Battambong

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Battambong is a small town in the North of Cambodia. It is probably most famous for the bamboo train which, as the names says, is a train made of bamboo. It's more like a raft with a small engine that travels on railway tracks. It used to be a form of transport for the locals and ran on an active railway line. Nowadays it seems more like a tourist attraction but it's still good fun. You pay $5 for a return journey of about 14km. The last stop is at some shops where you can get a drink, talk to the locals, visit a rice factory and kids make you some bamboo jewellery. There are plans to re-open the railway line which means that the government will stop the bamboo train.

After the train we continued our tuk-tuk trip to a local winery. Alarm bells should have rung by the mention of Cambodian Shiraz! There wasn't much to see but we decided to go ahead with the $2 wine tasting. We were given wine, cognac, juices and some sort of shnapps. None of which tasted really nice but it was good fun and we had a laugh. After the winery we visited a temple and the killing cave of the Khmer Rouge both of which are on top of a mountain. You have stunning views from there and you can see monkey and bats. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay to see the bats as we had tickets for a circus show. The circus is not really a circus but a show from an arts centre that works with underpriviliged children. The show was followed by a lovely 3-course meal and it was a lovely evening.

The next day we continued our sightseeing tour to the remaining temples that surround Battambong and finished the day off with a cocktail and a nice mexican meal at the Gecko Cafe.

I really liked Battambong. It's got charm and it isn't as touristy as Siem Reap or Phnom Penh. If you go the markets you won't find the usual 'same same but different t-shirts' but stuff that locals would actually buy. Also not everyone speak English but everyone was more than willing and eager to help. I can recommend a visit to Battambong - go there soon before it becomes another Siem Reap! Battambong also still has some colonial buildings that are scattered around town.

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