Battambang Getting there & around

Getting around

A moto ride costs 1000r if you stay on one bank of the river, 1500r if you cross the river and 2000r at night. Battambang’s very first tuk tuks hit the tarmac in 2007.

Hiring a moto driver who speaks English or French costs US$5 for a half-day in and around town and US$6 to US$9 (depending on the distance) for an all-day trip out of the city. Many of the moto drivers who hang out at the Royal Hotel, and their bitter rivals at the Chhaya Hotel, speak decent English and are good sources of information on things to see and do. Equally competent are the friendly, English-speaking moto drivers you'll run into elsewhere around town, though they may avoid picking you up in front of either hotel as the house drivers jealously protect their turf.

Bicycles are a great way to get around and can be ridden along either bank of the river in either direction. The Chhaya Hotel rents bicycles to nonguests for US$1.50 a day; the Royal Hotel charges US$2.

Guesthouses can often arrange motorbike rental – the Chhaya Hotel, for instance, charges guests or nonguests US$5 or US$6 a day. They can also arrange taxi rentals, which are handy during the wet season when a ­motorbike may leave you drenched.