Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary is best accessed from Kompong Speu, 45km west of
Phnom Penh.
Central Cardamoms Protected Forest (CCPF)
The CCPF's enforcement ranger teams get technical and financial support from
Conserva-
tion International
(CI;
www.conservation.org
)
and operate out of three stations in the north.
Rangers and military police based at Kravanh ranger station, deep in the Cardamoms
jungle in the Tang Rang area south of Pursat, play an unending game of cat and mouse
with loggers, poachers and encroachers.
The most valuable contraband at the front-line Rovieng ranger station is aromatic
mreah prew
(sassafras, or safrole) oil, extracted from the roots of the endangered
Cin-
namomum parthenoxylon
tree. One tonne of wood produces just 30L of the oil, which has
a delightful, sandalwood-like scent. Local people use it in traditional medicine, but it can
also be used to make ecstasy.
A few kilometres from Rovieng (and 53km southwest of Pursat) are the
L'Bak Kamronh
Rapids
, which attract Khmers on holidays. About 25km west of Rovieng, in Pramoay
Commune, the old-growth
Chhrok Preal Forest
can be visited with a guide.
To pre-arrange a guide, homestay or guesthouse near the Kravanh or Rovieng ranger
stations, try contacting forestry official
Peau Somanak
(
017 464663; smpeov@gmail.com)
for
advice.
Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary
Sandwiched between the CCPF and the Thai frontier, the Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctu-
ary (3338 sq km) is well and truly out in the sticks. It is threatened by timber laundering,
agricultural concessions and, in Ou Som, the Chinese-built Atai hydroelectric dam, which
will flood 52 sq km.
Boasting Cambodia's second-highest peak,
Phnom Samkos
(1717m), the sanctuary's
main town is
Pramoay
(Veal Veng), 125km west of Pursat. This remote little outpost has
three
guesthouses
(r US$5)
. Local
moto
drivers can take visitors to nearby ethnic minority
villages.
From Pramoay it takes a couple of hours to tackle the track south to Ou Som, where
there's a CCPF ranger station and a few local guesthouses next to the Atai dam.
