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By
: Bronwyn Sloan, Picture by : Nathan Dexter.
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Colonial French architecture
in Kampong Chhnang town.
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Many people
believe Kampong Chhnang is the most beautiful of
Cambodian provinces.
The province is centrally located on the Tonle Sap
in the Tonle Sap Lake region of Cambodia. It can
be reached by road on Route 5, the main road to
Battambang, and is slightly less than 100 kilometers
from Phnom Penh.
The province can be broken into eight districts,
69 communes and 546 villages.
The last census in 1999 recorded a population of
417,693.More than 85 per cent of the province's
population is involved in primary industry. Kampong
Chhnang's main industries are fishing and rice growing,
as well as pottery. In Khmer, chhnang means pot.
There is also a lobster fishing industry. The province
is famous for its high quality dried fish.
Because of its position and its high number of fishermen,
there is a large population of Vietnamese immigrants,
but of the total workforce surveyed in the last
census, 46.6 per cent cited themselves as |
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migrants from
overseas, within the province or within Cambodia.
With its green paddy fields, rivers and sugar palm-lined
horizons, Kampong Chhnang is a wonderful place to spend
a few lazy days and take in the sights of the traditional
Cambodian way of life.
Highlights
Kampong Chhnang Airport
Just north of the main town on the road to Battambang,
this massive airport was constructed by the Khmer Rouge
to transport rice from Democratic Kampuchea's ricebowl
to China more effectively. |
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As many
as 400,000 people were forced to labor on the site,
and of those, 350,000 or more died.
The main runway is off limits to tourists, but the
massive silos and the outer runways and roads are
accessible and still in near-perfect condition.
This is largely because they were built using forced
labor, who toiled to lay a meter and a half of gravel
as a foundation, topped by eight-inch thick slabs
of concrete.
The Khmer Rouge never had a chance to use it. The
Vietnamese army marched into the area and the Khmer
Rouge was overthrown just as the airport was on
the verge of completion in the late seventies.
United Nations Transitional Authority of Cambodia
(UNTAC) used the airport briefly in the early nineties.
The airport was taken over for development as a
cargo airport some years ago but as yet remains
idle.
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Ox-carts travel Cambodia
peddling pottery from the province.
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Independence Monument
At the main roundabout just as visitors enter town is
a miniature replica of Phnom Penh's famous Independence
Monument.
And like the original, this monument is to commemorate
Cambodia's independence from the French in 1953. |
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A fisherman casts his net in
shallow water.
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Port
The port area is called Psar Kraom, after the town's
"lower market", situated near here. The
boat to Siem Reap stops here. Although the dock
area itself is not particularly picturesque, it
offers great views of Neang Kong Rei mountain across
the river. The village on the river itself is a
floating Vietnamese village. Just up the road from
here is a crocodile farm.
Neang Kong Rei Mountain
Neang Kong Rei Mountain is one of the most visited
places in Kampong Chhnang province, and Khmer tourists
especially flock here during New Year.
Sightseers and religious visitors, who value the
mountain as a spiritual center for meditation, come
from allover Cambodia. |
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There is a path
leading to the top of the mountain called Plov Sdach,
or King's Path, and there are several caves in the area
where Buddhists come to pray.
The mountain is believed by some to have the spiritual
power to compel those who visit tell the truth while they
are there.
French Quarter
Kampong Chhnang has always been an important stopping
point between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, and had a strong
French influence during colonial times.
The legacy of this is a fine selection of colonial architecture,
most of which is located in the French Quarter, north
of the town's main square. Shady boulevards and large
gardens compliment the crumbling but still stately colonial
structures of this area.
Kampong Chhnang is a slice of the real Cambodia off the
beaten tourist path, and well worth a visit. |
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Suite
B8, Regency Square, InterContinental Hotel, 294 Mao Tse Toung
Boulevard,
Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia.
Tel: (855) 23 213 133 Fax: (855) 23 213 033
E-mail:
editor@leisurecambodia.com |
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