Battambang Attractions

Battambang Museum

Battambang’s Museum is not as well blessed with exhibits as its counterparts in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, however it still houses a treasure trove of beautifully sculpted lintels and other substantial artifacts from all over Battambang Province, including pieces from Phnom Banan and Sneng, as such it should be a definite stop on anyone's visit to Battambang. Two particularly interesting pieces are a 13th century statue of a Bodhisattva ‘tattooed’ with a thousand Buddhas, and a well worn depiction of Yama on a buffalo. Next door to the Museum is a small exhibition area that often has interesting displays featuring information on local agriculture and fishing practices, and local legends and folk tales.

Kamping Puoy Lake

Today Kamping Puoy is a large recreational lake located between two hills, and is popular with locals at weekends enjoying the pleasant views, picnic spots, swimming, and renting boats to explore the lake. However, the current tranquility belies the fact that Kamping Puoy was one of the Khmer Rouge’s grander schemes – a massive hand built dam stretching for about 8km between the two hillsides. It is said that as many as 10,000 Cambodians perished during its construction, worked to death under the shadow of executions, malnutrition and disease. There is no monument to these victims however the defunct irrigation system from the reservoir has recently been restored and the much needed water now feeding the surrounding rice fields makes a fitting memorial. If you are a keen bird watcher there is the possibility to see various birds, such as herons, egrets, pygmy cotton geese, whistling ducks, and lily trotters amongst others. Kamping Puoy is 36km south west of Battambang down a rough road that starts just beyond Phnom Sampeau.

Ksach Puoy Village

Ksach Puoy village south of Battambang on the road to Phnom Banan is worth stopping off at. It is a delightful area on the banks of the Sangker River famed for its variety of naturally grown tropical fruits. After the rainy season farmers plant all kinds of vegetables along the fertile river banks, here you can enjoy a walk along the banks learning about traditional agriculture. There is a weekly fruit market near the rickety wooden and rope suspension bridge spanning the river, here the local farmers offer fresh seasonal fruits – a great opportunity to taste juicy oranges, sweet pineapples, and other fruit… The village pagoda is beautiful, according to local monks it is over 100 years old constructed when Battambang was under Thai rule. The cooing of the many pigeons, the lily ponds, the teak trees lining the river, and the surrounding banana plantations make for a peaceful setting. Ksach Puoy is also home to two local charities. Friends Economic Development Association (FEDA) have established a community / youth centre catering to local poor children who have little other opportunity to advance in life. SABORAS also helps the poor, especially women, children and the handicapped, gain sustainable livelihoods through community development work. Amongst other projects in and around the Battambang area SABORAS has a Handicraft Centre at Ksach Puoy which produces local crafts such as kramers (traditional Khmer scarf) and silk shirts. This project provides income opportunities for poor widows and preserves traditional weaving methods. The income generated from the center’s activities provides additional funding for the organisation’s other projects.

Phare Ponleu Selpak

Phare Ponleu Selpak is an organisation which gives the opportunity to Cambodian children and young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds to have access to Khmer culture via different visual artistic activities, the most well known being the circus training school. However, other activities include traditional schooling, drawing, music, dressmaking, and a community leisure centre. Watching a circus performance of tumbling, juggling, acrobatics, magic tricks and clowning whilst being informed of contemporary social issues such as HIV/AIDS, drug addiction, disability, and landmine awareness is a rare treat. A rare treat as the performance schedule is not released with much notice, so once in Battambang check with your hotel or guide as to whether there is a showing. If so you will be treated to a welcome cocktail whilst you view the art exhibition, then be thrilled by the energetic circus show, and afterwards enjoy a traditional Khmer meal. However, if you would like to support Phare Ponleu Selpak and become involved in the work that they do we can arrange a unique homestay experience. Here you will stay in a traditional Khmer home with one of the students family’s, be able to watch the circus students training, and with a picnic lunch explore the local countryside with the art students practicing your sketching skills on the way.

Phnom Banan

The 11th century mountaintop Angkorian ruin of Phnom Banan is the best preserved of the Khmer temples around Battambang. As you approach you will see the distinctive five towers pointing skyward, like a smaller version of Angkor Wat. At the base of the mountain you are faced with a steep laterite staircase flanked by nagas. After climbing the 350+ steps you are treated to a wonderfully peaceful setting. The temple was built by Udayadityavarman II, son of Suryavarman I, and despite some looting it is in a considerably better state of repair that Wat Ek Phnom. Several delightfully carved lintels remain above some of the towers doorways, others are now housed in the Battambang Museum. From the mountaintop are superb views across the surrounding countryside, with small villages dotting the endless rice paddies which are punctuated with the characteristic sugar palm trees. To the south you will see Crocodile Mountain, and to the north west Phnom Sampeau. Towards the base of the mountain is a cave called L’Ang But Meas, it is quite a scramble down the mountainside to reach it, but worth it. After squeezing through an easy to miss fissure in a small rocky outcrop and after a couple of short squatted crawls the cave opens into two magical large airy caverns, with a shaft of light penetrating from above. Here you will see a large stalactite hanging from the ceiling with sacred sparkling water dripped from it into a bowl below. Local legend says that drinking this water leads to knowledge of the past, present, and future. The short walk around the base of the mountain back to the car park passes through a peaceful stretch of countryside where you can listen to the birds, skirt a small pond, and pass a very old traditional pagoda.

Phnom Sampeau

Phnom Sampeau is a hilltop pagoda sat on a striking elongated limestone outcrop 15km from Battambang and is steeped in legend. Phnom Sampeau is well-known to all Cambodians because of the legend of Rumsay Sok - local legend says that the outcrop is the broken hull of a ship, sunk by a crocodile whose love for Rumsay Sok was unrequited; when she and a prince, her fiancé, took to the sea, they were attacked by the crocodile and drowned. To punish the crocodile the local villages drained the sea until the crocodile died, its body being represented by the nearby Crocodile Mountain. As well as the hilltop pagoda the mountain is dissected by a number of caves some more accessible than others. The main stairway up the mountain consists of an energy sapping 700+ steps! However, there is a track which winds its way more gently up the mountain side. The pagoda itself is unexceptional, however Phnom Sampeau is an important site in terms of Cambodia’s recent history. During the Khmer Rouge era, some of the pagoda buildings were used as a prison and interrogation centre – victims were then pushed through a hole in the roof of a cave to fall to their deaths. A narrow rocky path behind the pagoda leads to the bottom of this cave where the remains have been placed in a shrine. Phnom Sampeau was of strategic significance as recently as the factional Government – Khmer Rouge fighting of 1995, and there are still two large field guns on the mountainside pointing off to what were Khmer Rouge positions.

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