Kampong Cham
My visit to Kampong Cham started off a bit rough. First my travel buddy and I had to sit in the bus for 10 hours (even though it is suppose to be 2 hour trip) then we dropped off in the middle of nowhere at midnight by the shady bus company. Luckily we had our hotel's phone number and called them and we were able to get to the hotel safe and sound. Our suitcases were so big they did not fit on the moto so we had to wheel our luggage on the streets going 30 mph. It was pretty funny, but my poor luggage wheels paid dearly for it. Samsonite was not made to travel on payment going 30 mph, even if it is only a couple of miles. Here is a http://wikitravel.org/en/Kampong_Cham
A Bit About Kampong Cham
Kampong Cham is the third largest city in Cambodia. It is not heavily populated with tourists like Siem Reap or Phnom Penh. Kampong Cham is a port city, located on the Mekong River. The city has the typical local markets, offering fish, frutis, and vegetables. In the outskirts of the city you will find many rice fields. The locals I encountered were very friendly. I was luckly to find a helpful tuk tuk driver right away, Mr. Buth Gideon (pictured below). Mr. Buth Gideon is currently studying to become a minister in the Luthuren church.
Nokor Wat
Not too far from town, is Nokor Wat. It is similar in design to the Angkor Temples in Siem Reap. There is newer built wat on the inside, with the ruins on the outside.
Mountain Pros and Mountain Srey
Close to Nokor wat are two mountains, Mountain Pros and Mountain Srey. Here we had to becareful with our bags, as the monkeys will steal anything they can get their little hands on. At the top of Mountain Srey is a ruined temple, more monkeys and some goats.
Cheung Kok Ecotourism Village
Close to Nokor Wat is a small village where tourists can see how the locals scarves and other local traditions or patterns of life. Half of the villagers here are under 15 years of age. Most if not all the people of the village are rice farmers. However, the lack of water in this region prevents the farmers from harvesting more than once. So in order to make money for food, AMICA (a French non-governmental organization) worked with the locals to start an ecotourism and handicraft project.
Cheung Kok Ecotourism Village
The following summary of the village from taken from the website "Stay Another Day" at
http://www.stayanotherday.org/project/Cheung_Kok_Ecotourism_Village_-_AMICA/introduction
"Cheung Kok Ecotourism Village is a ‘must-see’ for tourists traveling through Kampong Cham. Developed with support from AMICA (Assistance Médiation Internationale pour le Cambodge), visitors can see and take part in how villagers process palm sugar and weave multi-use scarves called ‘krama’ that are an integral part of Khmer identity. AMICA has invested in a number of long-terms projects for Cheung Kok villagers, providing them with additional income and helping them gain important skills. Tourism activities and handicraft production have been launched to diversify livelihoods and enable foreigners to experience firsthand Khmer traditions and rural ways of life."
Killing Field
Between the two mountains is one of the countries many killing fields, where the Khmer Rouge dumped thousands of bodies. Mr. Gideon told us that many of the bodies where dug up by grave robbers as they had gold rings, earrings, etc. still on when they were killed. There is a small temple that has some of the bones from the field.