After a nice and relaxing week in Siem Reap, we decided to move further.

As our next destination would be Vietnam, we needed to apply for the tourist visa in Cambodia. There is a Vietnam consulate in Battambang Cambodia and one Vietnam visa section in Phnom Penh. Battambang was on our way, and Phnom Penh was our final destination in Cambodia. We decided to do the entire Vietnam visa procedure in Battambang (you can read more about this in our other post)

So, next destination: Battambang.

Battambang is the second bigger city in Cambodia, but not as popular as Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. It is more traditional, cheaper, genuine and not touristic.

There is actually not much to do in the city itself, but the surroundings seem to be really nice, and there is a lot of history behind.

We took the early morning Mekong Express’ bus from Siem Reap (8 $ per person), and we arrived in Battambang around 11.30 am.

We have been welcomed, as usual, by dozens of smiley tuk-tuk drivers, willing to bring you everywhere you want… even few meters away 🙂

We didn’t book any hotel, as our main urgency was to go to the Vietnam consulate and ask information about how and when we could get the visa (we tried to reach them by email and by phone so many times, without success).

At 2 pm we went to the consulate and finally, we could “speak” with the only employee there. He kind of explained to us that it was ok to apply for the visa there, but it would take more than 3 working days as there was the weekend in between.

No problem, we need the visa so we will find something to do for all those days.

 

ACCOMMODATION in Battambang (Cambodia)

After submitting the application, we went to the city to find accommodation. We walked to a few hotels and hostels. As the hotel quality was not thrilling, we finally choose to spend 2 nights in a dorm at the hostel “The place”. The hostel was nice, with a wonderful rooftop but we left earlier because of a little inconvenient: bed bugs.

We moved to another hostel called “Pomme”. This was the weirdest place we ever stayed. The rooms were all on the 1^st floor, and they were like closets: inside there was literally space just for the bed and one small fan.

There were 2-3 rooms with window: we had one of them on the 1st night, and then not anymore. We thought “never mind, we will only sleep here”. At that time we didn’t realize that in Battambang is really warm (36-39°C). You don’t want to know how hot it was in that room during the night!! Despite all, we stayed there for the rest of our stay as the ambience downstairs was really chill and comfortable for both relax and work.

 

WHAT TO DO in Battambang (Cambodia)

1) explore the city

You can discover the city by walk or by tuk-tuk, it’s up to you. The inconvenient is that it is really hot, and can be tiring to walk around. As mentioned, there is not much in the city. We went to the market where you can find clothes, beauty products, food and jewellery. Because of the heat, meat and fish can get really smelly so that part of the marked can be killing.

We also went to the shopping mall, which is not really a shopping mall but a mass of small shops selling almost all the same things. Not worth the visit.

In the evening there are night markets along the river (some say that they are a bit touristy) and street food all around.

2) go to the circus

It is a partially different concept of “circus”. First of all, there are no animals. Secondly, it is a group of students from the Phare Ponleu Selpak school, performing stunts in a really funny way. It is a simple but intense spectacle, we really enjoyed the show and the passion of these young acrobats. The money they collect will help them to improve their school, gears, and change children’s lives by bringing art and education among them.

3) an excursion outside Battambang

The hostel “Pomme” was organizing full-day excursions, too. We decided to go for the most popular one including visits to some local artisans, lunch, temples, bat caves.

Our guide was Tony, a very nice and friendly 40-years-old Cambodian guy. He picked us up at the hostel with his VIP tuk-tuk with very comfortable seats. You can read more about this excursion in another post 🙂

 

RESTAURANTS in Battambang (Cambodia)

In the city, there are several local restaurants, of course. But you can find also tasty and inviting street food zones. We went to the ones in the night market, along the river. Good food at a cheap price.

In addition to that, believe it or not, we ate the best pizza ever (or at least the best pizza so far in South East Asia). We need to thank the restaurant La Pizza in Battambang! We tasted several types of pizzas, and they were all so tasty, the ingredients were authentic, above all mozzarella and tomato sauce. But the best one was the one with gorgonzola, walnuts, spinach, onion and honey 🙂

There is also a very good and interesting restaurant named “HOC”, offering original lunch and dinner options, and a buffet breakfast for 3 $. Interesting because it is a non-governmental and non-religious association called “hope of the Children”. The aim is to offer education and food to future generations.

Every product is hand-made, starting from bread, jam and yoghurt. In addition to that, they have fruit plantations so all their fruits are organic and km 0. Delicious!

 

All in all, the stay in Battambang has been cooler than expected! Happy to have included this stop in our itinerary.

On the last day, we went back to the Vietnam consulate, we picked up our passports and visa and went to the bus station, waiting for our next adventure.

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