Battambang | បាត់ដំបង

Battambang is a province that has our hearts. We lived there for several years and it’s where Nehru grew up and where his family still lives. It’s a province we believe is underrated but we love running into tourists who are so happy they spent a few days in Battambang.

The province is known as the ‘Rice Bowl of Cambodia’, and you don’t have to spend long in the province to see green paddy fields filled with rice. During the rainy season, the Tonlé Sap Lake swells across the eastern side of the province and there are plenty of opportunities to go bird watching, visit temples on a boat or even take the boat service between Siem Reap and Battambang.

Battambang City is where most people base themselves for a few days but Battambang Province also has Samlot, which is a great place to go camping (or glamping), visit waterfalls or do a homestay. As an area where several mine action organisations are based, it actually has a lot of guesthouses and restaurants but needless to say, don’t go off the path.

There are a huge number of things to do around Battambang but the most popular are the bamboo train and the bat caves. It’s easy to spend an afternoon visiting the Khmer Rouge Killing Cave, Phnom Sampov Pagoda and caves and still have time to try some locally caught field rat while waiting for millions of bats to emerge from the cave. Nearby is Wat Banan, where you can take 300 steps to the top of the Angkorian-era temple and see views across the region.  

In town, a walking tour around the central streets can take in the Art Deco-style market, Pshar Nat, French colonial architecture and murals. It’s also a great place to head for Mi Kola, the local noodle dish, or stop at the Dumpling Man for some hand-pulled noodles or dumplings.

There are quite a few options for day trips such as going to Ek Phnom to see the contrast of Ek Phnom’s new temple against the temple ruins, or visiting the newly restored Prasat Baset. You can also stop to see the Well of Shadows, a Khmer Rouge memorial next to the Wat Samrong Pagoda. Make sure you stop for some sticky rice cooked in bamboo just outside the pagoda.

A little further out you can visit Kamping Puoy, a popular sunset location on the Khmer Rouge-built reservoir, or Laang Spean, the prehistoric cave site where flaked stone tools dating back to around 71,000 years ago were unearthed.

Battambang is Cambodia’s first UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy and you can spend days eating your way around the city. Or buy some snacks from a cart and take it to eat with the hundreds of locals who watch the sunset at Battambang Airport each night.

And don’t forget to leave some time for Battambang itself. Whether it’s joining the evening exercise along the Sangke River, taking a photo with the statue of Sin Sisamouth, wandering into a local pagoda or passing green rice fields as you travel around the province, there’s always something going on and it’s usually pretty easy to get a front row seat.