Southeast Asia Adventure – Colourful Cambodia – Battambang Part 2

Before we start, here is a brief intro you’ll find at the start of all of my blogs!

This is a story-style travel blog featuring my adventure through Southeast Asia in the fall of 2024. I spent 1 week on my own in Laos, then joined a 14-day tour called Ultimate Cambodian Adventure from the company G Adventures, and a final 3-day solo stop in Singapore. You can read the blog in order, or about whichever destination intrigues you! Within my stories, I’ll offer some recommendations and some tips and tricks for a smooth journey. When I travel, I mostly do group tours and the reasons are:

* As a solo woman traveler, it is much safer especially if traveling long distances or to countries that can be dangerous in some areas

*The itineraries are amazing and usually include all of the things you’d want to see and do…and if not, there is free time to do as you wish

*You don’t have to worry about booking transport, finding hotels, etc. Sometimes that can contribute to the adventure, but it’s also nice to sit back and relax and let your Tour CEO be in charge

* And finally…the new people you meet on your tour become your family, and I’ve made lifelong friends in these journeys. For myself, this has equal importance with exploring new countries.

Cambodia is located in Southeast Asia; it is a land of ancient wonders and vibrant traditions.

The history is rich, and the country is abundant with temples – the most famous being Angkor Wat which is the largest religious monument in the world. Here you’ll find lush jungles, stunning natural landscapes beautiful baches, and the most kind and welcoming people you will ever meet. The population id around 17 million, with the majority being ethnically Khmer. In the mid 1860’s, Cambodia became a French protectorate, and gained d independence after World War II. You’ll still find a lot of French influence in the country. The country became involved in the Vietnam war, which brought in a takeover by the communist Khmer Rouge in 1975. During this time, Cambodia experienced one of the world’s largest genocides, carried out by the Khmer Rouge. I will talk more about this further on in this blog. Life isn’t easy for Cambodians today, as there are still much corrupt practices in their everyday lives, another problem has been the many unexploded landmines, but luckily the country is expected to be clean by the end of 2025.

Battambang is the third largest city in Cambodia, offering a more laid back option than the other larger cities. It was once a major trading hub during the French colonial era, and is a city rich in culture, arts and nature. There are lots of cool and unique things to see in Battambang, so I can’t wait to begin our second day here!

We have a nice early start at 7am today; not digging this at all but there’s a reason for this madness…we are heading to the morning market to grab some fun stuff to try for breakfast. Sam is back, and he’s going to show us more cool places that Battambang has to offer.

It’s a short walk from the hotel, and we begin at a fruit stand. This seems pretty easy. Green oranges, custard apples and mangosteen. I’ve never tried any of these things!

Then we head into the large market and it’s intense in smell, sound and visuals. So much going on! The next thing we buy are some sweet pastries like nom akor (sweet steamed rice cake), nom korng(donut), num plae ai (a dumpling made with glutinous rice flour, filled with palm sugar and coated with coconut flakes) and sticky rice wrapped in a banana leaf with red bean(this one is heaven).

Fun Fact: Num plae ai has the nickname “husband killer”. According to a Khmer fable, a newlywed wife makes these treats as a surprise for her husband when he returns home from work. He’s so excited that he quickly gobbles them down, but the super hot cakes combined with the sticky texture coats his throat and he dies. No one dies at breakfast today. Haha.

We continue though the market and now it’s onto the fun stuff…all the raw meat and seafood! Not a great smell first thing in the morning and it’s starting to make me feel nauseous.

We walk past full pig heads, all kinds of chickens and ducks, and many things I could not even identify and that’s probably a good thing. Haha. My favorite stall was the headless frogs with legs still twitching. Fresh!!

Sam brings us over to small coffee shop where we get some drinks and share all the yummy stuff we got from the market. A very unique breakfast and super fun to try all this food.

After this, it’s time to get into the tuk tuks and head over to one of Battambang’s most famous attraction – the bamboo train.

Quick history bit: a norry is an improvised rail service from Cambodia. Also nicknamed the bamboo train. It was a large network in the past but the Khmer Rouge shut it down. In 2018 there was an area of the tracks rebuilt for the train, offered as a tourist destination.

And now it’s time to mention that it is STUPID hot again today. And there will be no shade during the ride on the train so yay. The train guys put it the frame together….the heavy wheels are placed on the tracks, and then the large bamboo slat is placed on top of the wheels.

Finally, a motor is attached and then we’re on our way. It doesn’t go very fast, so it’s a nice relaxing ride with a bit of a breeze and the sun blazing down.

The unique thing about this ride is that if there is another train coming down the track, the bamboo train has to be disassembled and removed. This happens twice on our ride. We get off the train and stand to the side of the tracks while all the big strong guys take the train apart. We wait for the train to pass and then the guys put the train back together again and we resume the ride.

The whole thing is seriously so much fun!

After the ride, we hang out for a bit and I sit down to chat with a couple of locals who have a giant bowl of ants, which they are preparing to eat of course!!

I’m curious, but I decide not to try any; I’m not super big on eating bugs.

Back on the tuks tuks, and our next stop is this very scary looking statue. His name is Ta Dumbong.

He is known to take care of the city, and he’s holding a black magic stick that he used to depose the current king so that he could take over. It’s a long story, but then apparently he killed someone who he thought was trying to depose him, and then he disappeared.

And now back on the road for our last round of roadside food stops in Battambang. First, we stop where a woman is slicing bamboo with her giant knife.

She puts sticky rice and red bean inside and we scoop it out with our fingers. Delicious! There is a little boy here who is hanging around and checking us out, and at one point he picks up one of the giant knives! Yikes! Back home, you would consider it so dangerous for a child to have access to a knife of this size. But this kid seems fine, and his mother doesn’t seem too concerned.

Next up is a place where they make rice whiskey. There’s a guy kneading the rice on an old bedframe, and yeast gets spread overtop.

Then the whiskey is distilled in large kettles.

We are given shots of the whiskey, but I decline since I’m not feeling well from the heat and I feel like it will make me feel worse. But the rest of the group offers up a toast to new friends and new places with that very potent rice whiskey. A few days later, I mention to our tour CEO, Ratha, that I’d like to find somewhere where I can buy this rice whiskey. The next day he presents me with an old water bottle full of whiskey. Haha. Love this guy.

It’s time for lunch so we stop at the rice paper and spring roll restaurant. First, we watch the ladies make the rice paper.

We try these rolls and vermicelli noodles with chicken.

A very yummy and authentic meal. I don’t have much of an appetite today, but this is the right amount of food to try. It’s now time to say goodbye to Sam; he has been an amazing host. If you ever find yourself in Battambang, give him a ring!