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Angkor Wat Travel Guide
Angkor Wat is a temple complex in Angkor, Cambodia and is the work of Suryavarman II (1113-1150 AD). It is the best preserved example of Khmer architecture, lying less than a mile to the south of the royal city. The temples at Angkor are spread out over some 40 miles around the village of Siem Reap, about 192 miles from the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. They were built between the eighth and 13th centuries and range from single towers made of bricks to vast stone temple complexes. There are two main sites where the Khmer temples are located. The first is at Roluos which is about 10 miles south east of today’s village of Siem Reap, where only a few of the earlier temples were built. This was the first Khmer capital in the Angkor area. In the late ninth century, Yasovarman I moved the capital to the immediate vicinity of Siem Reap.
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Battambang Travel Guide
Battambang is Cambodia’s second most populous city and likely boasts the highest statue to resident ratio in the country. Ah, yes, the Battambang statues – every circle, every park, every plaza sports a statue. If you do visit Battambang, try to arrive by one of the many boats that are continually coming and going. The sight of 20 or so touts (locals trying to get you to stay in their particular hotel or hostel) swimming out to be the first to hand you a business card is definitely a sight for travel weary eyes. It’s a secondary hub on the overland route between Thailand and Vietnam, and if National Highway 6 from Poipet to Siem Reap is ever upgraded it’ll become an even smaller hub. The network of charming old French shop houses clustered along the riverbank is the real highlight here, and there are a number of wats scattered around the town. The small museum has a collection of Angkorian-era artefacts, and beyond the town there’s a number of hilltop temples, yet more wats and a large lake. Battambang is now a smooth, sealed 293km (181mi) bus or share-taxi ride from the capital.
There are many reasons to visit Battambang – the train from Phnom Penh goes there, it’s on the way to Pailin (casinos! rubies!), it’s an excuse to take a cramped speedboat ride from Siem Reap, or more seriously, it’s one of the best places in the country to observe the rural Cambodian way of life. Until the recent reconstruction of the Siem Reap to Poipet road, many travelers going overland between the two towns would detour by way of Battambang. Now that travelers can make the overland journey in three hours, Battambang is losing out on these overnight guests. So here’s a plug for Battambang.
The province is subdivided into 13 districts:
0201 Banan
0202 Thma Koul
0203 Bat Dambang
0204 Bavel
0205 Aek Phnum
0206 Moung Ruessei
0207 Rotanak Mondol
0208 Sangkae
0209 Samlout
0210 Sampov Lun
0211 Phnum Proek
0212 Kamrieng
0213 Koas Krala
Choeung Ek Travel Guide
Choeung Ek, the site of a former orchard about 17km south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, is the best-known of the sites known as The Killing Fields, where the Khmer Rouge regime executed about 17,000 people between 1975 and 1979. Mass graves containing more than 8,000 bodies were discovered at Choeung Ek after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime. It was a very disturbing place that shows the horror and yet commemorated those killed.
Today, Choeung Ek is a memorial, marked by a Buddhist stupa. The stupa has plexiglass sides and is filled with more than 5,000 human skulls. Some of the lower levels are opened during the day so that the visitor can see the skulls directly. Many have been shattered by gunshots to the head or smashed in with implements such as hoes.
Kampong Cham Travel Guide
Kampong Cham is a province in the east of Cambodia. Its capital is Kampong Cham. Kampong Cham is a port city on the banks of the Mekong River about 50 kilometres north of Phnom penh. Close to the town is the temple complex of Wat Nokor, a well preserved example of 13th century Khmer architecture.
The province is subdivided into 16 districts.
0301 Batheay
0302 Chamkar Leu
0303 Cheung Prey
0304 Dambae
0305 Kampong Cham
0306 Kampong Siem
0307 Kang Meas
0308 Kaoh Soutin
0309 Krouch Chhmar
0310 Memot
0311 Ou Reang Ov
0312 Ponhea Kraek
0313 Prey Chhor
0314 Srei Santhor
0315 Stueng Trang
0316 Tboung Khmum
Kep Travel Guide
The sleepy seaside town of Kep wasn’t always so sleepy. Before Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge kicked everybody out, this was Cambodias major tourist destination. Evidence of this can be seen everywhere, from the hollowed out remains of what were once lavish beach resorts to the overgrown tennis courts. This was once the beach getaway for Cambodia’s elite and after experiencing a long period of decline, Kep is staging a gradual comeback, though not so much for its beaches – which are not a patch on Sihanoukville’s – as its seafood. In particular, the fresh crab has Khmers day-tripping here by the taxi load. Mostly visited by local tourists for now, people typically float offshore in car-tyres, hire boats to visit an array of offshore islands and eat. They also eat, and eat. And drink.
Krong Koh Kong Travel Guide
Krong Koh Kong is a coastal village in the south-west corner of Cambodia. To the north are the Cardaman mountains. The island is only 80 km away from Thailand’s island Koh chang. This part of Cambodia is still relatively undeveloped for tourism but the potential is enormous. Koh Kong Island of the coast is a undiscovered paradise and the Government of Cambodia hope to build infrastructure to attract overseas tourists in the future. There are flights from Phnom penh and boats from Kampong Cham Som.
Phnom Penh Travel Guide
Pnomh Penh is the capital of Cambodia. It is a great city with lots of things to do and see. The town is spread out on the banks of two rivers. Situated in the center of the country, the capital has a long history that dates back over 600 years. The main roads are paved, but the side streets are dusty. Motorcycle and Cyclo-taxis dominate the roads and are available for $.50 to be taken almost anywhere in the city. The city offers several cultural and historical attractions including the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and the National Museum. There are also a wide variety of services including five star hotels and budget guest houses, fine international dining, sidewalk noodle shops, neighborhood pubs international discos and more. The city offers a fascinating cocktail of flavors. The crumbling, colonial architecture & wide boulevard-style roads, give the city a relaxed French feel. This provides a contrasting background to the vibrant Cambodian markets & typically chaotic SE Asian traffic, the roads choked with motos, cyclos and cars.
The main sights in town include Wat Phnom from where you have great views over the city, the Silver Pagoda in the Royal Palace complex, where you can see a green crystal Buddha and Buddha made of solid gold. The National Museum is also worth a visit. Other sights include the Phnom Temple, the Orchid Garden, the central market and a 15th-century pagoda or you can take a boat ride on the Mekong River to see the floating villages and a crocodile farm.
The Tuol Sleng Museum is a sight that brings back a not too distant past: the terror of the Khmer Rouge. The building was a Khmer Rouge prison and torture chamber - very few of the prisoners survived. More than 30,000 died here.
Ratanakiri Province Travel Guide
Ratanakiri is located approx. 600 km north of Phnom penh . It is bordering with Vietnam and Laos . There’s not a whole lot written about Ratanakiri province because not a whole lot of people have been there. Ratanakiri Province is in Cambodia’s mountainous northeastern corner. Jungle, wildlife, stunning scenery and 12 different ‘Khmer Loeu’ ethnic minority groups (’Khmer Loeu’ refers to all the various minority peoples of the different tribes) make this Cambodias “eco-tourism” capitol, Ratanakiri province has a real under developed “Indiana Jones” feel to it. Banlung City is the provincial capital of Ratanakiri Province in Cambodia’s mountainous northeastern corner. Heavily jungled and home to 12 different ‘Khmer Loeu’ ethnic minority groups, Ratanakiri province has a real edge-of-the-world feel to it. Most visitors to Ratanakiri base themselves in Banlung City from where they make excursions/treks to Khmer Loeu villages and jungle areas, waterfalls, gem mines, and Ratanakiri’s famous Yeak Laom volcanic lake.
Siem reap Travel Guide
Siem Reap is a small colonial town just north of Southeast Asia’s largest lake, Tonle Sap. The name Siam Reap actually means the “defeat of Siam” — today’s Thailand. It is quite a small town and you can walk around to see the city. It is reported to be safe enough to be out after dark. Siam Reap draws visitors for its world-famous monuments nearby: Angkor wat. Visiting the hundred-or-so temples and studying the forests around Siem Reap is still the main reason for being in the city. Angkor temples represents Khmer civilization which dominated the region during 900 - 1500 AD. The magnificent sandstone ruins cover an area of 400 square kilomaters in Siem Reap provice containing over 100 monuments, including about two dozen major temples.
Some of the main temples, such as Angkor Wat and Bayon, merit repeated visits at diferent time of day as the reflection on the carved walls and labyrinthine interior spaces are transformed by changing lights.
Siem Reap has today become the most visited place in Cambodia.
You can take a bus from Bangkok’s Northern bus station to Aranya Prathet (102 baht for normal buses, 196 baht for A/C). The ride takes about five hours, and from the bus station, you’ll need to take a tuk-tuk (about 60 baht) to the border crossing site. Trains from Bangkok’s Hualamphong station leave for Aranya Prathet twice daily at 5:55 a.m. and 1:05 p.m. To avoid crossing the border altogether, you can fly into Siem Reap. The airport is 8 km outside of town along Route 6, the main road.
Sihanoukville Travel Guide
Cambodia’s main port town, and also the one place in Cambodia somewhat reknown for it’s beaches. About a three hours bussing it from Phnom Penh, or alternatively one can arrive from the Koh Kong border crossing with Thailand by boat. Sihanoukville has big plans and just the recent openings of the huge Sokha Beach Resort that dominates the beach of the same name as well as the ’soft’ opening of the new ‘regional’ airport 18 kilometers out of town on Highway 3 heading north to Phnom Penh, are indicators of these plans. Sihanoukville’s white sand beaches and warm Gulf of Thailand waters combine with a laid back, beachy atmosphere to provide a great little tropical getaway.
Considering the moderate number of visitors to Sihanoukville, the town offers a surprising number of restaurants and bars. Fresh seafood, especially crab, prawns and ocean fish, has always been one of the town’s biggest draws, but there is also a wide variety of places offering foreign cuisines - Australian, French, Indian, German, Sri Lankan, British, Italian, pizza places, a couple of western bakeries and even a proper espresso coffee shop.
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