Making our way around Tonle Sap lake

The town of Battambang with its more than 200,000 inhabitants lies to the west of lake Tonle Sap. The town is not super touristy, which was really nice. Instead of following the tourist trail around, we were able to do a nice evening stroll through the local neighbourhood. We visited a quiet Buddhist temple where we found a beautifully painted room depicting the story of the Buddha. The local market had some very interesting produce on the bbq and lots of other things on offer and the French quarter has very well preserved colonial buildings.

On the touristy side we enjoyed the Bamboo train, visited a pottery with some interesting piggy bank designs and the Bat caves. For us the highlight was the visit to Phnom Banan Temple on a hill 20km outside town which, in addition to the old temple, offers great views of the area after climbing the 360 or so steps.

Temple near Battambang

Inside the temple

Fruit bats hanging around in trees next to the temple

BBQ mixture

French quarter

Fun Bamboo train

Piggy banks in various shapes

100 meter long bat cave is home to 3 million bats

Stairs to Phnom Banan Temple

Ta Dumbong - A giant statue to worship the “black man”

Colour of the rice paddies after harvest