Kratie

Compared to Stung Treng, my first stop along the Mekong in Cambodia, Kratie is a real city. With some colonial buildings and just enough facilities for tourists. Yet pleasantly small-scale. The boulevard along the Mekong River changes into a sandy path when going South. Along the path a Vietnamese market. A little further Wat Roka Kandal is hidden between the trees. This wooden temple from the end of the 18th century was renovated in 2002 with foreign aid. The exterior is beautiful in a serene way. Inside you will find a modest altar, beautifully decorated pillars, a stone floor and pictures of the restoration on the walls. I took a canoe trip on the Mekong. And paddled along small islands, a larger island with beautiful sandy beaches and a flooded forest. A little further is the place where the famous Mekong Dolphins can be spotted. And indeed, there were dolphins in the form of curved backs that rise just above the waterline.

Phnom Sombok and Sambor

I rent a moped and head north. The roads are paved, red and dusty. The rivers that flow into the Mekong a little further on are spanned with steel bridges covered with wooden planks. Phnom Sombok is a meditation and retreat monastery built against a hill. The stairs are decorated with statues of a procession of monks with the begging bowl of the morning ritual. And at the top around the hill you will find larger than life tableaux from the life of Buddha and some simple huts above the valley side of the hill. Sambor, about 15 miles away, was once a thriving pre-Anchorian city. There is nothing left of it, but here is the largest temple in Cambodia: Wat Sorsor Moi Roi (the 100 pillared temple). It is a sleek and aesthetic building, but there is little life in this monastery temple.

Chhlong and surroundings

Going south the area around Chhlong makes for an interesting trip. Small markets Wats and pagoda's on an island and remarkably a Large Muslim population.