Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5
Destinations (bus)
Phnom Penh (10 daily; 2hr).
Internet
There are several internet cafés ($1/hr) around
town.
Money
There's an Acleda Bank by the Independence
Monument, a Canadia Bank with an ATM, and
moneychangers at the market. There's nowhere in town to
cash travellers' cheques.
Tourist of
ce
Set back a couple of blocks from the boat
jetty - it's not particularly helpful (Mon-Fri 8-11am &
2.30-5.30pm;
T
032 931323).
ACCOMMODATION
Boeng Takeo Guesthouse
Near the lakeside
T
032
210345.
Reasonable en-suite rooms with cable TV and fan
or a/c, and a nice first-floor balco
ny
with
view
s towards Ta
Mok's house across the water. Fan
$5
; a/
c
$10
Meas Family Homestay
Prey Theat, 2km from Ang Ta
Som Market (intersection of NR3 & NR33)
T
011
925428,
W
cambodianhomestay.com.
Absorb Takeo's
rural ambience with a hands-on experience at this family-
run homestay on the outskirts of town. Set amid paddy
fields and fruit trees, accommodation is in cosy fan-cooled
bungalows or timber-panelled rooms in the main house,
and all meals are included. Wonderfully welcoming owners
Siphean and Mach encourage guests to help on the farm
(paddy harvest June-Dec
), or
perhaps teach English in the
nearby school. Per person
$17
Mittapheap Guesthouse
By the Independence
Monument roundabout
T
032 931205,
E
maochanna99@yahoo.com.
Friendly English-speaking
guesthouse
with acceptable fan rooms, some with optional
a/c. Small charge
fo
r hot
wa
ter ($1-2). Inexpensive food
stalls nearby. Fan
$6
; a/c
$10
Nita Guesthouse
On the canal near the boat dock
T
012 955526.
Bare, spacious en-suite fan rooms, some
with optional a/c in probably the town's most mod
er
n
gu
estho
use. A little English is spoken. Free wi-fi. Fan
$5
;
a/c
$10
EATING
Other than the few restaurants along the lakeside promenade, which produce some elegant
seafood
dishes, including
local freshwater lobster (Aug-Nov), eating options are limited. The
market
is a good bet for breakfast, with stalls selling
sweet doughnuts, fried bananas, bread and coffee.
Delikes Restaurant
Near the market
T
032 454 0345.
Dishes range from beef
lok lak
($2) to spaghetti bolognaise
($3.50) and the only Western breakfast in town.
Daily
6am-8pm.
Steung Takeo
Street 9
T
016 404929.
This stilted (the
area floods in the rainy season) Khmer restaurant is one of
the more atmospheric in Takeo, and serves fish, meat and
lobster in various guises (from $4). Also a good place for a
beer overlooking the floodplains. The menu's in English.
Daily 9am-9pm.
Angkor Borei and around
The pleasantly leafy town of
ANGKOR BOREI
,
some 25km from Takeo, sits on the banks
of the Prek Angkor, a tributary of the Bassac. It's well known to scholars as where the
earliest known example of written Khmer was discovered, and archeological excavations
have identified many features of the
pre-Angkorian town
, including a moat 22m wide,
a section of high brick wall and numerous extensive water tanks. Unfortunately, there is
now little to see of the site apart from the finds in the fine local
museum
.
Angkor Borei can be reached year-round by boat, 20km up a canal and river, an
interesting journey through
wetlands
that are home to a variety of waterbirds, with all
types of boats coming and going. The museum is the main draw, but you can also
explore the excavated Funan-era archeological sites
here and at nearby
Phnom Da
.
Angkor Borei museum
Daily 8am-4.30pm; closed in the rainy season • $1
Boats pull up on the riverside near the bridge, just downstream from which, on the
same side of the river, a white colonial building surrounded by a large garden houses
the well-managed
Angkor Borei
museum
, with a diverse collection of ceramics, beads,
stone statues, carved pediments from the Funanese era and a photographic exhibition
of the excavations. Some stylish sculptures of Vishnu and Shiva line the walls, but the
eight-armed Vishnu surrounded by an arc is a reproduction. One highlight is a
pediment removed from Phnom Da showing Vishnu reclining on a dragon. Aerial
