Visit Khmer House, Market & Temple
On our first morning in Battambang we visited the countryside to discover some crafts.
First stop was at a traditional Khmer house, Mrs. Bun Roeung’s Ancient House. It was more than 100 years old and functioned as a museum. From what I remember, it was also possible to rent a room there.
We then stopped for a short walk at the rural market. It was very picturesque, but the hygienic conditions were a bit different than those at home. There were also ladies coming to greet us, shaking our hands. So unexpected!
After the market we stopped at a temple site, but I am not sure which one. I only found signage in Khmer language… If someone would happen to know the name, you may always send it to me 🙂
Crafts in Battambang
Now it was time to visit some crafts that we certainly would not find in Belgium 🙂
Sticky rice was cooked in a bamboo stick for hours on a low fire. I would not have thought that it had a lot of taste and I found it weird that they had put black beans inside, but all in all it was quite yummy :-).
Watching the production of rice paper was another interesting thing to do. They steam the dough and put them on a rack to dry. I did not remember how many papers this family produced per day, but it were many. They had a little shack at the side of the road, where they sold cold drinks and freshly baked spring rolls. We tried a couple and they were really tasty.
We drove passed a factory that produced fish paste and dried fish. We did a quick photostop because the smell was a bit too much…
The process of producing rice wine is another craft that we had not seen before. They used homemade yeast for it. We did not taste the wine with a cobra inside :-).
Temples and Pagodas in Battambang
Before returning to our hotel, we passed by the Ek Phnom Pagoda/temple and the Wat Samrong Knong.
Our tuk tuk dropped us off in the city centre where we had lunch. At the agreed time, he picked us up and we returned to the hotel. The rest of the afternoon we rested alongside the pool. In the evening, we had dinner at the hotel, Battambang Resort.
