Prey Veng

Prey Veng is Cambodia without the tourist infrastructure — a province of rice farmers, river ferries, and Buddhist monasteries that serves as the agricultural heartland of the southeast. The provincial capital is a quiet town of wide boulevards and stilted wooden houses on the Mekong tributary.

Neak Loeung

The Mekong crossing at Neak Loeung — now spanned by the Japanese-funded Tsubasa Bridge — was for decades one of Cambodia’s great ferry crossings. The town itself was heavily bombed by US forces during the Vietnam War era, and memorials mark this difficult history.

Rice Harvest Season

October and November, when the rice harvest begins across the province’s endless paddies, is one of the most visually striking times to visit. Golden fields, water buffalo, and traditional harvesting scenes that have barely changed in centuries.