First visit to Cambodia or Battambang? Together with a good guidebook the following frequently asked questions can help get first-timers oriented. Unless otherwise stated, all currencies are in US dollars.
- How do I get to Battambang?
- Do I need a Visa?
- What’s the language there? Will I need to be able to speak it?
- What’s the currency there?
- How much do things cost in Battambang?
- Where can I stay when i get there?
- What about phone cards?
- Other guides
How do i get to Battambang?
Battambang city is the capital of Battambang province, on the western edge of Cambodia. Most people come here via Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, or Bangkok. Battambang’s airport closed when they finished the road from Phnom Penh, so air travel is no longer an option.
From Phnom Penh
The bus from Phnom Penh can take anywhere from 5-8 hours, and costs about $6. You can also take a taxi, which will probably take about half as long as the bus, and will cost anywhere from $40-55. Most people who take taxis share them and pack in as tight as the driver can get them — expect to pay about 25% of the total cost this way. 2011′s wet season was verrry wet. As of the time of writing (mid-November 2011) the road was still in pretty bad shape due to flooding, and travel times were tending towards the higher end of the scale.
From Siem Reap
From Siem Reap you can take a bus for about $4, or take a share taxi for $10 or $15. The bus takes about 3 hours, a taxi probably 2 and a half or so. There is also a tourist boat which leaves at 7:30 in the morning, and costs about $20. Takes 6 or 7 hours when the water level is high — can take much longer later in the dry season.
From Bangkok
Getting to Battambang from Bangkok requires crossing the Thai/Cambodian border. There are two places where you can cross, either at Arayaprathet/Poipet, or Pailin. Pailin is more difficult to get to from Bangkok, but the border crossing is fairly straightforward. Aranyaprathet is faster, cheaper, and easier to get to from Bangkok, but the border crossing can be a little more difficult. In either case, you might benefit from getting an electronic visa beforehand — if you don’t have this, at least try to ensure you’ve got a passport photo.
There is some good info about crossing the border at Arunyaprathet/Poipet at seat61′s site. From Bangkok, there is a bus that goes to Aranyaprathet. This goes either from the northern bus station (Morchit) or the airport, and should cost around 180-200 Thai baht. (We’ve also heard about a casino bus — gambling is illegal in Thailand — but unconfirmed info/prices.) The buses typically drop you at the Arunyaprathet market, which is about 6km from the border, from there you’ll have to catch a tuk-tuk to the crossing. But one of us had the bus take us all the way to the border and we walked across directly from the bus. The bus will normally take 3.5-4 hours, but lately due to flooding that’s more like 5 hours. If you get there late, stay on the Aranyaprathet side overnight rather than Poipet. The bus station at Aran is an 80baht tuk-tuk from the border crossing.
At the border there will be a lot of touts trying to handle the visa transaction for you — for a price. There won’t be any officials from Cambodia on the Thai side, so if you get approached (and you will) by someone on the Thai side offering to process the visa for you either ignore them or tell them clearly you do not want their help. They will likely be very persistent. We haven’t heard of anyone losing their passport this way but generally it’s probably not a good idea to hand your passport to someone and hope they’ll do the right thing with it and bring it back to you with all the right stickers in there. And anyway, this is unnecessary — you can take it through yourself and have it done directly by the Cambodian immigration officials. This will be the cheapest and safest option. But you will need a passport photo for this, and the official fee is $20 (though at least one of us had to pay an extra 100 baht, with no good reasons given for the extra charge).
You might also be required to fill out a health form at the border crossing, and get registered with the police. All of this might take some time — possibly an hour or more. After getting registered a free bus will take you through Poipet to the bus station. From there, you can catch a bus to Battambang for $10, which will take about 3 hours. If there are enough people there for a share taxi this should be a faster and possibly cheaper option.
Do i need a Visa?
Yes, passport holders from the USA, Australia, and Europe will need a visa. Typical visa costs $20 and is good for 30 days. You can get a visa at the border, or save yourself some hassle (for a few extra dollars) by applying for an eVisa beforehand — official government info here. If you overstay your visa the immigration department will charge you $5 per day.
What’s the language there? Will I need to be able to speak it?
Cambodian people speak the Khmer language, considered to be one of the oldest in Southeast Asia. It features some unfamiliar sounds and has virtually nothing in common with Latin languages but is relatively easy to learn: it is not tonal (as opposed to languages of most of the nearby countries), there are not separate genders, verb conjugation is achieved by adding a few extra words.
Visitors to Battambang can get by without speaking Khmer, when there is no one around who speaks English you can point and make hand gestures, and you can go to establishments that cater to Westerners. But Cambodian people will greatly appreciate it if you take the time to learn even a few words of Khmer.
What’s the currency there?
Cambodia’s currency is the riel, but US dollars are also accepted virtually everywhere. The rate at time of writing (November 2011) is about 4000 riel/USD, and most shops and sellers will give you this rate. The ATMs in Cambodia will dispense US dollars, typically in larger notes ($20s or $50s or even $100s). These can be very difficult to break — at smaller local places and street vendors even $5 notes can be difficult. Can be a good idea to try to break larger bills whenever possible. Also a good idea to have some US funds before you arrive, including some smaller bills. Money changers in Thailand will often have smaller bills.
How much do things cost in Battambang?
In terms of other expenses here, things are a little inflated from the many years of international NGO work here, but it’s still much cheaper than developed countries. Transport-wise you can catch a motorcycle taxi around town for about 50 cents per trip or you can ride a bicycle very comfortably around.
Meals at ‘Barang’ (Western)-style restaurants (either Khmer or Western fare) typically cost around $3. Drinks are about $1 for a fresh fruit juice or shake or a beer. A really delicious meal at the new Indian restaurant in town will set you back more than $5USD but less than $10USD including a couple of drinks. If you want to go as local as possible, you’re looking at about 50 cents per meal, but choose wisely as our stomach flora isn’t as resilient as the locals’ seem to be. There are also lots of street stalls selling fresh fruit (be careful, as they are likely washed with tap water), deep fried sweet potato, roasted banana treats, indeterminate meat products, roasted corn, the list goes on and on. At the really high end there are a couple of swish hotels in town that offer things like steak and cocktails, for those you’re looking at more like $20 and $5 respectively (but a few of them put on the decent happy hour).
Where can I stay when i get there?
There are a number of guest houses in Battambang. Prices will vary based on a number of factors: size, number of beds, air-conditioning, hot water, and your ability to haggle. Generally, for $5-$15 you can have a very comfortable stay. Seng Huot is a respectable guesthouse just near the main market (Psar Nat) at $10-$15 per night — but at time of writing (November 2011) there was construction going on next door so expect to be woken early. Lux is also a decent option, also in the $10-$15 range. Be warned that typical Khmer style is to sleep on a very firm mattress, this doesn’t agree with all westerners.
What’s the deal with phone cards?
There are a few companies that sell SIM cards for cheap. ‘cellcard’ have orange branding, ‘smart’ has green. The SIM card itself costs about $2, and they’ll need to photocopy your passport. A month’s worth of domestic calls and limited 3G use should cost about $5. Int’l text messages cost $0.10. Across the street to the west of the Psar Nat (very close to Kinyei) there are a couple of shops where you can get sorted – look for the green smart or orange cellcard awnings/umbrellas.
Know of any other guides to the place?
Yeah Wikitravel has some stuff on Battambang, and it seems like there’s an ever increasing number of visitors around so hopefully more information will emerge in the future. Let us know if you’ve found some other resources for us to link to!