Battambang to Phnom Penh - Minibus

After exploring Battambang for a couple of days, we moved onto Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh. After a good experience using Mekong Express, we decided to use them again for our next journey and booked tickets at their office. They had a range of times for the journey leaving at 7.00, 8.30, 9.30, 11.00, 14.30 and 17.00 for 12 US dollars. We only booked a day in advance and the 8.30am minibus was already full and there were only a couple of seats left on the other morning minibuses. We opted for the 9.30am departure and had to be at the office 30 minutes beforehand.

That morning we arrived at the office and boarded the minibus- as before, it was a VIP 11 seater minibus with plenty of room for everyone. We picked up a few other people and then made our way towards Phnom Penh. The roads are quite poor in Cambodia and the 300km drive took nearly 7 hours with a couple of breaks along the way. The final roads heading into Phnom Penh are very busy and in a real mess but they are currently being improved.

On the road to Phnom Penh

We pulled into a car park near the Mekong Express office North of Phnom Penh on National Highway 5. From here it is a 3.5km walk or drive to the Royal Palace. We decided to jump in a tuk tuk which cost us 4 dollars (which is still overpriced!). Of course, this tuk tuk service at the office is in place as at the time you don’t know how far away from anything you are.

Overall, we had no problems on the journey and had another good experience using Mekong Express. They do have a website if you want to find bus schedules/prices but I don’t know how secure it is for making bookings.

4 out of 5

Siem Reap to Battambang – Minibus

After a great few days exploring Angkor Wat and Siem Reap, it was time to leave and head towards Battambang. I had read about a few different bus companies in Cambodia online and opted to give Mekong Express Limousine Bus service a go. I located their office in Siem Reap (see photo below) and booked two seats for the 2pm departure at 8 dollars per person. They also have a minibus leaving at 8am.

Office address

We were picked up from our hotel at 1pm in a basic minibus and taken across to their office to wait for our departure time. Just before 2pm we boarded the minibus with our bags and we set off for Battambang. The minibus was very nice inside with leather seats and plenty of room for a maximum of 11 people although we only had 6 people for our journey. With no direct route between the two locations it does take nearly 4 hours with a 30-minute stop in the middle. The journey was fine with no major issues, the roads aren’t in great condition and expect plenty of overtaking on small main roads!

Terms and conditions

Once in Battambang we were dropped off near their office in the centre and plenty of tuk tuk drivers and hotel hosts were there waiting. I would advise not rushing into any decisions on the spot. We had already booked our hotel in advance and located it just around the corner.

Very quick and hassle free journey with Mekong Express, I would definitely use them again and recommend them to anyone!

4 out of 5