Too few travellers to Cambodia venture far past the big tourist draws of Angkor and Phnom Penh, and that’s a shame because there is still a whole undiscovered country out there. It’s no longer a spine-jangling journey across unpaved road to get to Cambodia’s second city, though the more adventurous will still enjoy the hair-raising speedboat trip, rushing past riverine villages and emerald banks of jungle and wetland in death-defying discomfort.

In Battambang itself you’ll find more remnants of Indochina’s past than anywhere else. Streets full of colonial French houses rot into
dignified decrepitude, mingling gracefully with the statues, wats and
relics of Cambodia’s more ancient heritage. Battambang is also a useful base for exploring the Cambodian interior, and due to the lack of tourists, a helpful moto driver and an obscenely cheap hotel are rarely far away.

Of course, there is a dark side to the nation’s history, and Battambang’s own killing field is a lesson in the most visceral of horrors. But if you’re looking to experience some of the ‘real’ Cambodia past the commercialisation of the main areas, the city is well worth a couple of days.