Cambodia Beyond Angkor: Battambang, Kampot, Kep, Mondulkiri and Sihanoukville Complete Guide 2026
Browse more guides: Cambodia travel | Asia destinations Cambodia Beyond Angkor: Battambang, Kampot, Kep, Mondulkiri and Sihanoukville Complete Guide 2026 TL;DR I spent six weeks crossing Cambodia outside the Siem Reap temple circuit, and what I found surprised me more than Angkor itself. Battambang gave me French colonial shophouses, the bamboo train across rice paddies, and a somber morning at the Killing Caves on Phnom Sampov. Kampot smelled of green peppercorns drying on bamboo racks, and Bokor Mountain delivered an abandoned 1925 French hill station drifting in cloud above a casino now rebuilt with Chinese capital. Kep served me fresh blue swimmer crab cooked with green Kampot pepper, then a slow boat to Koh Tonsay (Rabbit Island) for a beach with no road traffic. Mondulkiri in the eastern highlands gave me pine forest, Bunong indigenous villages, and an ethical elephant sanctuary where the rule is no riding, no hooks, only walking with the herd. Sihanoukville's downtown i...