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ព្រលប់Dusk · The provinces

Battambang, at Its Own Pace

The light turns, and the provinces begin to glow.

  • Battambang
  • 3 days
  • Local life
Register interest See the itinerary
A bamboo train on the rural line outside Battambang

The experience

Cambodia’s traditional second city keeps its treasures quietly: colonial streets and a flourishing art scene, the famous bamboo train rattling through the paddies, hilltop temples and, as the light turns, a river of a million bats pouring from the caves of Phnom Sampov into the evening sky.

Highlights

  • The colonial streets of Cambodia’s traditional second city
  • A flourishing art scene
  • The bamboo train through the paddies
  • Hilltop temples
  • A million bats leaving Phnom Sampov at dusk

In pictures

Three days in pictures

Shophouses with red roofs lining a street in Battambang
01The old townShophouses from the French years still line Battambang’s streets.
A painted face sculpture at the entrance to Phare Ponleu Selpak
02Phare Ponleu SelpakThe arts school founded in 1994, now with more than 1,200 students.
Palm trees along the banks of the Sangker River under a cloudy sky
03The Sangker RiverThe French laid out the town’s grid along its banks.
Two men lifting a bamboo train platform off the track
04The norryWhen two meet, the lighter one comes off the track.
Weathered stone towers of the temple on Phnom Banan
05Phnom BananFive 11th-century towers at the top of 358 steps.
Gilded statues of kneeling monks under parasols at Phnom Sampov
06Phnom SampovStatues of monks at prayer on Ship Hill.
A long stream of bats crossing the evening sky above the trees
07DuskBats pour out of the caves by the million to hunt over the rice fields.
The giant seated Buddha at Wat Ek Phnom against an evening sky
08Wat Ek PhnomThe giant modern Buddha beside the 11th-century temple.

Photos: 1 Milei.vencel, CC BY-SA 3.0 · 2 Saif Khraiwesh, CC BY-SA 4.0 · 3 Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0 · 4 paularps, CC BY 2.0 · 5 Martpan, CC BY-SA 3.0 · 6 Lohen11, CC BY 4.0 · 7 shankar s., CC BY 2.0 · 8 Sovichet Tep, CC BY-SA 3.0

The story

The town of the lost stick

Battambang means lost stick. Legend tells of Preah Bat Dambang Kranhoung, a king made by a magic black stick of rosewood and unmade when he lost it. The details change with every telling, but his giant statue still watches over a roundabout on Road 5 at the edge of town.

The town itself has changed hands more than once. Siam ruled Battambang from the 1790s until a treaty in 1907 returned it to Cambodia, then a French protectorate, and Thailand held it again from 1941 to 1946. The French laid out a grid of streets, canals and bridges along the Sangker River, and their shophouses, with wrought-iron balconies, arcades and pastel fronts, still line Streets 1, 1.5 and 2. It is Cambodia’s traditional second city, and it wears the title lightly.

The arts run deep here. Ros Serey Sothea, the golden voice of 1960s Khmer pop, was born in the province. In 1994, nine young people back from the Site 2 refugee camp founded Phare Ponleu Selpak, “the brightness of the arts”, with their art teacher Véronique Decrop. It now teaches visual arts, music, theatre and circus to more than 1,200 students, and in 2013 it set up the social enterprise behind Phare, The Cambodian Circus, in Siem Reap.

Itinerary

Three days in Battambang

  1. Day 1

    The old town

    Settle in, then walk the French grid along the Sangker River: shophouses with wrought-iron balconies and arcades on Streets 1, 1.5 and 2, and the galleries and studios of a town with a flourishing art scene.

  2. Day 2, morning

    The bamboo train and Phnom Banan

    Ride a norry, a bamboo platform on two loose axles driven by a small engine, rattling through the paddies. When two meet on the single track, the lighter one is lifted off to let the other pass. Then climb the 358 steps of Phnom Banan to the five towers of its 11th-century temple, with the plain spread out below.

  3. Day 2, dusk

    Phnom Sampov

    On Ship Hill, about 12 km south-west of town, a group of temples crowns the summit. Lower down, the Killing Caves hold a memorial to people murdered there under the Khmer Rouge, which your guide explains with care. Then, as the light goes, bats pour out of a cave in the hillside in a river that lasts half an hour or more, heading out to hunt insects over the rice fields.

  4. Day 3

    A slow last morning

    Out to Wat Ek Phnom, an early 11th-century temple about 9 km north of town, beside a giant modern seated Buddha, then back into town before you move on.

A sample plan. We shape every stay around you.

Plan your trip

The details

Duration
3 days
When
Any dates that suit you
Best time of year
November to February, when the days are drier and cooler
Format
Private
Where
Battambang and the countryside around it
Getting there
About three hours by road from Siem Reap, or four to five from Phnom Penh
What to wear
Shoulders and knees covered at the temples, and good shoes for Phnom Banan’s steps
Good to know
The bats leave the caves at dusk, so we plan that evening around sunset.

Before you go

Questions, answered

Does the bamboo train still run?

Yes, in a new form. The original line closed in 2017 when the railway was rebuilt, and a new tourist line, about 4 km long, opened in 2018 at the foot of Phnom Banan, south of town.

When do the bats come out?

At dusk, as the light fades. The stream lasts half an hour or more, and the bats fly up to 50 km to feed on insects, including pests of the rice crop.

Is the visit to the Killing Caves difficult?

It can be. The caves are a memorial to people killed there under the Khmer Rouge, and the glass case of bones is hard to look at. Your guide explains what happened with care, and you are welcome to go straight to the temples and the bats instead.

Why is it called Battambang?

The name means lost stick, after the legend of Preah Bat Dambang Kranhoung, a king who owed his throne to a magic rosewood stick and lost the throne when he lost the stick.

Isn’t it Cambodia’s second city?

Traditionally, yes, and many still call it that. By population, Siem Reap has since overtaken it.

Can we change the plan?

Yes. This is a sample plan, and we shape every stay around you.

Arranged around you

No fixed times. You choose when.

Every One Journey experience in Cambodia is private. Tell us your dates and who is travelling, and we will arrange it around you.

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