| The capital of the province of Kampong
Chhnang is situated on the Tonle Sab close to the beginning of the Tonle
Sab lake, nearly 100 kilometres north of Phnom Penh.
The town, often
eluded by tourists, still offers some of the old colonial charms in the
south west area of the town.
Phsar Kraom: port area with a bustling riverfront community
gives a view over floating houses and a great view on Phnom Reang
Kong Rei at the other side of the river. This mountain site, a
nature wildlife preserve, is a popular place for holiday pick-nicks,
especially for Khmer new year.
At the main roundabout just as visitors coming from Phnom Penh enter
town is a smaller replica of Phnom Penh's Independence Monument. Like
the original, this monument commemorates Cambodia's independence from
France in 1953.
Before entering from the Batambang side, you
may notice some pottery stalls. Kampong Chhnang province was already
a centre of pottery some 5,000 years ago, as some pottery fragments
prove. |
Pottery is made in the
villages Banh Chhkol, Ondoung Rossey and Trapeang Ko. Trundling oxcarts
along roads all over the country carry pottery from the province to
markets all over the country. When the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975, they banned the making of
pots altogether in Kampong Chhnang. Afterwards, a few people started
making pots again from memory, but they were not of the same quality.
The province's main outputs are rice and fish. It is renown for its
high quality smoked fish.
Just north of the main town on the road to Battambang, an side road
leads to a massive airport that was constructed by the Khmer Rouge to
transport rice from Democratic Kampuchea's rice bowl to China more
effectively. 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. |
