Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
An improving road, passable by Toyota Camry or motorbike in the dry season, goes
north from Koh Kong through the Cardamoms to Pursat, Pailin and Battambang, passing
by remote mountain towns such as Veal Veng, O Som (where there's a ranger station) and
Promouy (the main town in the Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary). Near Koh Kong, the
turn-off is on the old road to Phnom Penh past the airport, a few hundred metres beyond
the army base. Going south, share taxis link Pursat with Promouy, O Som and Koh Kong
in the dry season. In the wet season, it may still be possible to hire a
moto
for the long trip
from Pramouy to Koh Kong, depending on local road conditions and seasonal rainfall.
The CCPF's northern sections are accessible from Pursat.
Botum Sakor National Park
Occupying almost the entirety of the 35km-wide peninsula west across the Gulf of Kom-
pong Som from Sihanoukville, this 1834-sq-km national park, encircled by mangroves
and beaches, is home to a profusion of wildlife, including elephants, deer, leopards and
sun bears.
Alas, Botum Sakor appears to be a national park in name only. A US$5 billion Chinese-
run tourism project will see the western third of the park developed into seven resort-like
'cities'. Launched in 2010, the project will take 30 years to complete, but construction
crews have already laid a four-lane highway through the heart of the park. The new high-
way, which begins 6km west of Andoung Tuek, provides improved access to the Koh
Sdach Archipelago.
Meanwhile, Cambodian businessman Ly Yong Phat has been granted a concession to
develop a large central swath of the park.
That leaves the eastern third of the peninsula as the only viable area to visit. Boats can
be hired in Andoung Tuek to take you up into four mangrove-lined streams that are - for
the time being at least - rich with wildlife, including the pileated gibbon, long-tailed
macaque and black-shanked douc langur. The streams are
Ta Op
, the largest, on the east
coast;
Ta Nun
in the middle of the south coast; and
Ta Nhi
and
Preak Khsach
on the east
coast.
At the
park headquarters
( 081 414988, 099 374797)
, on NH48, 3.5km west of Andoung
Tuek, you can arrange a hike with a ranger (US$5 a day) or a boat excursion out of
Andoung Tuek.
