Although Battambang's population is only 140,000, it is still the second largest city in Cambodia.
Revered for its French colonial architecture and incredibly laid-back atmosphere, it would be the perfect introduction to this country that we knew so little about.
On our first day, Josh and I rented a scooter and drove to Battambang's biggest tourist draw: the bamboo train.
Know locally as a norri, it has been used to transport goods and people through the countryside since the French colonial period.
Essentially a bamboo platform resting on 2 lightweight axles being propelled by a ferocious 6-HP engine.
What's pretty hilarious is that there is only one track, so when the norris are approaching each other, whoever has less cargo or passengers has to disassemble their train by removing the platform and lifting the axles off the tracks.
Once the heavier train passes, the 'conductor' then reassembles the train and continues until they approach the next oncoming train.
Not only is this a really novel way to see Cambodian rural life, but the train speeds along at almost 50km/hour!
From there we hopped on our scooter and headed to Phnom Banan, or Banan hill. The hill can be climbed using 358 steps and at the summit is Wat Banan, a Khmer temple predating Angkor Wat but resembling it in layout.
Despite its small size, the temple was still quite charming and provided beautiful views over the surrounding plains.
After descending the steps, we went to a small cave and were guided by a local man who also lent us some flashlights.
What was even more magical than the sites was just driving around the countryside, seeing Cambodians just going about their daily routines. It was so refreshing compared to the blatant commercialization of pretty much everything in Thailand.
On our way back, we went to see some massive fruit bats hanging from a tree and then sampled some wine at Cambodia's only vineyard.
Tasting more like sweetened grape juice than the French wine I was foolishly expecting, it was still a great way to cap off our perfect day.
That evening, while having some 50 cent beers across from our hotel, the great value-for-money Royal Hotel (www.asrhotel.com.kh), we met an Irish couple, Gary and Olivia, who would be joining us for the evening.
Our supposed low-key evening culminated with us dancing our asses off at the biggest dance club in the city.
This club was also the only place I have ever been to where the bathroom attendants massage your shoulders while you're using the urinals.
Not very pleasant.
The next day I went to Phnom Sampeau, which is the tallest hill in the Battambang area, and has a beautiful temple at its peak, which gives stunning panoramic views over the countryside.
After being charged at by some vicious resident monkeys baring their fangs, I went to the unfortunate killing caves of Phnom Sampeau.
The killing caves are one of many mass execution sites set up by the brutal Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-1979.
This particular site saw the deaths of as many as 30,000 people, all bludgeoned to death and then thrown down into the caves below.
It was a lump-in-the-throat moment as my young guide pointed out the caves where they threw all the murdered children, many of them no older than him, and some remnants of their clothing still remain.
In the main chamber of the caves, there is now a reclining Buddha and a memorial filled with bones and skulls of some of the victims.
Upon my return to Battambang, I took a stroll along the Stung Sangket river and visited a small temple on the east side of the river.
Rather than taking the convenient and cheap minibuses to Siem Reap, home to Angkor Wat and other Khmer Empire relics, we opted for the longer but more scenic boat ride along the Siem Reap river.
We were picked up from Royal Hotel in the early morning and driven to the ferry terminal. It was somewhat surprising to see that despite our advanced purchase of tickets supposedly reserving a seat, that the boat was already full.
One of the touts told us to get on the roof, so we did. We were soon joined by a few westerners but mostly by other Cambodians.
For most of the morning, the trip was absolutely spectacular: we were given a glimpse into the rural lives of Cambodians and watched as they fished, bathed and relied on the river for survival.
I couldn't even count the number of little children waving and yelling 'hello' to us as we floated by.
By midday, we had already passed all the beautiful riverside towns, floating villages and other places of interest; and we had also been sitting on the roof for almost 5 hours in the blazing sun, so we were more than ready to get off!
Eventually, the river widened and we reached Tonle Sap lake, Southeast Asia's largest lake. What better way to enjoy its beautiful flora and fauna than for our boat to break down in the middle of it! Our boat actually broke down twice and took an excessively long time to fix each time.
Once the boat was working again, we finally reached the pier after having been visited by a Cambodian woman selling soft-drinks while jumping from boat to boat with Ninja-like skills.
With dehydration starting to rear its head, we were overwhelmingly pleased to get off that boat. My Ombrelle SPF 60 and Cambodian scarf saved my skin from certain death.
The advertised 7-hour journey ended up taking 10 hours. Despite the heat, the multiple breakdowns and the lack of a proper seat, I don't regret taking that boat: the beauty and cultural wealth of Cambodian life more than made up for it.
As we took a tuk tuk into downtown Siem Reap, the the endless river-ride became a distant memory. The only thing on my mind was temples, temples and more temples!
