We are often asked what sights we think are worth seeing, which places we found interesting and what would we recommend doing.  These are our thoughts. There is much more detail in our Journal for Cambodia. We came to Cambodia in 2006 and we lived there until February 2008. As we travelled around Cambodia this feature was expanded and refined.

The details may change so we suggest you check with a good guide book. We prefer the “Rough Guide” series because they are well written and kept up to date.  You can get more information on www.roughguides.com.

Clicking on the pictures will expand them

Seam Reap

The ancient Angkor Temples are the jewel in the crown of the Cambodian Tourist Industry. There is nothing quite like these huge impressive archaeological marvels anywhere else in South East Asia. The recent popular poll of the Wonders of the Modern World placed the Angkor Temples at number 10, ahead of the Statues on Easter Island, Pyramids at Giza and Timbuktu.

 

The biggest and most impressive is Angkor Wat, closely followed for interest is the faces carved into the rock at Bayon.

 

The trees growing through the huge stone blocks at Ta Prohm and Ta Som really capture the imagination.

The carvings in the red stone temple at Banteay Srey are exquisite and well worth travelling a bit further north of the main temple sites to see it.

In the evening relax in a wide range of restaurants and bars and take in one of the traditional dance performances in some of the bigger restaurants.

Phnom Penh

Many people fly into Cambodia and spent only a day in Phnom Penh passing through but there is so much more to do and see. We recently designed a tour for our friends and three weeks just wasn’t enough.  Here are some of our recommendations.

Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda

  

The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda are best visited in the morning because these magnificent buildings are seen at their best when illuminated by the early sun. There are several buildings within the precincts of the Palace and one entry ticket will give you access to an interesting morning of sight seeing.  
 

National Museum

 

The National Museum is adjacent to the Royal Palace and contains many fascinating and well organised and explained exhibits. These include carved Buddha images and many sculptures and carvings from the Angkor temples.

Water Front

There is a nice walk along the Tonle Sap River promenade from across from the Royal Palace up to the where the passenger boats leave for Vietnam.  On the other side of the street there are plenty of cafes, pubs, hotels and restaurants to keep you well watered and nourished.  The famous Foreign Correspondents Club, FCC, is on this walk. 

Independence Monument

 

An prominent land mark in the centre of Phnom Penh.  If you spend more than a day in Phnom Penh you will probably drive past it more than once. Here visiting dignitaries lay wreaths.

Wat Phnom

   

Wat Phnom is a  park in the north of Phnom Penh in which there is a small hill with a Buddhist pagoda on the top. There is also a Chinese temple and it is worth just sitting quietly watching the locals making offerings of fresh meat and fruit to the spirits of their ancestors. There are also caged wild birds which can be bought and released as a token of benevolence. The monkeys around the park look a bit scruffy but they are well fed.  An elephant ride can easily be arranged, on Sambo, the only elephant still working around Wat Phnom. With so many tourists and visitors to the park there are inevitably more beggars here than in other parts of the city.     

Psar Toul Tom Poung, The Russian Market.

This marvellous colourful market has everything from silk and carved wooden souvenirs to pirated CDs and DVDs, spare motorcycle parts, household wares, live fish, meat and fruit and vegetables.  It is called the Russian market because between 1979 and 1989 when the Vietnamese Army controlled Cambodia it was popular with visiting Russian advisers.  It is a wonderful experience to wander around the market and chat to the various friendly stall holders. Silk blouses can be bought for $5, but don’t believe the label, always ask the stall holder if the garment is likely to fit you.

Psar Thmei

Psar Thei or the new market was constructed by the French in 1935 as a cathedral of commerce. Walking into the high airy dome you can see the intention. Around the market are hundreds of stalls run by friendly and helpful traders.  In the streets around there are more expensive shops selling jewellery, silks, cameras, electronic goods, generators and much more.  Don’t miss the nearby Sorya Mall, five or six storeys of shops and stalls with a large top floor restaurant offering great views of the city.

Ethical Shopping

Tabitha on the corner of streets 51 and 360 and offers beautiful silks and other items produced by rescued street women.
Wat Than, at 180 Norodom Boulevard sells products made by disabled people, some of them landmine victims,

Sovanna Phum

The traditional Cambodian dance and theatre skills are being revived by the Sovanna Phum Association.  Performances of Traditional Dance, mime and shadow puppets are presented every Friday and Saturday evening.  Corner of Streets 360 and 105

Toul Sleng Genocide Museum

Under the disastrous rule of Pol Pot from 17 April 1975 until 7 January 1979 the Chinese inspired communists, the Khmer Rouge drove the population from the towns and cities of Cambodia and systematically murdered two million people. First leading members of the former regime and the army were put death and then civil servants, doctors, teachers, managers, lawyers and intellectuals were killed. The Toul Sleng High school was used as a torture and interrogation centre and it has been preserved as a museum.  There are photographs of the victims, documented personal histories and cells with chains and shackles still in place.

Choeung Ek Genocide Memorial

 

Many of the victims of the Khmer Rouge genocide were taken to Killing Fields just outside Phnom Penh. At the site of one of the biggest mass graves found, a memorial has been erected. The Choeung Ek Memorial contains the skulls and bones of thousands of men, women and children in a glass sided tower.

         

The mass grave on this site contained 17,000 bodies and it is still a chilling and sobering place to visit.  This period is still raw in the minds of the Cambodian people and almost every person who lived through it has a terrible story to tell. 

Water Festival

 

The colourful Water Festival is an extravaganza of large boats each rowed by fifty colourful clad oarsmen from all over Cambodia. Hundreds of thousands of spectators come to watch as the boats race down the Tonle Sap River toward the finish line opposite the Royal Palace.  The Festival occurs over three days in late November. It marks the time when the flood waters recede and the direction of flow of the Tonle Sap River changes. Waters from the Great lake start to flow south into the Mekong River and with them millions of fish start to migrate.  It is a great time to be in Cambodia.

Kirrirom National Park

   

Half way between Phnom Penh and the coastal resort of Sihanoukville lies the Kirrirom National Park.  The mountains provide clear cool air in the hot season with well organised places for picnics and good trekking terrain. There are also spectacular waterfalls in the rainy season. Visitors can stay overnight in high standard bungalows or rent a thatched roof shelter. Unfortunately it is difficult to reach by public transport.

Sihanoukville

 

Bamboo Island beach and the busy Serendipity Beach

The beaches, bars and restaurants are as popular with the locals as they are with tourists and backpackers.  On high days and holidays the main beaches can be crowded with plenty of itinerant juice sellers, purveyors of cooked squid, jewellery hawkers, girls with baskets of fruit on their heads and travelling masseuses. However a walk along the golden beaches leaves the crowds behind.  Green islands with deserted pristine beaches dot the blue sea and boats can be hired to visit these. A popular destination is Bamboo Island, with beautiful beaches and picturesque restaurant and bar. The island also boasts simple beach front cabins with sparse facilities, no water or toilet, where you can sleep the night.

Accommodation in Sihanoukville is plentiful from $3 per night beach shacks to $300 per night luxury hotels.  There are also a plethora of restaurants, bars and night spots to suit all tastes. There are plenty of good buses between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville

Kampong Cham

    

Kampong Cham is a quiet Market Town and a good place to chill out. Boats can be hired to take visitors on the River Mekong and up the tributaries to see the many fishing villages on the banks. Among the places of interest are Wat Ankor, an ancient ruined 11th century pagoda now surrounded by the buildings of a modern pagoda.  Here the monks rescue and educate street children and welcome visitors.

    
There are pagodas on the top of man hill and the adjacent woman hill with a legend about the battle of the sexes.  The cunning women won the bet as to which group could build the tallest pagoda by sunrise. By lighting a huge fire on their hill the women convinced the men that sunrise had come. So the men fell into an exhausted sleep. Meanwhile the women worked on through the night and built their pagoda higher.  The pagodas are still there along with extravagant colourful modern images of Buddha and figures from the Buddhist pantheon.

 

Every dry season, around February, the people of an island in the river build the famous Bamboo Bridge.  This temporary but tough structure can support fully laden pickup trucks as well as a busy traffic of cars, motorbikes and pedestrians. The annual rains wash the entire bridge away. The bridge has been featured on the cover of an environmental book on how people cope with extreme climates.

Lazy Mekong Daze is a popular river front restaurant run by Simon an Englishman and his Cambodian wife Dani.

Kampot

 

The main attraction around Kampot is Bokor Hill an eerie former French resort. The hill station was built to take advantage of the cool mountain air. However it was abandoned when the Japanese invaded in 1940 and was the site of fierce fighting during the Khmer Rouge period. Now the gutted casino and hotel, the derelict buildings and the shell of the old church present a ghost town feel to the place. The badly potholed road to the summit produced a bone jarring ride but it is still a popular attraction.  There are also caves and waterfalls to explore in the area.

  
Only a few kilometres from Kampot, Kep was once a thriving French resort. New hotels are reviving the small town and it is becoming a popular base for exploring the area. Kep is famous for its boiled crab picnics by the sea front, although the beach is small and not particularly attractive.

Battambang

 

Nestling in a glorious panorama of rich farmland and bright green rice fields, dotted by sugar palms, Cambodia’s second largest city, Battambang, is a pleasant contrast to the frenetic activity of Phnom Penh.  It offers interest and relaxation amid venerable pagodas, old Chinese merchant’s houses and French administrative buildings, villas and two storey shop houses complete with balconies.   The centre of Battambang is relatively compact, small enough to walk across in half an hour, although there is sprawling development on the east of the Sangker River. It offers plenty of opportunities to stroll through the town, promenade along by the river where locals meet and greet each other on the grass lined walks. This charming town is surrounded by Wats on dramatic mountains, ancient Angkorian ruins, wonderful examples of countryside crafts, crocodile farms, vineyards, Humanitarian Organisations you can visit, places of historical interest and monuments to the killing fields.

 

The entrance to Battambang is dominated by a huge, black painted, statue of King Ta Dambong who overthrew the previous king using a magic stick. Legend foretold he would be deposed by a holy man and sure enough a prince, dressed as a holy man and riding a flying horse turned up. In defending his throne Ta Dambong threw his stick at the prince but the stick disappeared and the prince took over. The Khmer word for disappear is “bat” and to this day the town is named after this incident “Bat Dambong”. The statue of the prince  and  his  horse  is  at the north end of street 3.  

The centre of the town is dominated by the Phsar Nath covered market, whose friendly traders are happy to chat to you, without pressing you to buy. Near the market two interesting Wats attract the eye. Wat Pippitharam, on street 3 north of the market, built in 1848, has gates guarded by two mythical giants.  Wat Damrey Sar (White elephant), on the southern end of street 2, has an interesting vihear which was built in 1904.

Nestling between mobile phone shops and photocopying places on the west bank of the river is an interesting 16th or 17th century Chinese Temple. The friendly custodian will switch on the lights to give you a better view of the religious statues and decoration in the candlelit incense filled interior. On the east bank there are several Wats worthy of attention.

   

Don’t miss the famous Battambang Bamboo railway (Norey). You can clatter exhilaratingly for kilometres through the beautiful rice field countryside on this triumph of ingenuity. A simple bamboo platform positioned over a set of wheels allows people, goods, and animals to be propelled down the single track, driven by a small motor bike engine.

   

The essence of the bamboo train is that the whole assembly can be dismantled in a few seconds to allow the lumbering freight trains and other bamboo trains to pass.

   

Around Battambang there are a host of villages engaged in a wide range of cottage industries to explore.  The pictures above show women making rice noodles and a man grinding rice to make a rice flour paste.

  

Further afield the Angkor temple ruins on top of Banan Hill are worth a visit.  But take time for Phnom Sampeu.  

   

Glorious golden pagodas perched on cliff announce the approach to Phnom Sampeu. Climbing the long staircase to the top gives access to infamous caves used by the Khmer Rouge to throw prisoners to their death through a hole in the top of the mountain.

 

The skulls of the victims found in the caves are displayed in a memorial inside the caves.

   

On the base of Phnom Sampeu a huge image of Buddha is being carved out of the living rock. In 2007 the head and shoulders were visible as the carvers started their ten year task. Nearby, millions of small bats stream out of a cave every evening.  Staying in tight formation this natural phenomenon is a wonder to behold. 
 
The boat ride from Battambang to Siem Reap winds through narrow rivers which open out into the Great Lake. Crossing the lake the boat route passes through a large floating village which is worth a look. Trips out to the village from Siem Reap can be expensive so seeing it from the relatively inexpensive boat from Battambang is a good option.

Kratie

 

 

 

The rare Irrawaddi dolphin is a freshwater dolphin which lives in the Mekong River in Cambodia and Laos and the Irrawaddi River in Burma.  At Kratie on Highway 7 there are deep pools in the River Mekong and several pods of dolphins live there. The dolphins can easily be seen from the bank and from boats. Even in the wet season when the river is in full flood visitors have reported good sightings.

 

 

Mondulkiri

 

 

The small town of  Sen Monorom in this eastern province is accessed by a hilly red dust road through the jungle.  In the rainy season this road is impassable for days. The journey however is worthwhile to enjoy all day elephant rides through the jungle. There are also famous waterfalls in the area.  Here the pace of life is slow and tranquil, the scenery beautiful and the people friendly.

Where we were: