BATTAMBANG
Visiting Kamping Pouy Reservoir in Battambang
Kamping Pouy Reservoir is in Banan district, about 35 km from Battambang town. You can reach it by motorbike, tuk tuk or car and we do know people who cycle out there, although it’s nearly 70 km round trip so it does take some dedication. If you do choose to cycle, we wouldn’t suggest doing this in the afternoon as the ride back into town at dusk or in the dark can get dicey.
If you’re heading out by motorbike, continue past Phnom Sampov, take a right turn at the sign and follow the road. After passing a number of small villages and pagodas, you’ll eventually reach the dam wall.
The History of Kamping Pouy
The dam was built during the Khmer Rouge period, when labourers were forced to raise the embankment by hand. Thousands of people died from malnutrition, disease and exhaustion. It’s difficult to reconcile that history with Kamping Pouy today, where families come to eat, relax and watch the sunset and many people living around the reservoir depend on it for their livelihoods.
During the day there are plenty of small restaurants where you can order food and rent a hut. On one trip we paid 10,000៛ ($2.50) for a hut but we’ve also taken our own chairs and just purchased food and a couple of beers from the local sellers.
What to Do at Kamping Pouy
It is a great place to relax and read a book in a hammock whilst looking out at the dam. You can watch the world go by, with people making their way along the dam and small motorboats out on the water. You can also walk along some parts of the dam but there is not much shade so it will get hot pretty quickly.
It’s possible to charter a boat to go out on the lake and through the lotus fields. There is no dedicated place for this, but we suggest asking your tuk tuk driver to organise it if you want to go out on the water.
Our favourite time to go is around sunset, when the sun goes down across the water. If you come in the late afternoon you will find families, groups of young people and snack sellers gathering along the road.
You can buy popular snack foods along the dyke like grilled meats, corn, noodles and fruit. Some people gather on mats while others will pull up a plastic chair at one of the snack places. Just beware that you will be travelling back to Battambang in the dark if you come at sunset. So take extra care on your return trip and consider packing a light jumper.
And one little thing we only learned recently is that Kamping Pouy looks remarkably like a rabbit on the map, which is why you’ll sometimes hear it called the Rabbit Dam. Once you’ve seen it, it’s actually quite hard to unsee.
What else is nearby?
Kamping Pouy is easy to combine with a few other places if you want to make a day of it. You could visit another Khmer Rouge-built dam at Kanghout or continue on to nearby Sneung. We also like stopping at Turtle Mountain Pagoda, with its beautifully manicured gardens and hundreds of turtle sculptures.
We last visited Kamping Pouy in November 2025
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