Southern Cambodia’s beaches, rivers and islands

Southern Cambodia’s beaches, rivers and islands

Highlights of the south include the lovely old French river port of Kampot, set in fields of fragrant black pepper near hills pocked with caves. These hide Khmer temples over a thousand years old, coated with flowstones and stalagmites. Down river from Kampot is the enchanting little coastal fishing village of Kep with coral cayes offshore and a lively market. And a short drive from Kampot is the hill station at Bokor – where there’s a huge statue of a female Buddha and a mesmerising view (from the derelict French casino) over the coastal plains to the blue South China Sea.

Star attraction of the south are the beach-fringed, palm shaded islands of Koh Rong and Koh Rung Samloen – whose kilometres of white-pepper sand shaded by fragrant frangipani trees are as idyllic as any you’ll find in Thailand but far less tramped.