Archive for PREY VENG

Prey Veng Province

Prey Veng (long forest) is a province of Cambodia. The capital is Prey Veng town. In 2008 it had a total population of 947,357 people.

The National Road 1 passes through, which links Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City and is one of the busiest roads in the country.

This densely populated agricultural region is located on the east bank of the Mekong. The name literally means "long forest" in khmer, but the last great forests have gradually disappeared there over 30 years to provide for agricultural land.

Geography

The province is bordered by those of Kampong Cham Province to the north, Kandal Province to the west, Svay Rieng Province to the east and by Vietnam to the south. It is crossed by two major rivers of the country, namely the Mekong and Tonle Bassac.

The total land area of the province is 4,883 km², which equals 2.7% of the total land area of Cambodia (181,035 km²). This consists of 445.18 km² or 9.12% of human settlements, 3,100 km² or 63.49% of agricultural land use, 194.61 km² or 3.99% of forested area, 1,082.86 km² or 22.18% of public land, infrastructure and water bodies. The remaining 60.35 km² or 1.24 % are unused areas.

Population

The total population is 947,357 persons or 7.07% of the total population of 13,388,910 persons in Cambodia ^[2] In the above number are also consisting of 825,818 person or 80.54% are farmers, 140,685 person or 13.72% are fishermen, 44,561 person or 4,35% are traders, 14,267 person or 1.39% are government’s officers. The average density 194.0 person per km².

The majority of the population is of Khmer origin and only 1.13% are from ethnic minorities such as Kinh (Viet), the Muslim Chams or Laos.

Districts

The province contains 1139 villages organized by 116 communes and 12 districts. The districts are:

- 1401 Ba Phnum

- 1402 Kamchay Mear

- 1403 Kampong Trabaek

- 1404 Kanhchriech

- 1405 Me Sang

- 1406 Peam Chor

- 1407 Peam Ro

- 1408 Pea Reang

- 1409 Preah Sdach

- 1410 Prey Veaeng

- 1411 Kampong Leav

- 1412 Sithor Kandal

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.

Ba Phnom Resort

Ba Phnom Resort Located at Chheu Kach commune, Ba Phnom District in the distance of 78 Kilometers from Phnom Penh and 45 Kilometers from the provincial town of Prey Veng with turning left more seven kilometers at kampong Seung market.
Ba Phnom Resort in Prey Veng Province

The resort of Ba Phnom has four mountains closed to each other, namely: Sam Por, Sa Ang, Thum and Bonh Chor mountain. Ba Phnom is the former old Capital named Nor Kor Phnom. Nowadays, it remains some evidence like an ancient temple called Pra Sat Chan located in front of Kuk pagoda closed to Sam Pov Mountain in Cheung Phnom Commune, halls and palace are completely damaged by war at that time. Ba Phnom has beautiful scenery when viewing from the above peak and big rocky caves, the hideout of wild life. At the mountain’s Valley, there is a pagoda named “Ba Phnom” surrounded mountain rank and a big pond at the East of the pagoda. Around the mountain, there are residences of the local people.

The resort of Ba Phnom has been planned to develop as a big tourist attraction at the eastern part of Mekong River because this area can attract most visitors during the Cambodian festivals and holidays. In addition, there are more 15-attractive sites in Prey Veng province such as:

1 Kandal temple located at kampong Trobek District.
2 Prey Cha Rick temple located at kampong Trobek District.
3 Prey Vea Temple located at kampong Trobek District.
4 Stupa of kampong Trobek.
5 Kdey Troup pagoda located at Preah Sdach District.
6 Krang Svay pagoda located at Preah Sdach District.
7 Kdey Ang or Chum Nit located at Preah Sdach District.
8 Preah Sena temple located at Preah Sdach District.
9 Vang Phnan pagoda located at Preah Sdach District.
10 Ha temple located at Preah Sdach District.
11 Preah Poan located at Preah Sdach District.
12 Vi Heah located at Preah Sdach District.
13 Kuk temple located at Ba Phnom District.
14 Cham temple or Chan Ba Phnom.
15 Preah Theat Me Bon located at Prey Veng District.

These attractive sites are the worshipping places for the people of Svay Rieng province who believe in mountain or Arak Neak Ta, and also the gathering places for local and international visitors from everywhere.