Battambang: The second biggest province and the rice bowl of Cambodia. It’s famous for their rice, which is harvested 1-2 times per year. The number of rice paddies in Battambang feeds the whole population of Cambodia!
It’s a relief we were getting out of Siem Reap as we felt like we were splashing out everyday! Siem Reap is great but it’s touristy to the point everything is built for the tourist and we felt it was hard to actually find local food so we went to restaurants instead that were pricey considering this is quite a poor country.
On our travels from Siem Reap to Battambang we saw countryside vendors selling the bamboo sticky rice. The rice from the fields are mixed with black beans, coconut milk and seasoned with salt and sugar before being roasted on a charcoal flame. Many people from different provinces come and buy them as souvenirs to take back home. Here is our guide Bun opening a bamboo sticky rice to eat.
Actually we really enjoyed Battambang. I think after coming from Siem Reap it’s good to see the countryside and escape from all the temples (not exactly escape as temples are everywhere) because they all start looking the same.
We spent 1 and a half the days with Bun. He’s such a good guide – perfect English and he was always joking and practising his slang that he’d picked up from tourists.
We toured the countryside zipping in between all the rice paddies. Because Cambodia is not that well developed yet many people make things using the traditional methods. A family making rice noodles, a family making spring roll pastry, an elderly women who made organic cigarettes (a favourite among the locals) and so cheap as well – 63 cigarettes for $1. Her job gave her enough money to support her husband and 8 sons. I hope these are passed down to the younger generation or it will be skills lost forever. We also talked a lot about food and Bun took us to the market to have a closer look at the produce. Their aren’t any modern supermarkets in Battambang and most people go to the market to buy their ingredients. We even had to frequent the markets a lot to buy snacks, water and shower gel.
We also learnt about Mr Battambang himself. There are lots of myths and legends about Battambang, which actually means the ‘lost stick city’. Legends say that a farmer found a special stick that possessed magical powers and he fought to overthrow the King. However seven years later he was overthrown by the King’s son and since then the stick has been lost.
We also spent another day with Bun. This time we went to the Bamboo train, which was the reason why we wanted to come to Battambang.
Most tourists who come have a go on the Bamboo train. It’s Really good fun sitting on this old rickety, makeshift bamboo platform, powered by the motor of a lawnmower. Asia seems to have a knack for innovating and finds uses for a certain thing. It feels dangerous and the ‘train’ can pick up quite a bit of speed, at some point 30mph but you just ignore it like most other things on our travels. It will be fine – the locals know what they are doing. The rail lines aren’t exactly perfect so the ride is bumpy as you move from one rail to the next.
As this is a one way train when we did meet incoming traffic, the rule of thumb was the train with the least amount of people got off to allow the drivers to put up the train and move it and the passengers would then get back on. Unfortunately the bamboo train will soon be closed in the future as they are getting a new rail system that goes through Bangkok. A shame as its a bit of novelty and supports a whole community. It’s not cheap at $5 per person for a 20 minute ride to a village and back. Oh and you ‘have’ to tip the driver too. It’s mandatory.
Above is Wat Banan with its steep set of stairs that lead to an run down temple with designs similar to that of Angkor Wat.
Phom Sampeu is where a killing cave is and a few Buddhist statues and a Buddhist stupa. Then we stood and waited at the bat caves waiting for them to come out as the sun was setting. We also stopped nearby a rice paddy to see the large group of bats from the far way distance. They looked at wisps of smoke.
If you want to book with Bun I would highly recommend it because he can speak really good english and will explain a lot about Cambodia, people’s way of living, traditional and modern ways of people. He was patient, on time and a good driver. His website is Bun Tours. Book with him as you won’t be disappointed!
This is a much better place to understand a bit more of the local culture.
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