Africa
Asia
Caribbean
Central America
Europe
Middle East
North America
Pacific
South America
Set amid elevated pine forests, Kirirom National Park offers some small waterfalls and decent walking trails. Hook up with a ranger for a 2hr hike up to Phnom Dat Chivit (End of the World Mountain) where an abrupt cliff-face offers an unbroken view of the western mountain ranges.
It's one of the few national parks to have a community tourism programme and proceeds from its educational walks are pumped back into the community.
mlup@online.com.kh tel info 023 214409
motorcycle
car
One of Cambodia's premier protected areas, Bokor National Park clings to the southern tip of the Elephant Mountains. Besides a refreshingly cool climate, the park possesses secluded waterfalls, commanding ocean views, an abandoned and eerie French hill station (elevation 1080m/3543ft) and exceedingly elusive animals like tigers and elephants.
At great financial and human expense (many indentured labourers perished in the process), the French forged a road into the area in the first quarter of the 20th century. A small community was created and soon the grand colonial hotel, known as Bokor Palace, was inaugurated in 1925. The hill station was twice abandoned: first in the late 1940s when the Vietnamese and Khmer Issarak (Free Khmer) forces overran it while fighting for independence against the French, and again in the early 1970s when it was left to the invading Khmer Rouge. It now has a genuine ghost-town feel, especially when thick mists envelope the skeletons of the original structures.
(south coast Cambodia)
car
motorcycle
| full | US Dollar 5.00 |
Prepare for divine inspiration! The temples of Angkor, capital of Cambodia's ancient Khmer empire, are a perfect fusion of creative ambition and spiritual devotion. The Cambodian god-kings of old each strove to top their ancestors in size, scale and symmetry, culminating in the world's largest religious building, Angkor Wat, and one of its weirdest, the Bayon.
The hundreds of temples surviving today are the sacred skeleton of the vast political, religious and social centre of an empire that stretched from Burma to Vietnam and which, at its zenith, boasted a population of one million.
The temples of Angkor are the heart and soul of the Kingdom of Cambodia, a source of inspiration and national pride to all Khmers as they struggle to rebuild their lives after years of terror and trauma. Today, they are a point of pilgrimage for all Cambodians, and no traveller to the region will want to miss their extravagant beauty.
water taxi
car
bicycle
mini-bus
Cambodia's capital retains an undeniable charm, despite its tumultuous, often violent past. The crumbling colonial architecture makes an attractive backdrop to bustling streetside cafes and the redeveloped riverfront precinct - a particularly lively part of town on Friday and Saturday nights.
The city has several impressive wats (temple-monasteries), including Wat Ounalom, Wat Phnom and Wat Moha Montrei. Pride of place goes to the spectacular Silver Pagoda, one of the few places in Cambodia where artefacts embodying the richness of Khmer culture were preserved by the Khmer Rouge.
Alongside Phnom Penh's harmonious splendour and tradition, the infamous Killing Fields of Choeung Ek are a grisly reminder of the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge. Some 17,000 people were killed at Choeung Ek and more than 8000 skulls, arranged by sex and age, are visible behind the glass panel of the Memorial Stupa, which was erected in 1988. The Tuol Sleng Museum serves as testament to the crimes of the Khmer Rouge, and few details of each victim's torture and death are left to the imagination.
The Central Market area is the main centre for budget travellers, while the city's half-dozen or so street markets are great for bargain jewellery and antiques. The riverfront is the place to go for cheap beer and decent food.
Cambodia's second-largest city is an elegant riverside town, home to some of the best-preserved colonial architecture in the country. Battambang used to be off the map for road travellers, but facilities have been improved and it makes a great base for visiting the nearby temples and villages.
It's a secondary hub on the overland route between Thailand and Vietnam. 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 a pretty bumpy 293km (181mi) bus or share-taxi ride from the capital.
