Battambang

Cambodia's second-largest city, Battambang sits along the Sangkae River in the northwest of the country and is notable for its well-preserved French colonial streetscapes, which survived the Khmer Rouge period in better condition than much of the country. The Phare Ponleu Selpak circus school, which operates as both a social enterprise and a performance venue, presents nightly shows integrating acrobatics with narrative storytelling. The surrounding countryside contains a cluster of Angkorian temples and the bamboo train — a motorised bamboo platform that runs on disused railway tracks.