Battambang, the second biggest city of Cambodia, it was a great place to relax, visit the markets and take walks along the river during the day. There aren't many attractions in the city itself and the place turns into a ghost town by 9pm, but there was something about this place I really liked. I got to sleep in, indulge in tasty street food, get Khemer lessons with a local family and enjoy happy hour while reading the national newspaper. It was a town you could get familiar with and comfortable with in hours. I also took a day trip out to ride the bamboo train, see the killing caves and visit a few temples. To top it all off, Battambang had a vegetarian restaurant!!! The best veggi meats I have ever tasted we're severed at this little local shop packed with locals starting at 6 am ( yes I got up at 6, the food was that good, sometimes even ordering my second meal to go). My next stop was Kampot, by default of arriving at the wrong bus station at the wrong time, what a great mix up. It was another small river side town that turned into a ghost town by 9, that grew on me every day, just like Battambang. I rented a bicylcle and explored the country side and Tek Choo rapids. I skipped the Bokor Station (kampots main attraction, an old Khemer Rouge headquarter), due to development going on, it just didn't appeal to me. I met lots of great people, watched the sun set behind the elephants mountains every night and got entertained by the locals playing this game that reminded me of hacky sack but instead of using the bean bag, they used what reminded me of the rubber used in badminton with chicken feathers attached to it, very impressive, check out the video. My highlight of Kampot was renting a kayak for the day and paddling alongside local fisherman with the traditional rowing boats and seeing the produce boats bringing goods to the town, my favourite was the watermelons boats. The piles of watermelon were so high you would assume either the boat was going to sink or the watermelon mountains would tumble into the river. Kampot was nice because many areas were still very traditional and the Cambodian lifestyle was as it should be, untouched by westerners. Now backtracking east to my initial destination Kep.