Battambang Travel Forum

Hi !

What do u think is the safest and comfortable way to travel between Battambang to Siem Reap ? I have heard about speed boats but i feel very unsecure after seeing their pics. What is your opinion ? How long is the journey ?

Looking forward to have ur replies asap.

Have a nice day,
Umer.

Hi Umer,

Since I have been asking myself the same question I thought I'd let you know what I found out so far. It seems the fast boat can be scary...but there is also a 'slow'boat for locals, if you try to get a ticket for that it sounds much safer and more interesting. I have no idea about any details yet...if I find out more, I will let you know.

Aukje

Thank You Akuje ! I would be looking forward to hear from you. Thanks for sharing useful information. I am seriously thinking of buying a life jacket for myself for conquering my fears if i have to sit in those scary cambodian boats because i even dunno how to swim ! ;-)

Have a nice day !
Umer.

When i took this trip in 2000 they were still using small speedboats, and ours even broke down in the middle of the river, so we had to wait for another one. They were definitely not safe.
I did the trip again last year, and they now have larger boats which take longer, but seem to be a lot safer.

but Andre! how long does this trip takes with both kinds of boats ?

I don't think these speedboats are still in operation, seems like the larger boat is your only choice these days. The speedboats took about 4 hours, while the ferry took 5hours30. But i would definitely recommend the boat trip to you, not only because it's quite beautiful, but also in order to avoid the terrible stretch of road between sisophon and siem reap.

Do the boat, you do not want to go on those bumpy road, if I am not mistaken if you wanna get overland by road, first you have to go to Sisophon first before you can go on to Siem Reap. The reason because we came to Sisophon was because we couldn't stand the bumpy road no more.

The boat journey was quite interesting, you will pass the vietnamese floating village and along the way you could also see people fishing, and cooking in their sampans.

I agree with u ... I also believe that it must be very interesting to see the scenary as well as the floating villages. but u know, i dunno how to swim and there was a time that i just survived from drowning. That's why i am extra concious and i do not want to repeat the same thing. May be i can buy a life jacket from Bangkok and then go for the boat trip ? what do u all recommend ?

Just let me know from where can i buy this life jacket in Bangkok ?

2 dayys to go ! :-)
Umer.

Umer,

I would try a sports store in Bangkok, a place where they have diving gear and all that stuff. I hope you don't it though!

Have a safe trip ;-)
Aukje

sorry, i meant: don't NEED it

Thank you Aukje :-))) I hope as well !

Thanks Everyone !

Umer.

There is now a relatively new service on this route that runs every other day called the Mekong Express - see http://www.mekongexpresstourboat.com/ for details. The journey on this still takes 5 hours but it is a much more comfortable boat than the old speedboats. Sorry don't know the cost but it is more expensive than the normal ferry.

Cheers
Phil

Thanks for all your inputs! I will choose this boat trip as well!

Hi All
Sorry but my posting above was incorrect - it referred to the Siem Reap to Phnom Penh journey. However from what I heard in Siem Reap the boat was definitely the best way to get to Battambang

Thank Youuuuuuuuu All ! I am in Siem Reap now and using Internet from here. I took the less expensive old Speed Bost for 6 hrs trip for 20 US$. It was half way scenic and other half boring and tiresome trip. But i am happy i did it ! there is a road trip for 6-7 hrs also possible between Phnom Penh to Siem Reap and it costs only 6 US$. Next time if i ever travelled in this region i would go for that one.

Once again thanks for ur support.

Best Wishes,
Umer from Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Wow... I am sure you are having fun there.... I wish I could be there as well. Have a great time dude.

Cheers,
Loen

Thanks for letting us know what you did, and how it was Umer. I will do the boat trip too, if I go to Angkor again.

Enjoy!
Aukje

hmmm... Akuje ! i would recomment you to skip bost trip because it is too expensive (min. 20 USD/person one way) on the other hand the bus takes the same 5-6 hrs and the ticket is just 6 USD !!!

It was nice but expensive to take that a bit uncomfortable and very scary bost trip. ;-) No Life Jackets and Over loaded Small Boat !!!

Have a nice trip !
Umer.

20$???? i paid 12$ in september, and so did my mother who did thid boat trip just last week. i guess you were horribly overcharged.

strange ! because i know that the price for locals and foreigners is different but... all the people who were sitting around me - mostly chinese and malaysian - all paid 20 USD. Even few Germans and others whom i met laters also paid the same.

I checked the price from 4 different places before finally buying the tickets. Everywhere they were selling the tickets for 25 to 23 USD but i finally bargained and got the ticket for 20 USD.

This was a bost of Channa Boat Comapny. Which one was yours ? By the way, this took 6 hrs and 5 mins from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap.

Maybe it's more expensive if you buy your ticket in battambang. i bought mine in siem reap.

i think we are mixing up two trips. Right now i am refering to my trip from PHNOM PENH to SIEM REAP instead of what i asked here from Battanbang to Siem Reap.

What happened was that i flew from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, got my Laos Visa. Took THIS BOAT to Siem Reap, explored the Angkor Wat and other temples. Flew from Siem Reap today to Vientiane, Laos :-)

Smiles all the way !
UD.

oh, ok, so it was a misunderstanding! anyway, enjoy laos, and don't miss luang prabang!!!

I see, you haven't been to Battambang, I was a little bit confused too. I am not going from PP, but from Battambang, anyway have fun in Laos Umer.

Aukje

p.s. I did the boattrip from Siem Reap to PP before and I liked it, and didn't think it was scary, maybe because I can swim ;-)