Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SUBTERRANEAN HOMESICK BOOZE
Beer may still be the Cambodian tipple of choice, but Francophone Battambang is doing its
best to diversify the range of alcoholic drinks on offer. Around 10km south of town, the
Phnom Banon Vineyard
is the country's first winery, producing a range of reds including
Shiraz and Vietnamese Black Queen varieties. The results, by common consent, leave quite a lot
to be desired, although with an annual production (and, presumably, consumption) of more
than six thousand bottles they must be doing something right. More palatable are the various
palm wines and spirits
on offer around town (try
Pomme d'Amour
or
Madison Corner
),
including assorted brews produced by the Confirel group (
W
confirel.com). These include the
feisty Jaya Palm Spirit (40 percent), tasting a bit like brandy, and Kirel Palm Wines (8-11
percent), available in ginger, pineapple and “original” flavours - the last resembling a slightly
raw but very drinkable Spanish
fino
.
2
Vietnam, India and elsewhere - anything from Vietnamese
vinyl and classic Cambodian cassettes to underground
comics and Crumb cartoons.
Daily noon-10pm.
Sammaki Gallery
Street 2.5
W
facebook.com
/sammakibtb.
Chic modern gallery hosting
regularly changing displays of work by local artists
from Battambang and beyond.
Daily 1-5pm.
Smiling Sky Bookshop
Street 3, next to the
Chaya hotel
T
099 447066.
Well-stocked secondhand
bookshop with plenty of fiction both pulp and literary,
plus a good selection of Cambodian-related titles.
Daily 8am-7pm.
DIRECTORY
Consulate
The Vietnamese consulate is north of Psar Nat
on Street 2 (Mon-Fri 8-11am & 2-5pm).
Health
Avoid the provincial hospital near the river, where
facilities are basic and conditions none too clean. You'll be
better off at a private clinic - try the Phsarnat Polyclinic,
north of the market, or the Polyclinique Visal Sokh (
T
053
952401 or
T
012 843415), next to the Vietnamese
Consulate north of the centre.
Internet
Try the well-equipped World Tel on Street 2, or
World Net, diagonally opposite between streets 2 and 1.5
(both daily 7am-8pm; 2000 riel/hr). Virtually all the hotels
(see p.118) and restaurants (see p.119) that we review
have free wi-fi.
Laundry
Available at several places including the aptly
named
Laundry Bar
(Street 2; near the Chinese temple
$1.50/1kg of washing).
Massage
Seeing Hands (massage by the blind) is available
at several places around town, including next door to
Gecko
café; a few doors west of
Madison Corner
; and next to
Sunrise
Coffee House
. Don't expect any frills though - you might find
yourself being massaged in full view of the street.
Money
There are plenty of ATMs around including at the
Canadia, ANZ and ABA banks (all of which accept both Visa
and MasterCard).
Phones
There are cheap-rate phone booths near the
market for domestic calls, and a couple of Camintel booths
on the south side of the market for international calls.
Post o
ce
Street 1 in the south of town (Mon-Fri
7-11am & 2-5pm).
Swimming pools
Some hotels allow non-residents to use
their swimming pools for a small daily fee, including the
Stung Sangke
($5) and
Seng Hout
($2).
Around Battambang
Battambang makes a good base for a number of interesting ancient temples nearby,
including at
Wat Banan
and
Wat Ek Phnom
, plus sobering mementoes of the Khmer
Rouge era at the hilltop pagoda complex of
Phnom Sampeu
and
Kamping Poy
reservoir.
Wat Ek Phnom
12km north of Battambang on the river road • $3; ticket also valid for Phnom Sampeu (see p.123), Wat Banan (see p.124) and Kamping
Poy (see p.124) • Return by moto from Battambang around $6-8, by tuk-tuk around $8-10
Surrounded by lotus ponds in the grounds of a modern pagoda, the modest ruins of the
eleventh-century
Wat Ek Phnom
are relatively underwhelming, although the site and
surrounding countryside are attractive enough, with fine views from the main sanctuary,
with its sandstone buildings lined up in a row, joined by an enclosed walkway. The temple
