KAMPONG SPEU
It may refer to:
- Kampong Speu Province, a central province of Cambodia
- Kampong Speu (town), the capital of Kampong Speu Province
The province is subdivided into 8 districts.
- 0501 Basedth
- 0502 Chbar Mon
- 0503 Kong Pisei
- 0504 Aoral
- 0505 Oudong
- 0506 Phnom Sruoch
- 0507 Samraong Tong
- 0508 Thpong
KIRIROM RESORT
Located at Phnom Sruoch district in the province of Kampong Speu, Kirirom National Park is established on a seven hundred meters hill covering an area of over thirty five thousand hectares in the Elephant Mountains. The name ‘Kirirom’ meaning Mountain of Joy was given to it by the King of Cambodia. Kirirom National Park, a high altitude plateau, is known for its unique high elevation pine forest, which forms the headwaters for numerous streams feeding Kampong Speu Town. This park is part of the ‘Southwest Cluster Protected Areas’ which include Phnom Bokor, Preah Sihanouk and Kep National Parks.
Attractions at this hill station of Kirirom are its spectacular scenery and its astonishing waterfalls. This park is also the home to many endangered species of animals such as pleated gibbon, sun bear and tiger . You can take a ride in the traditional ox-cart ride or trek along the walking trails among the pine trees. Since this natural resort is located one hundred and twenty kilometers to the west of Phnom Penh, visitors can hire taxis to get here. Traveling along National Road No. 4 will also get you here.
The Kirirom National Park, whose official name is Preah Suramarith Kossmak, is about 80,000 acres of forested land on a rare plateau in southwestern Cambodia. The elevation is about 2,200 feet, high enough to support a large pine forest quite distinct from most of the country’s tropical jungle. Our last stop in the park was a newly renovated visitor’s center which was small but quite impressive. The visitor’s center has some really attractive displays although there are too many for such a small space. Still it was refreshing to see such high standards applied to the center.
Especially rewarding was meeting the woman in the picture, the manager of the center, who obviously was proud of her country, her park, and her job representing it to the public. Next to the visitor’s center are the ruins of a large old mansion. Pictured here is a tall, multi-part chimney on a foundation surrounded by a wooden deck that is falling dangerously apart. The house was a hot-season estate of Cambodia’s King Sihanouk but it was destroyed by the Khmer Rouge who was not finally driven out of this area until 1992.
Chambok Ecotourism Site
Chambok ecotourism site is just nest to the Kirirom National Park. Be prepared for some exercise about 4 kilometers trek, interaction with local villagers, and discovery of Cambodia’s unique natural biodiversity, visitors will enjoys with other activities such as: hiking, ox-cart riding, renting bicycle, picnicking, bird watching, bathing at the stream and the waterfall, and visiting a bat-cave. Furthermore, visitors can possibly have a lunch in the villager’s house prepared by local women, including fruit and coconut at the waterfall.
Ecotourism, Asia’s new buzzword, seems at first glance to be the ideal way to ‘save the forest’, although without the support of local communities and a constant stream of visitors, ecotourism remains a pipedream. Phnom Penh based NGO Khmer Community Development (KCD) think they have found the ideal balance.
Phnom Penh based NGO Khmer Community Development (KCD) think they have found the ideal balance.
Phnom Penh based NGO Khmer Community Development (KCD) think they have found the ideal balance.
Chambok Eco-tourism Resort, around 70km from Phnom Penh in Kampong Spue province, is just a few kilometres away from Kirirom Hillside resort. But while Kirirom is an upscale luxury retreat, Chambok is successful and sustainable community project. Unlike many similar schemes, Chambok is run with definite and realistic aims in mind – conservation that benefits local communities through tourism. “Ecotourism is very important for community development,” explained Chan Sokha, KCD’s director. “Chambok is managed by the community, but benefits from it. The project supports families and the community.”
To raise awareness, KCD offers training for would-be guides at $3 per day. The training is popular; around twenty students usually take up the offer. KCD also uses Cambodian volunteers as the unpaid positions are a cheap way to recruit hardworking staff and provide a chance for the unemployed to gain experience and practice speaking English. Twenty-two year-old volunteer Cheam Piseth said “improving language” was his primary concern, though he could easily parrot the ‘NGOese’ associated with the project.
“It’s a project to facilitate commitment to empowerment and prevent deforestation,” Piseth said before talking a long breath. “Sorry about my English,” he added.
The monthly Sunday tour bus, full of eager, bright-eyed urbanites, left at 6.30am on a two hour odyssey of karaoke and high jinks, the mood steadily lightening as the city faded into fields.
The monthly Sunday tour bus, full of eager, bright-eyed urbanites, left at 6.30am on a two hour odyssey of karaoke and high jinks, the mood steadily lightening as the city faded into fields.
Local children handed out elaborate floral crowns upon arrival, much to everyone’s delight; drab city dwellers metamorphosing into children of nature with many a giggle and squeal. An obligatory group photo, that cornerstone of every Cambodian day trip, was taken for posterity.
“It is three kilometres to the third waterfall,” said Piseth, appointed to be translator to the sole foreigner. “It’s the best – forty metres tall. I don’t like the waste [leaves] in the water though.”
“It is three kilometres to the third waterfall,” said Piseth, appointed to be translator to the sole foreigner. “It’s the best – forty metres tall. I don’t like the waste [leaves] in the water though.”
Building a trail linking waterfalls to the main entrance is practical, as waterfalls need almost no infrastructure and are attractive to Cambodians, having had a long history as meeting places, washing pools, and sacred sites. Using existing attitudes in practical strategies is an elegantly simple solution; traditional spiritual beliefs can be used to promote the modern concept of conservation.
In the hamlet closest to Chambok a billboard shows a Tevarda (spirit) pleading with an axe-wielding villager not to cut down trees. Nearby, under the shade of spindly saplings, sits a modern concrete pagoda. Here, in addition to their role as venerated religious leaders and teachers, monks educate locals about the importance of conservation. Monks are ideally placed for this role, as their views are widely respected and Buddhist mendicants have strong links to the forest. Even the temple itself serves as a marker; cleared land on one side, forest on the other.
Other measures ensure the co-operation of visiting tourists. Bi-lingual painted signs on the main trail tell visitors to be respectful with simple messages that are easily understood; “Take only memories, only footprints,” one notice reads, “Buddha was born under a tree,” notes another. Local guides, hired from the nine villages that surround Chambok, ensure no-one strays from the path into what is still a dangerous wilderness.
“Anything can disturb wildlife,” said Alan Freesanges, advisor to KCD. “We must have a team of local guides. Our team is always changing and the guides are still developing knowledge.”
“Anything can disturb wildlife,” said Alan Freesanges, advisor to KCD. “We must have a team of local guides. Our team is always changing and the guides are still developing knowledge.”
To prevent jealously, guides work in rotation so that every family has a chance to earn money. Homestays, the only accommodation available, are also rotated around the villages.
A wide path leads visiotrs to the Chambok Admin office, garishly painted with bright murals. A simple lunch of fried rice in banana leaves is handed out, another service which earns local villagers hard cash. The sandy path weaves on through bamboo groves and tangled secondary forest, still used for small-scale dry rice cultivation.
“Before, the local people used to burn the forest for charcoal,” explained Piseth. “Now they protect it.”
Trees grow tall and thick as the trail rises into the hills, gnarled vines hanging like sleeping serpents beneath the cool canopy. Rock steps, steep and slippery, prompt many to walk barefoot – only the guides seem to find the going easy. Eventually the waterfall peeks through the foliage, its frothing water tumbling like spilt sugar. After an hour’s walk, the relief is palpable; urbanites cool sore their feet in icy limpid pools set amongst moss bearded rocks.
“It is beautiful here,” said one visitor as the fall’s rainbow mist settled on her shoulders. “It is very important people go to natural resorts.”
Trees grow tall and thick as the trail rises into the hills, gnarled vines hanging like sleeping serpents beneath the cool canopy. Rock steps, steep and slippery, prompt many to walk barefoot – only the guides seem to find the going easy. Eventually the waterfall peeks through the foliage, its frothing water tumbling like spilt sugar. After an hour’s walk, the relief is palpable; urbanites cool sore their feet in icy limpid pools set amongst moss bearded rocks.
“It is beautiful here,” said one visitor as the fall’s rainbow mist settled on her shoulders. “It is very important people go to natural resorts.”
Ampe Phnom
Ampe Phnom is a natural and cultural site located in Tang Tonle and Ampe Phnom Village, Soportep and SVAY Kravan communes, Chbarmon district, about 48 kilometers southwest of Phnom Penh. The site feature are stream, walking paths and big shade tree. A wobbly, wood-and –cable suspension bridge across the stream links Tang Tonle and Ampe Phnom villages.
On the Ampe Phnom side of the stream sits an old pagoda where Cambodians worship during festivals. Visitors can swim in the stream, traverse the suspension bridge or simply relax in one of the many cottages above the stream. Food and beverages are available for sale, and the surrounding woods are full of monkeys.
Phnom Oudong dates from the early 7th century and was the old capital of Cambodia (1618 – 1866) before the capital was moved to Phnom Penh. It is now the official resting place of the most sacred of Buddha’s bones possessed by Cambodia. Originally stored at the monument in front of the railway station in Phnom Penh and later Wat Phnom, the bone has had a new temple built top the mountain and is now the tallest one of three temples that exist there.
