Battambang is best known for its Angkor-period ruins at Ek Phnom and Phnom Banan, but there's also Phnom Sampeau — the site of the local Killing Fields.
Big-ticket attractions aside, what often swings it for Battambang is the laid back, sleepy feel to the place. It's an attractive town in a rundown kind of way with a few colonial shopfronts and pretty tree-lined streets. Spend an evening by the riverfront munching away on fried bugs and other critters and no doubt you'll be sold.
One oddity of Battambang province is the rain gambling. Although it does happen all over Cambodia, this is the epicentre of the phenomenon. Fortunes are won and lost betting how much rain will fall at a given place at a given time. When in the capital, keep an eye out for people clustered on the roofs of the buildings overlooking the central bus station. Clutching walkie-talkies, they're communicating with both their rain-spotters who are scattered across the surrounds monitoring the clouds and their bookies at Phsar Boeung Chhoeuk. The bookies can be a bit shy about having their photo taken, but they're not too worried if you're just there to check it out.
Battambang is Khmer for "disappearing stick", referring to a legend about a cowherd named Ta Dambong who found a magic stick and used it to usurp the then-king. The king's son ran off to the woods and became a monk. In the meantime, Ta Dambong had a dream that a holy man on a white horse would vanquish him, so he decided it would be a good idea to have all the holy men rounded up and put to death. When the prince heard he was required to go into town, a hermit came up and gave him a white horse. When the prince got on the horse he found it could fly. When he flew into town, Ta Dambong realised his dream was coming true so he threw his magic stick at the prince and did a runner. Neither he nor the magic stick was ever seen again.
Big-ticket attractions aside, what often swings it for Battambang is the laid back, sleepy feel to the place. It's an attractive town in a rundown kind of way with a few colonial shopfronts and pretty tree-lined streets. Spend an evening by the riverfront munching away on fried bugs and other critters and no doubt you'll be sold.
One oddity of Battambang province is the rain gambling. Although it does happen all over Cambodia, this is the epicentre of the phenomenon. Fortunes are won and lost betting how much rain will fall at a given place at a given time. When in the capital, keep an eye out for people clustered on the roofs of the buildings overlooking the central bus station. Clutching walkie-talkies, they're communicating with both their rain-spotters who are scattered across the surrounds monitoring the clouds and their bookies at Phsar Boeung Chhoeuk. The bookies can be a bit shy about having their photo taken, but they're not too worried if you're just there to check it out.
Battambang is Khmer for "disappearing stick", referring to a legend about a cowherd named Ta Dambong who found a magic stick and used it to usurp the then-king. The king's son ran off to the woods and became a monk. In the meantime, Ta Dambong had a dream that a holy man on a white horse would vanquish him, so he decided it would be a good idea to have all the holy men rounded up and put to death. When the prince heard he was required to go into town, a hermit came up and gave him a white horse. When the prince got on the horse he found it could fly. When he flew into town, Ta Dambong realised his dream was coming true so he threw his magic stick at the prince and did a runner. Neither he nor the magic stick was ever seen again.
