more chilled vibe, you might not find what you are looking for.
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| Our hotel had these flower-baths everywhere |
Around Battambang
The area around Battambang includes killing fields, not the size of what you can find in Phnom Penh, but fields where more than 10.000 people lost their lives during the Khemer Rouge regime.
It contains temples, some of which were converted to prisons during the regime.
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| Countryside, our driver told us mines go off in these fields. |
Important! Don’t go exploring the nature or history by yourself. This is the province in Cambodia containing more land mines then anywhere else in the country, and several people - mostly locals - are still unlucky enough to step on them when they go about their fields or harvests.
Should you feel kind, give a penny or a dollar to these poor people who were unlucky enough to pick up or step on one of these devices and are condemned to poverty. It takes a lot for someone to stretch out his hand and beg for pennies, and kindness should be offered when it can be spared.
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| The river that cuts the city in half and creates a mellow vibe |
A feel-good experience
Ride the bamboo train. (Note: bring earplugs, it is very noisy).
Grab a tuk-tuk to take you to the old track and just on an old-fashioned bamboo train. The experience is unique and fun. The "train" goes quite fast, and every time you meet incoming traffic on your shared track one of the "trains" must be lifted off the tracks in pieces so that the other one can pass.
The train operators tend to get into heated discussions about who has the right of way, and this can happen quite a few times during the trip.
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| Bambo-train getting lifted off the tracks |
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| Bambo-train getting lifted off the tracks |
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| Bambo-train |
The area is also home to bat caves and fruit bat colonies in big trees. In the bat caves you have a chance to see an army of bats leaving the cave at sunset. In the fruit bat trees, you get to listen-in on a huge pack of bats in lively debates with each other and feel how intelligence and dynamic this family is.
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| Bambo-train track |
Not the biggest of cities or attractions but definitely worth a stop for a few days if you should have the time and chance to visit. The bus from Siem Reap is only 6 $. You can also take a boat or private taxi if you prefer to travel more comfortably, the price is, as always, negotiable.
Sex-tourism
A thing that will not take much space but should be
mentioned here is that Cambodia has a reputation for sex-tourism. When
you visit Cambodia you will soon realise that there is a
lot of sex-for-sale. As a male, if you use Tinder you will match with a
lot of beautiful ladies and after a little small-talk they will suggest
meeting up. The standard price for sex in Cambodia is $50. The price is
regardless of whether or not the ladies are standing on the street,
picked up in the famous lady-bars or matched with on social dating-sites
such as tinder. One big problem is that the average salary for “blue
collar”-work pr month is $100. This is what the tuktuk-man on the street
makes, the people in the food-stalls and most of the other hard-working
khmers. This means that if a lady works two nights a month and earns
$50 she has already doubled a family’s income. A lot of women that
doesn’t work in the sex-industry still moon-lights on dating-sites and
ask for money for certain favours. It is hard to watch and not easy to solve
because of the way Cambodia is working. But traveling around in Cambodia
is it an important thing to be aware of.
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| A bus with just the most necessary things |
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| City centre of Battambang |
* All photos are private and taken by me
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