Sihanoukville and Battambang

After Phnom Penh it was time to relax a bit.  Mike had left and I decided to spend a few days chilling at the beach.  One of the only significant beach towns in Cambodia is Sihanoukville, named after the Cambodian king.  On the 5 hour bus journey from Phom Penh to the coast I met one German and two Dutch travelers, and we shared a tuk tuk to look for a place to stay.

Sihanoukville is in the south along the coast

Based on a recommendation from our guidebook we tried a hostel called Mushroom Point.  It was booked up but we found a guesthouse nearby.  That night things were quiet, and the following day we realized that we were actually quite far from the city center.  It was nice to be near a relaxing, chill beach, but there wasn't much going on.  I preferred Serendipity Beach, where most of the hotels, restaurants, and bars were located.

The Dutch and German travelers were staying for longer, but after 3 nights I decided to move on.  Not that I didn't like Shinoukville, but I needed to keep going if I wanted to visit another spot in Cambodia before heading back to Thailand.  On a side note, if you are looking to get a job while traveling, Shinoukville seems to be a great place to do it - I saw lots of backpackers passing out flyers and pouring drinks at the local bars.

Serendipity Beach

this could be your job - well this isn't exactly
the typical Cambodian bar!

That next stop was Battambang, a provincial capital in western Cambodia.  Although it is roughly the same size as Siem Reap, it gets a sliver of the tourist crowd comparatively.  There aren't any attractions on par with Angkor drawing visitors to Battambang, but I still enjoyed my time there.  The town was cheap and the people friendly.  I saw a few Westerners but I could walk blocks without any signs of tourism (a definite good thing for me).

At my hotel I met a Mexican traveler and we shared a daily tuk tuk rental.  The driver took us to an Angkor-esque temple (albeit on a smaller scale) and a railroad operated with bamboo cars.  It was simply a floor of bamboo to sit on, no walls or ceiling.  The line is only a couple stops and used primarily for tourists these days.  We also visited a cave where every evening at dusk millions of bats fly out into the sky, separating into smaller groups to scour the surrounding countryside for insects.  The procession of bats exiting the cave lasts for over an hour!

central Battambang

the bamboo railroad

the procession of bats goes on for miles!

The evening after our day trip we met two Singaporeans and the four of us hit the town.  Well most places closed up by 9 or 10 pm, so it seemed we were out of luck.  But we found what probably was the only club open on that random weekday, and although there were less than two dozen people there we made it a fun night nonetheless.

After three nights in Battambang it was time to move on.  I was headed back to Bangkok, but not to stay for long.  In a repeat of my Christmas holiday trip to Europe, I was scheduled to go back to Germany.  More on that soon.