Welcome to Battambang

Dear Friends,

I am writing these lines from Battambang, Cambodia. Battambang is the second-largest city in Cambodia and a very livable and likable place. I have been living here for nearly two years.

Arriving here by bus from Siem Reap or Phnom Penh – and getting off the bus can be a bit of an intense experience. Hordes of motorbike taxi and Tuk Tuk drivers are trying to give you a ride – and sometimes they also take you for a ride. But, this is as intense as it gets in Battambang.

Once you’ve moved into your guest house or hotel, Battambang becomes a very enjoyable and slow-paced place:-)

Indeed, you need to spend a few days here to adjust to its pace and really appreciate it, especially after coming from a prime-tourist place like Siem Reap (Angkor). Both, the locals and the foreigners you meet here, are for the most part not in the tourist business – you can meet some really interesting people in Battambang, who have come to live and work here.

Some of us have been here since the early 1990s when the area around Battambang wasn’t really safe and the neighboring province to its west, Pailin, was still a Khmer Rouge stronghold. Pailin City – was the Wild West…. But don’t get concerned – a lot has changed,

Battambang is now a very safe place to travel to and hang around. Welcome to Battambang 🙂

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