Boat trip to Battambang Place guide

Battambang and Siem Reap are only 77km apart, but the trip between them takes nearly 4 hours by bus, or about ten hours by boat. If you've been starved for gorgeous views and have the time to spare, Trip Guru can think of no better place than a boat trip along Batambang.

The great thing about Battambang is that there's no shortage of things to see. From the enduring charm of the ancient temples to the cheerful faces of the people as they live day by day, it's certainly enchanted many a traveller with its unique blend of modern sprawling city with the rustic small-town hospitality with a handful of well-preserved colonial architecture all combines well to give any traveller a one-of-a-kind experience they'd be hard-pressed to find elsewhere. Some notable views are the Governers Residence, which is a beautiful and stately colonial building. This was the legacy of the 1900s, complete with grand balconies and elegant wooden shutters, and it included an exquisite grand reception room with a 5m ceiling, as well as the Battambang Museum, which displays beautiful Angkorian lintels from all over the Battambang province.

But the main reason people are so excited to take in the trip to Battambang by boat is because of the opportunity to see the picturesque floating villages and the small communities in Tonle Sap lake near Siem Reap. They're especially fascinated because the community lives near the water, and they have electricity, access to TV, schools and churches. Here, everybody's prime mode of travel is by boat. You can witness boats carrying children to school, vendors selling piping hot soup and assorted sundries. There also some churches floating on the water.

Boats that go from Siem Reap to Battambang and vice versa leave around 7:00am every day. The entire trip takes around 8 to 10 hours, though that largely depends on the season you plan your trip and how high the water levels are. If the water level gets extremely low, minibuses or pick-up trucks are used to complete the entire journey. Be sure to bring sunblock and a raincoat, and have a good time.