Battambang

Cambodia’s busses also have their fair share of horror stories on the internet, so we try to pick the company carefully. The first good thing is that we get exactly what we booked: a coach. In addition, it’s quite comfortable and the ride is smooth. Battambang is located about 3 hours from Siem Reap and we are dropped off around lunchtime. Funny thing, the hotel had no idea when we would arrive and from where, but a bunch of tuktuk drivers have signs with our name on it (and names of other people, of course). Apparently they just collect names of people arriving that day at the hotels and wait for any bus. GDPR probably isn’t much of a thing around here. We know that the hotel is only a short walk away so we don’t reveal ourselves to the drivers and just walk off. Barely five minutes later, we have arrived. Battambang is a small and pleasant enough town, though not particularly exciting. We will only have one full day, where we plan to explore the countryside and a temple (because recently we haven’t seen any of those…).

We spend a quiet afternoon, walking around town, eating cheesecake (yum!), and locating a place where we can rent a motorbike the following day. We have dinner at the small night market by the river.

The next morning, first thing’s first. We’ve read about a Chinese place that sells handmade noodles and dumplings. We are not disappointed. We order noodle soup and dumplings – one serving has so many that we need to ask to have them wrapped (they are delicious cold as well!).

We drop the dumplings in our fridge and are off to our first destination: the Phnom Banan temple, about 45 minutes away from the centre of Battambang. After Angkor it’s a bit hard for any temple to compete. This is one is still quite nice and has a lovely location on top of a hill. It’s really hot and the stairs that lead up to the temple are endless. We have to recover by just fanning air to ourselves for the next half hour.

The lunch places next to the temple don’t really inspire us, so we hope on the motorbike to go back to a restaurant sign we had seen on the way.

The owner family is busy working in the garden, but show us to a table – which is not so much a table but rather one of the little huts that are so common in Southeast Asia, used as picnic and resting places. And, it has a hammock!

We enjoy a simple and delicious lunch – there is no menu and we just ask for some vegetarian food. They bring us plenty of vegetables and rice, and some fried egg. As we are finishing our meal, it starts pouring. Thankfully, we are very comfortable in our little hut and in no rush to be anywhere.

By the time the rain starts to slow, it is already late afternoon. Not too far away, there is another temple, and the close by hill is known for its bat cave. Around sunset, the bats all leave the cave for their daily outing.

After a scenic drive through rice fields, we arrive at the hill. And they were definitely not kidding about the bats.

A seemingly endless stream of bats is coming out of the cave, all going in the same direction. Are they summoned by Batman? Who knows. It is an impressive spectacle and we are happy to have made the little detour. We drive back into town, have dinner, and with that our time in Battambang is already over.

The next morning after breakfast, we take a minivan direction Phnom Penh.

Activities

Banan Temple

Small temple about 30 minutes from Battambang. After visiting Angkor, it’s not the most impressive but still a nice trip to do.

Phnom Sampov

As said, we only went to see the bats. You can drive or walk up the hill to see the Killing Cave, another gruesome reminder of Cambodia’s past.

Food

Nightmarket

Small, but nice for a simple meal. About five different restaurants share the space by the river.

Jaan Bai

Good Cambodian food in a bit more upscale setting. The restaurant employs young Cambodians and profit goes into the owner’s child protection charity.

Lan Chov Khorko Miteanh

Handmade dumplings and noodles. Delicious.

Cheese Cake Home Bakery

Good cheesecake, but it’s the Japanese or Taiwanese type where the cheese is in the batter, so it’s not creamy.

Kinyei Cafe

Nice coffee shop.

Espresso Coffee House

Good breakfast option.

Honey Comb Riverside Restaurant

Only a few minutes drive from Banan Temple. Lovely setting by the river. They didn’t really have a menu when we were there, but that may have been an exception (it was off season).

Where to stay

We stayed at the Holiday Hotel (14€/night) and it was quite good though nothing too exciting. The rooms were just fine, it was only a few minutes walking away from the central market and the Mekong Express bus stop/office. Being on the top floor, we had a great view for sunset. There is also a large pool, but we didn’t use it. It’s a good, reasonably priced option but not charming or personal.

Getting here

We came by with Mekong Express from Siem Reap (3-4h, around 7€/person). You can also take the bus from Phnom Penh. There is also a slow boat from Siem Reap, which takes about 9h and is more expensive than the bus.

Phnom Penh

The minivan to Phnom Penh is our second bus experience in Cambodia and it’s also as promised – a minivan. The ride to the capital takes about 5h, including a lunch break. We tuktuk to our hotel and get a bit of rest before heading out for a little stroll. We walk past the royal palace to join the river promenade, which is getting busy towards the end of the afternoon. People walk, eat, exercise – kind of like in Vientiane. We do a little tour of the night market, which is surprisingly small.

The next morning, we have Banh mi – one of our favourite south East Asian foods that we got to love in Vietnam. Phnom Penh also has lots of places selling them. Once fed, we are off to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The building is the former prison in which so many were incarcerated arbitrarily, tortured, and killed during the Khmer Rouge regime. The cells are left as they were, with gruesome pictures showing how they were found upon the liberation. Further exhibition rooms document the stories of survivors, and of torture instruments.

The visit is chilling and sad, but a must when in the Cambodian capital and for anyone who wants to understand the recent history of Cambodia. Afterwards, we are definitely ready for a break and some lunch.

Our second destination for the day is the Royal Palace. With a steep entrance fee of $10, this is one of the most expensive sights we saw – especially compared to what it offers.

Sure, it’s pretty, but nothing more. We feel like we’ve done enough sightseeing for the day and head back to the hotel, unwittingly escaping a pretty intense thunderstorm by a few minutes.

The next day, we are off to Kep, and then we have one more night in Phnom Penh before catching a flight to Singapore. We really enjoyed our time in the Cambodian capital – it’s a bit of a smaller, slowed down version of Ho Chi Minh City, with plenty of cool shops and restaurants, but also many traditional elements. And there’s certainly more things to see than what we did, both in the city and further afield.

Activities

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

Former prison used by the Khmer Rouge, showing the terrible history of their regime. Around 4.5€/person.

Royal Palace

We found it quite expensive for what it was ($10 entrance fee). There was also some construction going on which may have impacted our visit. For example, the temple of Napoleon III was closed.

Spa

Samatha Spa is a lovely place to relax. You can book via FB messenger.

Food

Romano’s Italian Pizza

We obviously needed a pizza fix in Cambodia. This one was quite good! Not exceptional for us but perfectly fine pizza with good ingredients.

Banh Mi Bros

Hipsterish Banh mi place, but you can be sure to find a veggie option.

Chinese Noodle Restaurant

More noodles, more dumplings. What else?

Noodle Restaurant across from IBC Book Store

This stand pops up in the evening and makes some delicious fried noodles.

Cousin’s Burger and Coffee

Really nice burgers and fries.

Where to stay

Blue Corner Hotel

Good location, about 19€/night. Rooms are a bit on the smaller side. Walking distance to the Royal Palace, night market, plenty of restaurants and shops around.

TeaHouse

This one is a bit fancier but still affordable (30€/night with breakfast). We loved this place, it’s decorated so nicely, the breakfast is delicious. Also walking distance to Royal Palace etc. They also have a nice pool.

Getting here

We came by minivan from Battambang with Mekong Express (around 10€/person). You can get to Phnom Penh by bus from plenty of places and there is an international airport.

Getting around

Tuktuks are everywhere and so far Phnom Penh is the only place we went to where you can call a tuktuk with Grab or Pass App. This will usually be cheaper than waving down a tuktuk on the street. There’s also regular Grab cars and taxis.