Upstream: Phnom Penh- Siem Reap

Downstream: Siem Reap- Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh
According to Khmer legend, the capital of Cambodia originated with a woman named Penh. In about 1370 when a terrible flood occurred Penh discovered a statue with four representations of the Buddha caught in a tree floating downstream. She had a small pagoda built on top of the hill, or phnom, in which to keep the statue. Pilgrims poured in, a settlement began to form, grew and came to be called Phnom Penh or "Hill of Lady Penh".

The city is located at the confluence of four river arms, the Lower and Upper Mekong, the Tonle Sap and the Bassac Rivers. It sprawls out along the southern shore of the Tonle Sap river. The sometimes suffocating tropical heat is conducive to a rather slow pace of life. Near the riverfront is the spectacular, brightly colored yellow, orange and green Royal Palace, home to King Father Norodom Sihanouk.
Large groups of saffron-robed monks can be seen walking or stopping to meditate along the gracious palm tree lined riverfront. Families also enjoy a relaxing outing along the river, while all kinds of hawkers offer exotic fruit, refreshments, lotus seed pods, deep-fried locusts or a chance to release birds for good luck. Scores of raggedy children can be seen, often barefoot, wandering about, begging for riels, kicking around a ball, selling cigarettes or offering shoe-shine services. There is something quite touching about them. They are beautiful, although not always very clean and often timid. Out of their poverty come the most enchanting smiles, something no money in the world can buy.
Everywhere in Phnom Penh, signs of the thirty years of war can be discerned; people's looks, their bodies and souls, betray evidence of the horrifying genocide committed by the Khmers Rouges, followed by the Vietnamese occupation, coups d'etat and bloody gangland killings. Now, after the chaos and the ensuing night of blood, like Cambodia as a whole, Phnom Penh is struggling to come alive again.
The former "Pearl of Asia", despite rampant corruption, assaults by developers and the onslaught of motor vehicles, hasn't lost the exquisite charm of the past.
At dawn, down on the riverfront, crowds of people come to contemplate the harmonious river of alternating flow, a people once crushed but now hopeful of better days to come.

Koh Chen - Oudong

At the Nek Luong ferry on the opposite side of the river from National Road No. 5 is the small village of Koh Chen (Chinese Island) whose inhabitants specialize in silver and copper smithing. They make ornamental items, including delicately engraved tropical fruits, used in traditional ceremonies at the pagoda or for marriages.
The distant hills of Cambodia's old capital, Oudong, and its royal stupas can be seen a few kilometers away from the ferry.
Kilometer after kilometer of rice fields interspersed with sugar palm trees - a national symbol - stretch out from the foot of the hill.
At the top, the ruins of Anthareu temple. The legend behind them has a strongly political flavor: a lampoon of the kings who gave protection to the Chinese without thinking of the interests of Cambodians.

The temple was built by the Chinese (the main entrance facing north), a reminder of an old legend: when one of their emperors fell very sick his astrologers told him that the cause of his sickness was in Anthareu, Cambodia, and that the spell had to be broken. This was done and the emperor recovered.
The Cambodians tell it another way: there used to be a cave on this site, home to a genie that protected Cambodia. The Chinese decided to fill in the cave and build the temple. Whatever the case, it was bombed during the Lon Nol regime, as was the whole Oudong region, considered to be a haven of the Khmer Rouge.
The temple fell into disrepair, which caused His Majesty King Norodom, august personage that he was, to take money from the royal treasury and collect money from the citizens of the kingdom to rebuild it. Clerical leader Tieng personally directed the work. This new temple was completed and the ritual land marking was done in 1911, during the reign of King Sisowath.

Kampong Chhnang
The largest fishing port on the Tonle Sap river
Located some 90 kilometers from Phnom Penh, the town of Kompong Chhnang is one of the largest fishing ports on the Tonle Sap. Fish farming is also widely practiced in the area. The area is famous for its pottery ware, unchanged in style for centuries, which is produced in sufficient quantities to supply the entire country. And not to be overlooked are the products of the thnot (sugar palm) tree that abounds in the area: a mellow tasting, caramel-colored sugar sold in large cakes and palm wine.

A visit to Kompong Chhnang town would really be incomplete without a trip out to the gorgeous countryside. Villages made up entirely of pottery makers can be found anywhere just outside of the town: Phum Kedey Thnot, about a kilometer from the Governor's palace (a very beautiful specimen of colonial architecture), Andong Russey, a little further Phum Bagn Chnob, and Chrey Ba, about 8 kilometers down the road to Phnom Penh, all selling good examples of their craft.

Chnok Tru
Remote floating village

Almost totally overlooked by tourists because of its remoteness and difficult access, the village is completely self-sufficient...
Floating school, factories to make ice for fish preservation, church, pagoda, service stations, pigsty, stores, boat or television repair shops, video club, karaoke bar, police station... everything is on the water. All trades are represented and everybody from children to grandparents goes by boat through the network of canals that cross this little town.

Siem Reap

At the foot of Phnom Krom, not far from Angkor Wat, the river vessel lies at anchor in the inundated forest.
In the floating village of Chong Kneas, poverty is the by-word. But the pungent odors and atrocious road don't stop the children from smiling.

A bit behind the times, with its endless dike leading to stable terrain, is Siem Reap, a small city of 130,000 inhabitants.
The city is surprisingly active and business oriented. Along both sides of the dirty little river that flows through it are stately walkways, empty lots, miscellaneous hotels, buildings under construction, colonial style streets, the old market and even a small post office where, as a precaution, you can even post stamp your own mail.

Siem Reap has but one objective: bring in the tourists! Guesthouses, colonial bars, top-of-the line restaurants, cheap eating places, souvenir or silk shops, art galleries and massage parlors are flourishing more or less.
In the downtown area, the old market has kept a measure of authenticity; to the east, the big modern market.
Depending on your trip, the promise... or the souvenir of Angkor Wat