talesofasia guide to the provinces of Cambodia

Oddar Meanchey

updated January 2006

This is Cambodia's newest province, sliced out of northern Siem Reap. Though small and impoverished, by location and recent history, it has a chance actually to grab a few tourists. The advantage of its location comes from the opening of the border with Thailand at O'Smach and Anlong Veng and that newly constructed roads provide access more or less to Preah Vihear temple if coming from Siem Reap. As for history, it was the village of Anlong Veng that was the final Khmer Rouge stronghold and on the nearby Dangrek Escarpment, Pol Pot was tried, placed under house arrest and subsequently died in April 1998.

Oddar Meanchey is bordered by Banteay Meanchey to the west, Thailand to the north, Preah Vihear to the east, and Siem Reap to the south.

For information on the border crossing see the Travelers' Reports page on my Overland section.

Anlong Veng
Samrong
O'Smach

Anlong Veng
Folks come for the Khmer Rouge history and a number of sights to that end can be found here. In town is the Ta Mok villa and on the Dangrek Escarpment, about ten kilometers to the north is Pol Pot's final home, his cremation site, and a few other items of recent Khmer Rouge history. The government is doing what it can to turn this place into a tourist attraction. Given that after ancient temples, the most popular tourist sites in Cambodia are Khmer Rouge related (Tuol Sleng, killing fields, etc), it's not such a crazy idea, but nonetheless the ambitions of the government have not produced the desired results and Anlong Veng still fails to attract very many visitors.

There are a couple of basic guesthouses and restaurants in town. The most interesting eatery would have to be the Choum No Tror Cheak Restaurant which offers an extensive menu of jungle critters whose sole qualification for landing on the menu is that they either walk, crawl, slither, swim, or fly - if they can catch it, you can eat it. Menu is in Khmer and Thai only. The restaurant is near Ta Mok's villa.

I have a large page on this website devoted to Anlong Veng and I do suggest reading it as it will cover all the area attractions in copious detail. Here it is.

You can reach Anlong Veng by pick-up truck, by motorbike (good road, about three hours on a 250cc bike), or by guided tour. Many guesthouses and hotels can arrange a trip to Anlong Veng. For motorbiking and/or combining with a trip to Preah Vihear try http://www.hiddencambodia.com. There is also a border crossing here with Thailand. More info can be found here.

Samrong
The provincial capital. No reason to come here in itself, but if you're riding in a local pick-up truck to or from Siem Reap to or from the O'Smach border by way of Kralanh, you'll probably pass through here.

O'Smach
A border crossing with Thailand. Useful if heading to Laos (Vientiane/Luang Prabang) or Northern Thailand. As with all Thai border crossings there's a casino on the Cambodian side. For more on the border crossing go here.

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All text and photographs © 1998 - 2005 Gordon Sharpless. Commercial or editorial usage without written permission of the copyright holder is prohibited.