Getting to Battambang
 

Air: At time of printing there are no flights to Battambang.

Siem Reap to Battambang
Boat: Siem Reap to Battambang Daily ferry departs Siem Reap for Battambang at 7:00am. $12-$15/person. It's a picturesque, 4-7 hour journey across the Tonle Sap and up the Sangker River in the wet season, but can be considerably longer in the dry season due to low water levels. Ask about current conditions. The boats in no way meet international safety standards. There is no direct boat from Phnom Penh.

Road: Siem Reap to Battambang (National Routes #6 and #5, via Sisophon): Much of the stretch between Siem Reap and Sisophon is in poor condition. The road from Sisophon to Battambang is in good condition. Taxi: A private taxi is $30-$35. 3-5 hours.

Phnom Penh to Battambang
Road: Phnom Penh to Battambang (291km, National Route #5): The road is paved and in good condition.

Bus: Neak Krorhorm Travel (012-956670), Rith Mony, GST, Capitol Guesthouse (023-217627) and Phnom Penh Sorya Transport (023-210359), all offer several daily buses between from Phnom Penh to Battambang. Call for schedule and location. All charge $4-$4.50 with departures all day long, but most departing in the morning before noon. The trip takes 5 hours. In Battambang, buses depart from the various transportation company offices near the taxi stand and on Route #5. See the Battambang map for exact locations.

Taxi  A private taxi is $35 - $40. Shared taxi: 25,000R per person. 4 hours. Prices for local transport are very nominal, but are also crowded and uncomfortable. Buy more than one place for the extra leg room.

Train: The train cars are old and the system in a poor state, but the train between Battambang and Phnom Penh is still running, one a week. To Battambang departs 6:20AM Saturday. To Phnom Penh departs 6:30AM Sunday. 22,000R/person. 12 hours. For the adventurous only.

Getting Around Battambang
Like most of Cambodia, the choice is motorcycle taxi (motodup), rent a car with driver, or rent a motorcycle. Your hotel can arrange a car or motorcycle rental. Cars are about $20/day and motorcycle rental runs $5-$8/day - a bit more expensive than other towns. Motodups are plentiful during the day. Just step onto the street and they will find you. They can be much more difficult to find at night. A ride in town should range 500 to 1500 riel.

Battambang Hotels/Guesthouses

Bus Stop Guesthouse

$6-$20

B/FRF Clean, new western managed guesthouse in the center of town offering fan and a/c rooms with cable TV, en suite bathroom. Wifi internet access. Western breakfasts.
Tel: +(855) (0)53-730544
E-mail: info@busstopcambodia.com
Website: www.busstopcambodia.com

La Villa

$40-$50

F/SRF Nicely restored 1930s colonial house. Six rooms with a/c and fan, stylishly decorated with antiques and Art Deco furniture. Western and Asian food and a wide selection of cocktails served in the a/c restaurant or garden. Tel: +(855) (0)12-991801, +(855) (0)53-730151
E-mail: lavilla@online.com.kh
Website: www.lavilla-battambang.com

Park Hotel

$5-$12

B/FRF Overlooking a nice little park near the entrance to town. A/c and fan rooms with attached bathroom, cable TV, hot water and fridge. Free pick up.
Tel: +(855) (0)53-953773, +(855) (0)12-817170
E-mail: park_hotelbtb@yahoo.com

Spring Park Hotel

$6-$35

B/FRF Located near the New Iron Bridge at the south end of town. A/c and fan rooms with all amenities including IDD and Internet port. En suite bathroom. Conference room. Elevator. Free Pick up. Boat, bus tickets available.

Tel: +(855) (0)12-849999
E-mail: spparkhotel@yahoo.com

Star Hotel

$10-$48

FRF Hotel offering en suite a/c rooms with cable TV, mini-bar, wood furniture and nice decor. Private balconies. Internet. Tour and transportation services. Travelers checks accepted.

Visa
Tel: +(855) (0)12-894862, +(855) (0)16-944955
Website: www.asrhotel.com

Teo Hotel

$11-$44

FRF Immaculately clean en suite a/c rooms with cable TV and hot water. Meeting room. Restaurant. A favorite for NGO and business travelers.

MC
Tel: +(855) (0)12-857048

Battambang Restaurants/Bars

Chinese Noodle Restaurant Inexpensive local restaurant Just a few doors down from the White Rose. Very good fresh made noodles, noodle soup, lots of Chinese dishes. Good local breakfast place.

La Villa Western and Asian food and a wide range of cocktails served in an a/c restaurant or garden of a nicely restore 1930s colonial villa. Western managed.
Tel: 012-991801

Phkay Proek Popular local restaurant serving Thai, Khmer and Chinese dishes. Good place for a real Cambodian dinner where the locals dine. Occasional live music in the evenings. 6AM - 10PM

Riverside Balcony The name says it. Very pleasant riverside location. Western managed balcony bar and restaurant hovering over the banks of a quiet stretch of the Sangker River. Beer, spirits and good conversation. Burgers, pasta, enchiladas, specials on the board.
Tel: 053-730313

Smokin Pot Well-known of \\n the traveler’s circuit. Serving authentic Khmer and Thai food and also runs half-day Cambodian cooking courses. Tel: 012-821400

Sunrise Coffeehouse Western style bakery/cafe with a variety of pastries, pizza, pies and cookies, western breakfasts and a good selection of coffees and teas Located at the back of town near the Royal Hotel. Open 6:30AM-5PM, closed Sundays.

White Rose Long popular with the NGO/IO crowd, this small, corner shop Cambodian restaurant offers an extensive menu of very reasonably priced Cambodian and Thai food. 6:30AM - 10PM.

Battambang: What to See
Battambang City is absolutely full of wonderful colonial-era architecture and historic old pagodas, and the surrounding countryside harbors not only Angkorian-era temple ruins and pagodas but also offers some of the most picturesque rice paddy and village scenery in the country. The new edition of Ray Zepp’s essential guide to Battambang and the surrounding area, Around Battambang, is available at tourist hotels and restaurants throughout Battambang City. Zepp’s 164 page guide contains invaluable information on Battambang’s historic pagodas, Angkorian era temple ruins, surrounding countryside and local travel details. Highly recommended. 

Bamboo Train The bamboo train is a unique and creative form of ad-hoc local transportation. It consists of a small (perhaps 2.5m x 4m), motorcycle engine-powered bamboo cart that rides the railroad rails picking up and dropping off passengers, cargo, animals, motorcycles along the way. When it meets on on-coming train or bamboo train, it can be disassembled and taken off the rails in a minute or two, allowing the other to pass. When touring the countryside ask your driver to take you to a rail crossing where you can meet a bamboo train to take a ride.

Circus In partnership with Asian Trails, the Phare Ponleu Selpak NGO gives Cambodian children from poor and disabled families the opportunity to “have access to culture via different artistic activities” including music, drawing drama, dancing and circus. See traditional Cambodian circus acts daily beginning at 7:00PM or 8:00PM. US$6 admission. Contact Asian Trails (Tel/Fax: 053-730088 in Battambang, or 023-216555 in Phnom Penh), or the Phare Ponleu Selpak office (Tel: 053-952424, 012-890360) for the schedule. Located on Route #5 about 1km west of town.

Website: www.phareps.org .

Cooking Classes The Smokin Pot restaurant offers Khmer and Thai food cooking classes on request. Class daily from 9:00AM - 1:30PM at the Smokin Pot. Learn three recipes and prepare lunch in the process. Book a class at the Smokin Pot a day in advance.

Countryside Tour The rural countryside outside of Battambang is National Geographic picturesque. Within just a few kilometers of town the countryside turns into small villages filled with stilted houses and rice paddies that stretch to the horizon. You’ll see plenty of countryside on the way to any of the local sites. Check out some of the local products in the making - rice paper, noodles and the fishpaste market. It’s all very traditional if not a bit unhygienic and smelly, but a interesting experience and adventure nonetheless. The roads are often rough and during the dry season. always exceptionally dusty. Bring a good hat and a krama to cover your nose and mouth. 

Ek Phnom is an 11th century Angkorian-era ruin built as a Hindu temple under Suryavarman I. The temple consists of prasats on a platform with some carvings in pretty good condition. Wat Ek Phnom, a modern pagoda, sits next to the ruin. The river road drive to Ek Phnom from Battambang passes through small villages and rice paddies and is an absolutely beautiful countryside drive. 

Phnom Banan is a mountain top, 11th century Angkorian-era ruin consisting of five prasats. Peaceful location with a nice view of the area. Also L’Ang But Meas cave. Very old (150 years+) active pagoda at the base of the mountain.

Pagodas Both Battambang town and the surrounding countryside are replete with pagodas, some of them very old and highly respected. See Ray Zepp's book Around Battambang for complete information about visiting the local pagodas.

Phnom Sampeou Mountain, steeped in legend, and topped by Wat Sampeou and a group of caves used as ‘killing caves’ by the Khmer Rouge, containing the skeletal remains of their victims. The wat is unexceptional but the view is spectacular. Ask about the legend of Neang Rumsay Sok. 

Provincial Museum The Battambang Provincial Museum on the riverfront road in the center of town houses a large collection of Angkorian and pre-Angkorian artifacts - statues, carvings, bits of ancient temples, pottery, etc. If you find the Museum open, it is well worth a visit. Opening hours seem rather irregular, more likely to be open in the morning than the afternoon. If it is closed but you see a guard present, stop and tell him your are interested in the Museum and if they don’t open it for you then, they will have it open and ready for you the following morning.

Shopping in Battambang
Phsar Nath in the center of town is the main phsar (traditional market) and is geared to the locals, sporting the usual variety of fruits, vegetables, meat, clothes, sundries, food stalls, etc. Gem dealers, a couple of banks, photo shops and moneychangers line the streets that ring the phsar. Phsar Leu, just south of town, seems to be the place to buy the local specialties: oranges and pomelos from Pursat province. The oranges are said to be the best oranges in the country.

Chea Heang Drink Shop on the west side of Phsar Nath offers ice cream bars, cheeses, yogurt, wines, and other imported items.

Local goods Marble sculpture from Pursat province, woodcarvings from Battambang and sapphires from Pailin dominate the souvenir market in Battambang. Many of the hotels as well as the small souvenir/art/curios shops on Road #1 on the river in the center of town offer a selection of wood and marble products. The art shops have a better selection than the hotels and a couple have very interesting collections of curios, old trinkets, coins, antiques and oddities - well worth a look.

Cambodian sapphires and rubies mined in Pailin near the Thai border are brought to Battambang to be graded, cut and polished. There are some good deals on stones in Battambang but be very careful when buying. Fake and low quality jewel scams are common so you need to know gemology or know your gem dealer very well. Gem and gold dealers are located in the center of Psah Nath, in little shops surrounding the psah, and in a few shops on Road #1.  

Internet/Phone in Battambang
There are Internet shops all over town. KCT Internet Cafés has a shop next to the White Rose restaurant. Teo Hotel also has a small Internet shop. Access is relatively fast and stable. About $1.50/hour. Most internet shops offer very inexpensive internet phone.

Banks in Battambang
Money Like the rest of Cambodia, the Cambodian riel is the official currency but the US Dollar is the de facto tender. Hotel prices are set in dollars. Unique to Battambang and western Cambodia, Thai baht is in common use as well. 

Banks All banks encash travelers checks and change money. Canadia Bank, UCB and ANZ Royal Bank are located in front of Phsar Nath. All have ATMs and offer credit card advances. Acleda Bank on the east side of the river has Western Union. SBC on Road #2 has credit card advances. Moneychanger/goldsellers are concentrated around the market with a few along Road #1.

Canadia Bank Plc.
Full range of banking services, including MoneyGram, Traveler Cheque & Foreign Exchange
The North of Phsar Thom Market, Battambang
Tel: (855-53) 952 267 Fax: (855-53) 952 005
Telex: CANADIA KA36188, SWIFT Code: CADI KH PP
E-mail: canadia.bb@canadiabank.com.kh
Web-site: www.canadiabank.com

Updated 09/07