off the beaten track Cambodia

A small selection of some of our favourite photos from January’s Cambodia Overland Tour – mainly taken by Chet, Dan and Mark but many thanks to anyone else who contributed. Some of our group had begun the trip in Saigon with a Mekong Delta tour and journey upriver to Phnom Penh – Tim had kicked off his trip in Laos…

World Heritage Koh Ker Excellent to see the, in our opinion, long overdue recognition of World Heritage Koh Ker ancient city by the UNESCO powers that be with its inscription as of September 2023. These spectacular jungle ruins, located in Preah Vihear Province, represent the site of the Khmer capital during the early to mid part of the 10th century….

Phnom Chisor While the majority of the best-known and, of course, most frequently visited, Angkorian temples are situated in Siem Reap province and northwestern Cambodia, the well-preserved, hill-top sanctuary of Phnom Chisor, located in the opposite – southeastern – region of the country, is a reminder of the geographical extent of these fabulous ancient temples. Spectacular and often still intact,…

Tuol Damrei Sor The rarely visited Angkorian temple site of Prasat Kuk Roka forms a regular break on our overland trip from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. It’s a small, albeit intact, sandstone tower – probably dating to the 11th century – and a minnow compares to what awaits at Angkor. However, it does illustrate a lot of features which…

Phnom Tamao If Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre was located, for example, between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, it would undoubtedly see far more overseas visitors than it currently does and its location in southern Cambodia’s Takeo Province is undeniably well off the main tourist trail. The site itself is fine and consists of some 6,000 acres of protected woodland,…

Cambodia Boat Trip  . What follows is a brief account and selection of photos of a recent Cambodia Boat Trip from Siem Reap to Battambang. I think we first ran this Cambodia boat trip way back in 2000. It was a very different country in those days and the journey across the Tonle Sap and up the Sangkar River to…

A few images of some of the hard-working women in Phsa Prahok, Battambang’s fish market, taken over the course of several recent visits, To point out that topping and tailing fish all day long, every day, is extremely laborious, dirty and tiring would be rather stating the obvious and certainly a very tough way of earning a living. We can…

Koh Ker The now rather remote and rarely visited site of Koh Ker was, for a brief period in the early 10th century, the capital of the vast Khmer empire. Lying in the Cambodian province of Preah Vihear, around 3 hours drive from Siem Reap Town, this extensive complex of forest ruins is what remains today of the imperial city…

Banteay Chhmar The vast, ruined temple complex of Banteay Chhmar is well off the regular beaten Angkor path and although only 3 to 4 hours’ drive from Siem Reap, sees very few visitors. The somewhat remote location – close to the Thai border in the far northwest of the kingdom – does mean that the elaborate 12th-century site had been,…

Kep A short series describing some our all-time, personal favourite tour destinations beginning with Cambodia’s delightful coastal town of Kep. The above photo of Kep’s delightful Crab Market was admittedly taken a few years ago and some upgrading of the waterfront cafes has taken place but while formerly laid-back Sihanoukville hurtles headlong into high-rise hotels, golf courses and casinos in…

An excursion to discover the (very) hidden Angkor-period Prei Khmeng Temple, Cambodia. You can find an ancient Khmer temple marked on a map or dig one up on Google – Cambodia is covered in Angkorian and pre-Angkorian ruins – but for only a tiny fraction, notably, the most famous ones, will you find any accompanying images or explanations. Discovering what…

Discovering the remote Banteay Ampil Temple, Cambodia We’d been wanting to check out the rather remote and very rarely visited 12th century ruined temple of Banteay Ampil for a long time and so a free (and sunny) day after finishing a Highlights of Cambodia tour seemed like a good opportunity to have a go at reaching what are certainly some…