Friday, June 7, 2013

Prey Veng Province, Nice Place


Prey Veng is quite a sleepy Cambodian province, that just happen to have one of the countries busiest highways running straight through it-National Highway No 1, which links Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. It is a small but heavily populated agricultural region located on the east banks of the mighty Mekong. The name of the province means literally tall forest, but actually doesn't refer in any case to lush forests as most of them were chopped down in the past 30-50 years. Also rubber played once a big economical role in this province, but since the war took over the country the plantations are no longer commercially viable. There are little places of significance to see nowadays, but during the pre-Angkorian times it must have been one of the most populated and lively areas of the country. One of the earliest pre-Angkorian kingdoms was located in the area around Ba Phnom. The sleepy provincial capital is also named Prey Veng and situates on the National Highway No 11, recently rebuild as a road link between National Road No 11 and No 7, or Neak Luong and Kompong Cham. There aren't a lot of travellers making their way to that small town. So if you would like to escape from your fellow travellers that's an opportunity, especially on the way to Kampong Cham. It's also a stop worth on the way to or from Vietnam. The town itself hosts a few decaying colonial buildings, showing that this was once a lively and important centre. There is a huge lake on the west edge of the town, which evaporates from March till August and local farmers cultivate their rice on the fertile ground. 

Kandal Province, Lovely Place


Kandal is one of the smaller provinces of Cambodia. This province completely surrounds, but does not include, the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. It's capital is Ta Khmau (lit. Black Grandfather) and is around 20km south of Phnom Penh. The province is re-known for its ancient history. One of the major attractions is Udong, which served as the former capital of Cambodia under several sovereigns between 1618 and 1866. A number of kings, including King Norodom, were crowned here.

Phnom Penh of Cambodia, My City

Phnom Penh (/pəˈnɒm ˈpɛn/ or /ˈnɒm ˈpɛn/; Khmer: ភ្នំពេញ, Khmer pronunciation: [pnum pɨɲ]) is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national
capital since French colonization of Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security, politics, cultural heritage, and diplomacy of Cambodia. Once known as the "Pearl of Asia", it was considered one of the loveliest French-built cities in Indochina[3] in the 1920s. Phnom Penh, along with Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, are significant global and domestic tourist destinations for Cambodia. Founded in 1434, the city is noted for its beautiful and historical architecture and attractions. There are a number of surviving French colonial buildings scattered along the grand boulevards. Situated on the banks of the Tonlé Sap, Mekong and Bassac rivers, the Phnom Penh metropolitan area is home to about 2.2 million of Cambodia's population of over 14.8 million, up from about 1.9 million in 2008. The city is the wealthiest and most populous city in Cambodia and is the country's political hub.

Kingdom of Wander, Cambodia

No one knows for certain how long people have lived in what is now Cambodia, as studies of its prehistory are undeveloped. A carbon-l4 dating from a cave in northwestern Cambodia suggests that people using stone tools lived in the cave as early as 4000 bc, and rice has been grown on Cambodian soil since well before the 1st century ad. The first Cambodians likely arrived long before either of these dates. They probably migrated from the north, although nothing is known about their language or their way of life. By the beginning of the 1st century ad, Chinese traders began to report the existence of inland and coastal kingdoms in Cambodia. These kingdoms already owed much to Indian culture, which provided alphabets, art forms, architectural styles, religions (Hinduism and Buddhism), and a stratified class system. Local beliefs that stressed the importance of ancestral spirits coexisted with the Indian religions and remain powerful today.