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The Complete Cambodian Travel Guide
Battambang
Battambang is located in Western Cambodia, is the capitol of the province of the same name and is the 2nd largest of Cambodia’s cities. More like a large village than a big city, Battambang has a quiet, slow quality about it and offers visitors some time to relax as well as see a few interesting sites in the nearby countryside.
Recommend
1 Eat a real Cambodian French baguette! YUM!
2 Try a cooking class through one of the local restaurants.
3 Visit the temples around Battambang for a less crowded view into the past.
4 Take the boat one way to or from Siem Reap and enjoy the wonderful scenery of the river and floating villages.
5 Go for a ride on the bamboo train.
About Battambang
Battambang is a great place to go en route to Siem Reap and many recommend visiting Battambang 1st, so as not to be disappointed by her temples after visiting the national treasures of Angkor Archeological Park.
Although it is easy to get to, Battambang is often overlooked by tourists and therefore is still quite an off the beaten track destination.
Battambang has many ancient temples in the nearby area. Wat Banan is considered a smaller version of Angkor Wat while Wat Ek Phnom is another local temple complex with interesting sites. Wat Baydamram is home to hundreds of fruit bats and their Buddhist monk caretakers.
Wat Samraong Knong and Phnom Sampeu are 2 sites with eerie links to the Khmer Rouge. Phnom Sampeu is a hill with the Khmer Rouge’s Killing Caves, similar in concept to Phnom Penh’s Killing Fields, another gruesome, yet powerful reminder of the not so distant past when the Khmer Rouge ran Cambodia.
On a more cheerful note, do not miss a ride on the bamboo “train.” This is really a bamboo platform on 2 axels that is motored by a small engine. This removable train is taken off the track to allow a bigger train to pass if one happens to be coming. But it is a fun ride around Battambang!
Finally, it is highly recommended to journey to (or from) Siem Reap by boat. Granted, this can be a slow boat (from 4 to 12 hours) depending on the time of year and flow of the river, but is a very picturesque trip complete with remote floating villages and river life unfolding before you.
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