Activities in Northwestern Cambodia
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Hanuman Tourism
For something more upmarket, try the temple safari offered by Hanuman Tourism.
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Hidden Cambodia
Hidden Cambodia operates dirt-bike tours to Koh Ker, Preah Khan and Prasat Preah Vihear temples during the dry season.
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Cambodian Education Center
The nonprofit Cambodian Education Center in Pheam Ek, which provides free English instruction to local kids, is always looking for volunteer teachers. For details contact Racky Thy.
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river cruise
For a cheap river cruise, you can hop on a ferry to Kompong Lang District, about 6km away. The vessels, which have space for several dozen people, dock 100m west of the Tourism Port.
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A
Nikon Photo Studio
For as little as around US$2, you can pose in traditional Khmer costume and have your photo taken at Nikon Photo Studio along the waterfront. Prices include makeup and a suitably kitschy background.
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Tourism Photo Shop
For as little as around US$2, you can pose in traditional Khmer costume and have your photo taken at Tourism Photo Shop along the waterfront. Prices include makeup and a suitably kitschy background.
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cement dam
You can complete a vertiginous walk across the crumbling Khmer Rouge-era cement dam, part of a grandiose project intended to make it possible to grow rice in the dry season (the scheme never worked).
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C
Victory Club
You can swim and use the fitness machines at the Victory Club, a sports club popular with Battambang's jeunesse dorée (golden youth). The lockers are lockable but not secure enough for valuables.
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École d'Art et de Culture Khmers
The École d'Art et de Culture Khmers has classes in traditional music, apsara dancing, painting, sculpture and shadow puppetry. It's often possible to observe a class or see students practising. Drop by to find out when.
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D
Agricultural Development Action
If you'd like to see rural development projects in action, contact Agricultural Development Action a day or two ahead to arrange an all-day (07:00 to 19:00) tour by 4WD (around US$150 for up to three people, including translator and meals).
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Traditional Activities
Through Agir Pour le Cambodge, you can participate in traditional activities such as honey collecting and the hunting of frogs and rice-field crabs (around US$10 for a group). It may also be possible to visit local silk weavers.
A ride out to Banteay Top costs around US$5 by ox-cart or around US$6 by koyun (tractor).
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Phneat Koh Pong Sat Community Fisheries
At the Phneat Koh Pong Sat Community Fisheries, a community-based fish sanctuary run by monks 8km east of town, you can feed schools of fat, frisky fish from a peaceful riverside pavilion on the grounds of a wat. Monks sell food pellets and dry bread (500r). It makes a delightful excursion by bicycle, moto or car, especially in the late afternoon.
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Phare Ponleu Selpak
Phare Ponleu Selpak, a multi-arts centre for disadvantaged children, puts on circus shows and dance performances. From Monday to Friday, it's often possible to observe the drawing, music, dance and circus students practising and see an exhibition of students' art. To get there from the Vishnu Roundabout on NH5, head west for 900m and then turn right (north) and go 600m.
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E
aerobics
In New York or London they may be achieving inner harmony with tai chi, but here in Battambang they're burning off the rice carbs doing classic Western aerobics, held each evening from about 17:30 to 19:00 on the East Bank north of the Old Stone Bridge. Led by a local hunk with a portable sound system, just five minutes of working out should be enough to teach you how to count in Khmer - at least up to four.
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Ox-cart tours
Young people in dark khaki uniforms, members of the Apsara Authority's Community Heritage Patrol (www.autoriteapsara.org), keep an eye on the site, which is refreshingly clean and orderly. Ox-cart tours of the temples, lasting an hour-and-a-half, cost around US$12; proceeds go into a community development fund. For information on preservation and sustainable development plans for Koh Ker, visit www.heritagewatch.org.
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bamboo trains
Pursat's own bamboo trains - much less tourist-oriented than their Battambang cousins - stop at the train crossing 800m south of NH5 along the road to Kravanh. A three- or four-hour private excursion costs around US$10, or you can hop on with the locals; departures are most frequent in the morning.
For the best scenery, head towards Phnom Penh. One option is to get off at the village of Chheu Tom and catch a moto to Chhuk Laeng Cascades (Chroek Laeng Waterfall; one hour), situated 73km southeast of Pursat and 41km south of Krakor (on NH5 near Kompong Luong).
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bamboo train
The bamboo train is one of the world's all-time classic rail journeys. From O Dambong, on the east bank 3.7km south of Battambang's Old Stone Bridge, the train runs southeast to O Sra Lav, via half an hour of clicks and clacks along warped, misaligned rails and vertiginous bridges left by the French.
Each bamboo train - known in Khmer as a norry (nori) - consists of a 3m-long wood frame, covered lengthwise with slats made of ultra-light bamboo, that rests on two barbell-like bogies, the aft one connected by fan belts to a 6HP gasoline engine. Pile on 10 or 15 people or up to three tonnes of rice, crank it up and you can cruise along at about 15km/h.
The genius of the…
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