Top Things To See and Do in Battambang, Cambodia

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Want to see actual Cambodia? Come to Battambang While Battambang is the 2nd biggest city in Cambodia, it still isn’t a location that usually makes it onto the traveler container checklist. There are no white sand coastlines or boozy club creeps, however, rather, Battambang is a city packed with old holy places, pristine regional culture, and perhaps the very best Cambodian food in all the land. Just concerning a 3-hour bus ride from Siem Reap, Battambang makes for a fun stay before you head to Phnom Penh. While it’s a city of 250,000 people, it’s still got that small-town charm that entices you to lease a bike or a moto and just check out. Load a backpack for the day and also take place an adventure to find side-of-the-road food stands, roam brilliant environment-friendly rice areas, discover native land dust roads, endeavor over to some ancient temples and after that stand out right into a coffeehouse for an artisan cappucino. Life right here is slow and laid back- as a lot of places worth seeing typically are. Let’s discover the top things to see and do in Battambang.

Top Things To See and Do in Battambang, Cambodia

Phsar Nath Market

 

Top Things To See and Do in Battambang, Cambodia | Phsar Nath Market

Battambang’s the majority of central and also well-known site is the Phsar Nath Market- or else referred to as the Central Market. Integrated in the 1930s by French engineers, this market has a distinctive design that sets it apart from all various other buildings in the location. You’ll find French design storefronts as well as ceilings that you certainly would not expect to find in small-city Cambodia.

The marketplace functions as the major center for locals to deal with all types of fruit and vegetables. Like the majority of Cambodian markets, you’ll locate wet areas with fresh seafood and also hanging raw meat, as well as completely dry areas with fresh fruit as well as dried-out seafood. There are great deals of flavors, scents, and also views to be taken in. Go in the morning to see the top of the excitement.

See the Well of Shadows

 

See the Well of Shadows | Top Things To See and Do in Battambang, Cambodia
Top Things To See and Do in Battambang, Cambodia

As you first approach the Well of Shadows, it could look like an additional beautiful gold pagoda with spirals reaching towards the sky. Yet consider a bit closer and also you’ll see that this pagoda offers a deeper purpose.

The Well of Shadows stands to hallow the lives extremely lost during the Khmer Rouge. This monolith is except the pale of heart, as you’ll be welcomed by human skulls as well as bones– lots of with visible gunshot openings- encased in a huge glass box.

Below them are antiques portraying the horrors that happened throughout this dark time, consisting of torment and also murders.

To arrive, ride your bike or motorbike along the eastern side of the Sangkar River and you’ll fulfill the Well of Shadows about 6 kilometers north of Battambang.

Take place a Complimentary Walking Tour

Yes, free. The strolling trip leaves from the Main Market, (likewise called the Phsar Nath Market) at 4 pm when the weather is amazing. Your tour guide takes you around the central area mentioning French style and archaeological sites while bringing you some tasty fruit stands as well as regional stores. You don’t need to purchase anything and nobody will certainly push you, however, it’s all part of the fun to example some treats and this is exactly how they can make the tour free.

You’ll finish your stroll at around 6 pm, just in time to request dinner suggestions. This free walking tour is a terrific method to get familiarized with the city as well as will certainly offer you factors of referral for the remainder of your time in Battambang.

Hike to the Murder Cavern

 

Hike to the Murder Cavern | Top Things To See and Do in Battambang, Cambodia

Link your sneakers uptight and also head off on the beautiful hill trail where monkeys stray, birds sing, and also throngs of bats fly near sunset. You’ll pass serene pagodas, monuments, as well as statues- all resulting in a starkly various memorial.

Once you eventually reach the caverns, prepare yourself to find out about the horrors that plague this area during the Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror. As you descend right into the cave, you’ll notice the comparison between natural beauty and manmade horror. Once within, there will certainly be a museum of human bones lining the border of the cave.

Look above through the skylight. This is where the Khmer Rouge killed innocent households and scholars, after that pressing their bodies to fall under the actual cave in which you are standing.

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