Cambodia in 7 days!
Part 2
Read Part 1 here: Cambodia in 7 days! Part 1
Day 6–7: Battambang
The next day we left Siem Reap at 9:30 am and reached Battambang around 1 pm. This time, we booked a hotel (Asia hotel) as the price was similar to that of the hostel. The room was not that great. It was very small but at least it was clean.
Battambang is a small agricultural town, with rice being the main crop. We walked around in the afternoon and had a surprisingly good watermelon ice cream candy bar and also an awesome glass of sugarcane juice with sweet lime added to it. It was atrociously cheap ($0.73) for its giant cup size and delicious. Indian sugarcane vendors, add this flavor to your menu, please!
Then we got our very expensive RTPCR tests done in the Battambang Provincial Referral Hospital. They cost $132.5 each but we had no choice. All the doctors and nurses were very kind and helpful despite us communicating mainly through Google translate.
The next day, after we collected our test reports from the hospital and downing another glass of that awesome sugarcane juice, we went on our half-day tour with Nicky, our tuk-tuk driver. He is a very nice guy with a huge knowledge of Hindu mythology and we had some great conversations about Cambodian history and culture being intertwined with India. You can contact him through Whatsapp: +855 77 714 785
We first went to see fruit bats, a type of bats with orange heads. They are huge in comparison with regular bats and they eat fruits and nectar, hence earning their name. The only sad thing is the locals make the bats fly from the trees by disturbing them, and that happens multiple times a day. Those poor bats probably don’t get proper sleep.
Then we went to Wat Banan, an old temple built with a resemblance to Angkor Wat. It has around 300 steps with trees on either side and the view is beautiful from the top.
Then we headed to Phnom Sampov (Phnom Sampeau), the main attraction of Battambang. It’s a little tricky to get around Phnom Sampov, but Nicky had a laminated hand-drawn map and we were able to follow it easily. There are caves here called the Killing caves, and just like the Killing fields, thousands of people were beaten and thrown to their death. It is eerie in the caves and we couldn’t stand there for more than 5 minutes. On the brighter side, there is a 360-degree viewpoint and you can see the lush agricultural lands with the wind blowing in your face. There are several temples and Buddha statues along the way and at the top.
Around 5:15 pm, we headed down to the entrance to see the Bat caves. Millions of bats fly out from these caves every evening; it sure is a spectacle. You have to be at the entrance around 5–5:20 pm to get good seats and buy something from the shops in front. Otherwise, they won’t let you sit there.
We didn’t go to the Bamboo train ride as I read this article about how it has turned from a fun, thrilling experience into a tourist trap.
We left the same night on a bus to Phnom Penh. The design of the bus was very weird. It was a semi-sleeper double-decker bus and the lower seats didn’t have a platform; they were literally on the floor. I had to slide my legs into the space below the seat in front of me. It was crampy, I couldn’t turn to my side and this is coming from a 5 feet woman. I can’t imagine how a tall person would fit here. Also, the bus driver didn’t announce when we reached Phnom Penh at 5:30 am! The bus just stood there for a very long time and after I checked with the driver, he said yes and announced it. No one knew that we had reached Phnom Penh, and a lot of people got down. Our luggage was already outside the bus. So what would happen if we slept through and the bus just left without our luggage? I don’t even want to imagine.
If possible, travel during the day within Cambodia. Avoid night buses as much as you can.
We couldn’t go to the south side of Cambodia to Sihanoukville and Koh Rong, but maybe next time. I want to come back to Cambodia to revisit Angkor Wat, maybe after a couple of years. People here are so nice and polite, we were wary that they were trying to scam us because we are not used to such niceness!
Until next time, Cambodia.
Arkoon.
My tips to you:
- Visa: You can either get the tourist Visa online (T-visa) for $36 or get a visa on arrival ($30). Purely your choice, if you have time after arriving in Cambodia, better take the visa on arrival so you save $6.
- Use PassApp and Grab to book tuk-tuk or autos. It saves a lot of time and you don’t need to haggle with the drivers.
- Get a tourist sim. It’s cheap ($7 for a week) and if you are planning on using PassApp, then you need a Cambodian number.
- Carry an umbrella, hat, water, and sunscreen with you everywhere. We foolishly didn’t bring umbrellas and surprisingly didn’t find them being sold anywhere. Thankfully we had our hats but an umbrella would have been a game-changer.
- Check the dollars you get back as change very carefully! We heard a lot of stories of fake notes being given back to tourists and also found a fake note with ‘COPY’ written in small letters on it on the side of the road.
- Angkor Wat — it is recommended to buy the 3-day pass. We covered the temples that people usually take 2 days to explore in a day (sunrise to sunset), but if you want to explore Angkor further, a 3-day pass is the best.
- Wear pastel or bright colors when visiting Angkor Wat. All the temples are greyish in color, with moss green covering most of the area. So make sure your outfit pops for photos. Also, make sure that you wear appropriate clothing while visiting any temple in Cambodia.
- Not sure if this is to be said, but make sure your passport and other valuables are not within easy reach of a pick-pocket (there are plenty of them there). Side bags are the easiest to snatch from.
Our Itinerary:
Day 1: Reach Phnom Penh, check in to the Big Easy hostel and visit Wat Phnom, Central market, take a walk along the Mekong Riverside
Day 2: Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda (both are within the same compound), Independence monument, Russian market, Night market, spend some time at the Mekong riverside
Day 3: Half-day tour of Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and killing fields, Juniper Gin Bar at night
Day 4: Travel to Siem Reap, check in to the Onderz hostel, visit Angkor Wat National Museum and Phare circus
Day 5: Angkor Wat (Angkor Wat temple, Banteay Kdei, Srah Srang Reservoir, Ta Phrom, Pre Rup, Ta Som, Neak Poan, Preah Khan, Victory gate, Bayon, Baphuon, Terrace of elephants and the Leper king, South gate, Phnom Bakheng) and Pub street
Day 6: Travel to Battambang, visit Battambang central market, and rest
Day 7: Fruit bats, Wat Banan, Phnom Sampeau (Killing caves), Bat caves
Day 8: Travel to Phnom Penh and fly back to India
Links:
- Hostelworld — to book hostels for your stay
a. Phnom Penh — The Big Easy
b. Siem Reap — Onderz Siem Reap
c. Battambang — Asia hotel
2. Bookmebus — to travel to cities within Cambodia
