Cambodia Highlight Destinations

It’s a beloved spot for backpackers, who can enjoy 50-cent beers whilst overlooking some of the most awe-inspiring historical remains on the planet. While, the striking magnificence of the Angkor Temples has long been the main draw for budget and luxury travellers alike, as has the country’s ancient Khmer heritage, wild jungles, steamy cities and a past that's equal parts inspiring and saddening.

The capital of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, is located at the confluence of three rivers - the Mekong, the Bassac and Tonle Sap. The city is divided into three sections - the north, an attractive residential area; the south or the French part of the city with its ministries, banks and colonial houses; and the centre or the heart with its narrow lanes, markets, foods stalls and shops.

Phnom Penh might be overshadowed by the temples at Angkor but spend time in this Cambodian city and you’ll discover colonial buildings, wide boulevards, pagodas and riverside walks.

Known for its extraordinary Royal Palace and the treasures contained in the National Museum, the best way to discover 21st century Phnom Penh is to explore on foot. Peruse the stalls in the bustling markets full of unusual smells and exotic items, observe monks collecting alms in the early morning hours and admire the dexterity of motorbike riders as they manoeuvre through the city’s chaotic traffic.

If this all gets too much, retreat to one of Phnom Penh’s stylish restaurants, bars and shops which are testament to an emerging city full of confidence and one that is trying to put its troubled history behind it.

Back in the 1960s, Siem Reap was the place to be in Southeast Asia and saw a steady stream of the rich and famous. After three decades of slumber, it’s well and truly back and one of the most popular destinations on the planet right now. The life-support system for the temples of Angkor, Cambodia’s eighth wonder of the world, Siem Reap was always destined for great things, but few people saw them coming this thick and this fast. It has reinvented itself as the epicentre of the new Cambodia, with more guesthouses and hotels than temples, world-class wining and dining and sumptuous spas.

At its heart, Siem Reap is still a little charmer, with old French shop-houses, shady tree-lined boulevards and a slow-flowing river. But it is expanding at breakneck speed with new houses and apartments, hotels and resorts sprouting like mushrooms in the surrounding countryside. The tourist tide has arrived and locals are riding the wave. Not only is this great news for the long-suffering Khmers, but it has transformed the town into a pulsating place for visitors. Forget the naysayers who mutter into their beers about Siem Reap in the ‘old days’, now is the time to be here, although you may curse your luck when stuck behind a jam of tour buses on the way back from the temples.

Angkor is a place to be savored, not rushed, and this is the base to plan your adventures. Still think three days at the temples is enough? Think again with Siem Reap on the doorstep.
Getting here: Most visitors arrive in Siem Reap by air. There are direct flights from most major capital cities in Southeast Asia. It is a 40 minutes flight or a 6 hour journey by road from Phnom Penh.

Is a sleepy Mekong River town situated on the east bank of the mighty river.It’s very picturesque with sandbars and big islands out front and bends in the river. Unlike in many towns around Cambodia, the war years were fairly kind to the French architecture and the roads, at least in the town itself. There are some nice-looking homes of French and Khmer style scattered about, adding to the pleasant feel of the place.

The rare freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins make their home in the Mekong River, just north of Kratie. With only around fifteen to twenty remaining, they are worth a visit. Whether you are just on a trip seeing the river towns along the Mekong or taking a full circuit trip around the east and northeast, Kratie is a nice place to spend a night or two

Bordering Thailand and Laos to the north, vast Preah Vihear Province – much of it heavily forested and extremely remote – remains desperately poor. This is in part because many areas were under Khmer Rouge control until 1998, and in part because of the catastrophic state of the infrastructure – there’s not a single paved road in the entire province!

However, Preah Vihear is home to three of Cambodia’s most impressive legacies of the Angkorian era. Prasat Preah Vihear, high atop the Dangkrek Mountains escarpment, is truly stunning, though for now this temple is much easier to get to from Thailand than from the provincial capital, Tbeng Meanchey. The trip from the Cambodian side involves a tough overland journey and, in the wet season, the distinct possibility of a night in the forest. The mighty Preah Khan isn’t as far north but is reachable only in the dry season. Fortunately, there’s good news regarding the 10th-century capital of Koh Ker, now an easy toll-road drive from Siem Reap (via Beng Mealea).

Surrounded by white-sand beaches and undeveloped tropical islands, the port city and beach resort of Sihanoukville (Krong Preah Sihanouk), also known as Kompong Som, is the closest thing you get to the Costa del Cambodia. Visitor numbers have risen steadily in recent years – and are likely to skyrocket if flights to Siem Reap are resumed – but for the time being, despite the boomtown rents, the city and its sandy bits remain pretty laid-back.

Named in honour of the then-king, Sihanoukville was hacked out of the jungle in the late 1950s to create Cambodia’s first and only deep-water port, considered vital so the country’s international trade would no longer have to pass through Vietnam. During the 1960s the city experienced a small tourism boom.

The big attractions around here are the four beaches ringing the headland. None of them qualify as the region’s finest but on weekdays it’s still possible to have stretches of sand to yourself. On weekends and holidays Sihanoukville is extremely popular with well-to-do Phnom Penhers.

Source indochinadiscoverytravel