Blogs from Battambang, North, Cambodia, Asia - page 7

Arriving in Battenbang at 7am, we found Nitch, a tuk tuk driver who took us to a cheap guesthouse '333' where we freshened up and arranged for pick up again at midday. As we were only staying here for one night we wanted to see all of the main sights in one day so Nitch was our chauffeur for the day. The main attraction being the Bamboo train. This is an old railway track which is no longer used for a proper train service, but used as a tourist attraction. They built bamboo platforms with an engine that run on the track. You sit on the bamboo and let the 'train diver' take you down the track. We were greeted by women and children selling stuff as usual, but some of the kids took us to ... read more

Well, we have been in cambodia for 3 days now....its hot! Spent the first couple of days in siem reap after flying in from laos. Only been there an hour and headed straight to the angkor wat to see the sunset. Beautiful view from up there and a gorgeous place to watch the sun go down...... next day up and at it early to hire bikes and cycle to the temples of angkor. Interesting ride and a bit sketchy in places, cambodia seems to have a free for all mentality on the roads...... The temples are amazing, hard to believe how they was built around a 1000 yrs ago. Check out the pics to get a better idea. There is one that is so overgrown with buttress trees but this only adds to the beauty. There ... read more

At the western end of Battambang, the old train station clock reads barely past eight. It has been that way for years – maybe decades, even – because, having lived out its purpose long ago, it stopped ticking. But the truth is, it’s already one in the afternoon, and the clock feels like it has stopped less because of technical malfunction than a result of a magical spell that froze time indefinitely. With skies overcast and streets eerily quiet – except for the occasional cars, motorbikes, bicycles and pedestrians – the whole place feels like a scene from a post-apocalyptic film. A couple of Western tourists ride their bikes before disappearing in a narrow alley. In another narrow street, virtually all houses and stores have their doors shut, except for one in which the doorway frames ... read more

As a last minute decision and in the spirit of travelling we decided not to go straight to Phnom Penh from Siem Reap. Instead we decided to go to the small town of Battambang, which incidentally is Cambodia’s second largest city founded in the 11th century in the Northwest of Cambodia. The name Battambang or Batdambang, literally means “loss of stick” referring to a legend of the Preah Bat Dambang Kranhoung (Kranhoung Stick King). The population is nowadays around 250,000 people . It’s a riverside town, home to some of the best-preserved, French colonial architecture in the country. The journey from Siem Reap to Battambang is about 4 hours by coach and in the wet season you can take a boat which takes about 9 hours and is meant to have some of the best scenery ... read more

HE SAID... We woke early at 5am for a 6.30am start on our last morning in Phnom Penh. We packed, showered and headed down to the lobby where our pre-ordered breakfasts were waiting for us in plastic containers. I had yoghurt with roasted cashews and honey, while Ren had a banana pancake. Our minibus was a bit late, so we ate outside the hotel while we waited. We eventually jumped into the minibus at 7am and headed to the bus station, where we transferred to a larger bus for our six hour trip to Battambang. We left Phnom Penh at 7.15am. The trip was uncomfortable, as the Cambodian roads were rough and I was feeling the onset of a chest cold. The apparent lack of road rules was also a bit disconcerting. We stopped at a ... read more