Battambang Things to Do

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This temple is right in the middle of the town, just to the north of the market. It has a very ornate archway entrance and the main temple building is also very decorative but wasn't open when I visited.

There is a small town (Bospo Village) near Battambang. At Bospo Village, a group of local volunteers arrange english classes for kids after regular school (from 4 p.m.). Tourists as temporary teachers, even for one afternoon only, are very welcome. It is also possible to stay at the village for a longer period. There is a house (homestay) for those, who like to stay in a typical khmer village.

I did this for only for one afternoon (2 classes, each one hour), and it was a very touching experience, because the kids are so eager to learn.

If you want to do this, go to the Seng Hout Hotel (near the Old Market) and ask for Saveth. He is a Tuktuk driver and one of the founders of the organisation, who runs this project.

This is an orphanage run by a young Australian women called Tara. There is a website that will give you all the information needed to contact if you want to visit. We visited for a morning after we visited the rice warehouse to purchase 50 kilo which will feed the kids for 1 month. We also took some school stationary, pens and bits. The kids were great we played volleyball and they were very appreciative of our visit. I know there must be hundreds of such places around Cambodia and it is very hard to decide which one to visit and which one needs assistance but if you are visiting BB keep these kids in mind. I understand they take volunteer workers but not sure of requirements.

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We booked a day trip through Bustop GH at $US20pp and it was well worth it. We were picked up about 9am and dropped back at our hotel at 5pm. The cost included all entrance fees we just had to buy lunch which was very good and cost $US2 each . Places we visited were Watt Ekphnom, this is also known as the Killing Cave used by the Khmer Rouge to kill their people by throwing them down a hole into the cave. There is a small memorial that holds many skulls of the victims.
We also visited a ruin that is rumoured to be older than Angkor Watt.
We also took a ride on the famous Bamboo train.
Our guide and driver was called Ro his number he gave to us 855 012970513 he speaks very good English and is very knowledgable.

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I have read mixed reviews about this but we decided for $US8.50pp we would give it a go. We had a great time and made 3 delicious meals Amok fish, Beef Lok Lak & Stir fry chicken with basil. There were only the 4 of us and we had the full attention of Van who taught us everything from pounding our ingredients into curry pastes to slicing paper thin spices. We chose our dishes from the restaurant menu and there is the option of maket shopping for ingredients but as we were late to our class and he had another class at 6.30 we were not able to do that. The class runs for 3 hours and there was so much food we could not do it justice each of us cooked all 3 dishes and they were not small portions nothing was scrimped. We loved it and we even came away with a printed recipe book. Ignore the surrounds people have written that is looks filthy, why is it so popular etc but all our utensils were washed between preparing dishes as were the woks. It may not be everyones idea of a chef's kitchen but it was well worth the time and money and once Van relax's(I think this depends on his group) he is good fun.

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We booked a day trip at $US20pp through the Bustop GH and included in this was a ride on the Bamboo train. This was so much fun not sure about the health and safety aspect!!! We took a ride for about 15 mins each way, once we reeached the other end we had to get off so the guys could take it apart and re-assemble to go back the way we came. It is used by the locals to move between towns we were told that they even move livestock, not quite sure how that would work but we had a good laugh and it gets up to quite a speed. It can be a little hair raising if you see one comming in the opposite direction. There must be a protocol as our driver never slowed as we sailed past the train and it's passengers as they stood next to the track with their train in pieces.

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We did a 5,5h motorbike tour around Battambang including a ride with the bamboo train.

It was amazing! Our guides were very very friendly and explained a lot about the country and told us about the normal day live! We made a stop at a farm and at Phnom Sampeau

At the farm they explained how rice wine is produced. We also tasted it ... very strong!

Great fun was also the ride with the bamboo train.

Unfortuantely I forgot their names but ask in Royal Hotel, I guess they are alway around the hotel looking for tourist to offer their tour.

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A pleasant couple of hours to be had is hiring a moto-taxi and going out to Ek Phnom. Not really much to see but plenty of people to meet. Along the way we found a couple of weddings. Although I was not allowed to take photos, the people were very welcoming and happy that we took the time to stop for a look at a piece of local folklore. Ek Phnom is only 15/20 minutes moto ride from the centre of Battambang.