Battambang is billed by various guidebooks and traveller websites as “one of the must-see destinations in Cambodia.” Having been there, we're still not sure why.

Perhaps we should have been put off when we learnt that the main thing to do was actually to get the speed boat from Siem Reap to Battambang, and enjoy the spectacular scenery of the north-west of the country. However, the late-coming rainy season meant that the river was too low for the speedboat to travel, leaving the only alternative a 16 hour slow-boat journey. We decided on the (much less scenic) bus.

On arrival, we were expecting a gorgeous riverside town, or, at the very least, another Kampot. Instead Battambang appears to be a fully functioning Cambodian town, complete with market, a riverside of sorts, and lots of GAP-year kids (mostly girls) wandering around, scratching their heads and wondering how they came to be there.

We sought refuge at the fantastic Sunrise Coffee Shop, where we whiled away an afternoon eating breakfast burritos, home-made sandwiches and strawberry milkshakes. Coincidentally, we did also bump into a friend we met on the Halong Bay trip in Vietnam, so our sojourn gave us time to have drinks and dinner with him whilst we were there.

We also went on the bamboo train, the other “must-do” attraction here. It's definitely a tourist gimmick, but one that I quite enjoyed nevertheless. Essentially a giant tea tray made from bamboo, the 'train' is placed on wheels and operated by what looks to be a lawnmower engine. The entire thing can be put together and dismantled very easily – which helps, as there's only one stretch of track and so one bamboo train has to give way if you meet someone coming in the other direction. We travelled at surprisingly fast speeds considering our mode of transportation, and got to see a bit of the countryside – although after a few kilometres your journey stops and you are offered a 'tourist break' [chance to buy overpriced Diet Coke from locals] whilst the train driver takes apart the train and get it ready to go back in the direction you've come from. We attempted some comedy conversation with the drink shop owner, who told us that he had 5 daughters, in response to a question about what crop he was growing. Or maybe we just didn't understand him. On the return journey we had a near miss with a couple of cows, but otherwise it was uneventful.

So I wouldn't put Battambang on the list of “must-see” destinations in Cambodia, but it was a good enough place to chill out before moving on to Thailand.