Village market near Battambang—C.Helbig
One of our favourite days in Cambodia was spent on a bike tour run by local students through the villages and markets around Battambang. It felt good to stretch our legs, get a glimpse of rural Cambodia and be in the company of young folks. We pedalled through the peaceful countryside, stopping at small villages that retain traditional Cambodian livelihoods. It was a fun and hands-on day. I even learned to make rice paper wrappers (well…sort of).
Butterfly Tours is a locally-run student venture and I can’t say enough about the enthusiasm and knowledge of our young guides Dina and Sokim. We were quickly outfitted with basic bikes, bottles of water, and thatched hats (notice how only Sokim, who brings up the rear in his scooter wears a real helmet). No big deal as the pace was slow and easy, with six stops along the roughly 30 km lightly-trafficked route.
Our happy guide Sokim brings up the rear—C.Helbig
First stop: a family-run facility that makes hand-made rice paper — soft, super thin wrappers used for fresh salad rolls and other Asian cuisine delights. We watched as one young lady spread the rice batter on a piece of cloth tightly suspended over boiling water and quickly fashioned it into a perfect round. Her sister then deftly transferred the rounds to a drying rack. We were all allowed to give the second part of this process a try. It’s a lot harder than you’d think! Notice the rice paper gal laughing at my efforts.
The rice batter being made into thin rounds—C.Helbig
My feeble attempt at transferring the rice paper to the drying rack
Second stop: sampling dried banana products. I was amazed how the woman could sit cross-legged on a rickety wooden platform, all day, slicing bananas. And, according to Dina our guide, she’s been doing this for over 20 years. We watched as she laid the thin slices on bamboo boards for drying into banana “sheets”—a delicious Cambodian snack. We weren’t recruited for cutting bananas, just sampling the yummy dried bananas and banana chips.
Slicing bananas for the production of dried banana sheets—C.Helbig
Third stop: the rice wine distillery. We could smell the yeasty aroma as we parked our bikes outside the home brew facility. These small, local distilleries are prevalent throughout Cambodia, and rice wine is the cheapest and most popular alcoholic drink among locals. It comes in varying strengths, from mild to fire-water (I sampled them all and I think I’ll stick with grapes). They even had novelty bottles with “pickled” scorpions and snakes at the bottom. I graciously declined these.
Fermenting vats of rice that will be made into rice wine—C.Helbig
Fourth stop: noodle eating in a colourful local market. This may have been my favourite stop on the tour. Sadly, I was too busy eating the delicious Khmer home-made noodles and forgot to take photos of the noodle making in action. But, once the feeding frenzy was over, we had a great time exploring the lively little market and taking photos of the friendly locals.
Nimble perching next to the meats—C.Helbig
Friendly fish monger—C.Helbig
Ladies engaged in commerce—C.Helbig
She was amused by us—C.Helbig
Happy veggie ladies—C.Helbig
Fifth stop: the fish paste market. Unlike many foreign visitors, I really enjoyed our stop at Battambang’s largest market—a dark, damp, smelly place that produces fish paste, a staple in the Cambodian diet. The pungent aroma doesn’t bother me and I was fascinated by the many tasks—cleaning, chopping, drying, fermenting, shovelling, carrying— that engages so many workers. Apparently this unassuming place produces some of the best fish paste in the world.
Chopping at the fish paste market—C.Helbig
Stirring the goopy vat of fish paste—C.Helbig
Fish paste overflowing everywhere—C.Helbig
Sixth stop: sampling bamboo rice cakes. I never realized that sticky rice could be such a tasty treat until I sampled this local delicacy. The rice takes on a sweet, caramelized flavour after it is stuffed into bamboo stalks that are blackened over a charcoal fire. The yummy treat combined with the smiling faces of the rice cake maker’s children was the perfect final stop on our awesome tour.
Bamboo rice cakes roasting over charcoal pit—C.Helbig
Yummy treat, happy children—C.Helbig
“Mom and dad” in our silly hat-helmets posing with our fun group
A few Battambang details and subjective observations:
- Battambang is about a 4 hour ($7) bus ride from Siem Reap.
- Based on guide book descriptions we expected the town to have more charm. It’s a peaceful, dusty, faded place with some “niceish” French colonial architecture that has seen better days. It’s the countryside and attractions around Battambang that make it an interesting stop on a Cambodian itinerary.
- We booked our Butterfly Tour while in Battambang with no difficultly, but you can also book in advance, online.
- In addition to our cycle tour, we were very impressed with our half day tour to the sobering Killing Cave of Phnom Sampeau and the amazing nearby bat cave. Nane, our tuk tuk driver/guide, arranged through Sangker Villa was great. I may do another post on this excursion.
- A really fun evening activity is going to Battambang’s famous circus: Phare Ponleu Selpak. The performers are all youths who are beneficiaries of a Cambodian non-
At the circus in Battambang—C.Helbig
profit association that runs arts schools, educational programs and provides social support. You can see the show in Siem Reap too, but Battambang is where it got its start in 1994.
- Battambang has some good dining options. We particularly liked About the World and Jaan Bai. Both places have delicious food and a nice atmosphere. The latter trains and employs vulnerable youth.
Writes of Passage 
This looks like such a great tour! What a lovely way to explore the countryside. And your photos are so vibrant!
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Thanks! It’s kind of interesting re-reading my older posts. It really was a fun day. Hopefully you’ll get to explore more of Cambodia at some point.
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It is isn’t it, a little trip down memory lane! Fingers crossed, it is one of my favourite countries to visit!
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Thanks for that post! I’ll be in Battambang very soon, and even though I’ve never participated in any tour before, that one is definitely on my list!
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I hope you enjoy it! It’s not your typical tour.
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👍👍👍👍
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I love discovering how local products are made and your post was incredibly enlightening, especially in the fish market.
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Thanks so much! It really was a fascinating experience to see how products like rice paper and fish paste (stuff I don’t really think about) are made.
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It was great reading this post as it brought back a lot of lovely memories from Cambodia.. the butterfly farm, the rice cakes. Your photos are terrific and certainly looks like you got a lot of exposure to so many cottage industries. Love all those different little “workshops” and markets where people are so busy going about their daily lives of production. Terrific post!
Peta
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It was one of our most interesting and definitely the most fun day in Cambodia. Sometimes these tours can feel contrived and overly “touristy” but this one felt very authentic. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the tour company is run by young locals who have a strong connection to, and love for their community. It brings a smile to my face even now. Cheers, Caroline
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Just fabulous. We saw a lot of the rice paper making in Viet Nam. Everywhere people had little production workshops. Might be one of the best parts of Asia, these homegrown businesses and food making. The fish paste making looks fascinating too! Forgot to comment on that, first time around… haha
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It was the first time I’d seen the rice paper making…fascinating!
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You’ve talked me into this tour Caroline! I have about 10 days scheduled in Siem Reap so I’ll be looking for the tour and checking it out as it looks like a lot of fun. I was especially interested in how rice paper was made. There are so many items that we eat and use and (most of the time) I never pause to wonder how they’re made or where they come from. And I’m sure they’re a lot more difficult to make than they look! Happy Holidays to you! Anita
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Happy New Year Anita! You will find all sorts of fun activities on your trip. Yes, seeing how rice paper is made was really fascinating (it takes lots of skill and patience). I’m looking forward to reading about your adventures (and am a tad envious…would love to do a cycling trip like yours). Cheers, Caroline
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What a great idea – seems like a unique way to experience local culture!
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It was, and we particularly liked the fact that our guides were born and raised in the town.
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It would be so much fun to do all you did while in Cambodia, especially the bike tour.
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Yes it was a great way to see parts of this beautiful country.
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I would love all those stops … I think! – I might have trouble with all the overflowing fish paste! Getting to bicycle from place to place would be the best, and every one of those faces is so dear. I love these smaller, local outings run by the community members themselves.
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It was definitely a great way to see some typical Cambodian villages, with the bonus of a wee bit of exercise. Our student guides grew up in Battambang and took great pride in showing us their community. It was a peaceful, joyful and interesting day.
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Great travel story, Caroline. Beautiful part of the world. Street food is always interesting, often better eaten w/o viewing the production process, but everyone seems to survive the process. Always fun to watch the kids, and everyone is so friendly. Great photos as always. Thanks for sharing, Caroline.
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Thanks Mike. This really is a very friendly little community and I think they are super supportive of the local student-led tourism initiative. We all survived the food stops but I saw a number of green faces at the fish paste market. Cheers, Caroline
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Wonderful photos Caroline. It sounds like a really great tour.
Alison
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Thanks Alison. It was. I highly recommend it for anyone visiting Battambang (I think they also have initiatives in some other parts of Cambodia). Cheers, Caroline
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Great photos of a very interesting place! I’ll be the smells and noises were interesting too.
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Thank you! So true about the smells/noises…all very interesting and different from what we have at home.
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Hi Caroline, Sounds like fun. But eewww the fish pasts market, that put me off a bit.I think grey colour put me off the most. Louise
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Hi Louise! It’s definitely not pretty to look at and the smell gets most people running the opposite direction. But it was strangely fascinating, probably because it was so different from anything we have at home. Caroline
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What an amazing adventure and the photography is beautiful Caroline, it’s like reading a National Geographic
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You are too kind Myra! That’s what I’d like to do in my next life—be a National Geographic explorer. I’ve loved that darn magazine since I was two! Cheers, Caroline
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Me too, I grew up reading national geographic, so great ☺
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Beautiful portraits of the locals as they go about their daily life, Caroline. The rice cakes sound delicious and I can reach out for a handful or more of banana chips which I have a major weakness for. So, the question is are you now deft at making rice sheets? 🙂
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Thanks Dippy! Yes, both the rice cakes and banana chips were yummy. Thinking back at it, we did more eating than riding. As for your question, it’s so damp here, I’d have no place to dry them (haha, that’s my excuse). Cheers, Caroline
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Clever answer! 😀 It would be so wrong not to devote yourself to eating only.
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