Cambodia

Cambodia: Battambang and the Bamboo Train Countryside

When

Nov to Feb

Price

From 1 700€ excl. flights

(based on 2 people sharing)

How long

4 nights

Ideal length

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Battambang, Cambodia's second city and a former French regional capital, has retained the country's best-preserved colonial heritage, largely spared the destruction that affected Phnom Penh. The surrounding countryside is explored aboard the famous norry, or bamboo train, a handmade platform mounted on trolley axles that speeds along old railway tracks through rice paddies and villages, before an ascent to caves that were the scene of tragedies during the Khmer Rouge years.

The Bamboo Train, a Handmade Railway Curiosity

The norry, or Bamboo Train, consists of a simple bamboo platform set on two salvaged trolley axles, powered by a small engine and capable of reaching forty kilometres per hour on old metre-gauge railway tracks built by the French. When two norries meet on this single track, the one carrying fewer passengers is dismantled by hand and reassembled on the rails after the other has passed, a logistical ballet that has become one of the country's most singular attractions.

French Colonial Architecture

Battambang retains the largest ensemble of French colonial buildings in Cambodia, a former regional capital largely spared the bombing and destruction of the decades of conflict that affected the rest of the country. The ochre and yellow facades of former administrative buildings, now converted into cafés and art galleries, line streets still plied by traditional trailer-bikes called remorque-motos.

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Where to rest your head

A Renovated Colonial House in Battambang

A former French colonial residence renovated at the heart of Battambang, an indoor tropical garden, within walking distance of the art galleries and central market.