Phnom Penh Sihanoukville either by car, bus and some use small motorbikes
or sometimes, usually in group, dirt bikes.

Another route is when coming from Thailand via Trat and Koh Kong, this is a excellent journey since Koh Kong has great nature in the vicinity. There are two routes from the capital going south, one is via Kampot to Sihanoukville and the other is via Sre Ambel, its about 230km.

Since big and small buses are continuously on the run it makes sense to start early morning at Phnom Penh exit the bus at Sre Ambel and have a look at the great Peal Rong Waterfall, come back to the main road and take another bus, van or pickup down south. Since there is central bus terminal at the capital buses start from different places, if you do the tour by let the hotel handle it, thy charge you the normal fee and they make sure a tuk tuk will bring you to the bus, free of charge.

When traveling south

and no plan for Kep or Kampot use the routing via Sri Ambel since the road is much

better, means less problems. On the other hand it makes also sense to travel to Kampot stay a few days visit Bokor National Park and move on to Sihanoukville or Kep. Actually all this places along the coast are within 2 - 3 hours road travel time and since transportation is relatively cheap its easy to move around.

When considering a scooter or bike be extremely careful, road travel in Cambodia is very dangerous since there are no rules, everyone does what he or she like, its even   much worst than in Thailand and in Thailand its already bad on the road. There is almost no country in the world which has such a high amount of road accidents with fatalities than Thailand. If there is a accident in Cambodia outside Phnom Penh or Siem Reap there is hardly any qualified medical treatment the answer to this is, do a travel accident insurance which includes flying you out for treatment. When using Air Asia they offer a insurance package which exactly includes this and since it only costs less than $ 10,- its very advisable to take it. Since it is a Thai insurer who underwrote this, it is very

Phnom Penh Sihanoukville view from Phnom Chisor

important to read the small text because as everyone know they are always making tricks and lies.

Traveling via Kampot and passing Tonle Bati

with some marvelous temples, yes there are temples not only in the Angkor area. There is also a small lake an a bigger new Buddhist Temple, the whole is very idyllic.

Phnom Chisor is the next stop,

a temple assembly built on the only hill in the area which offers a breathtaking view over the Cambodia lowlands which are more or less immense tracts of paddy fields, but before it needs a hike up the hill, the constantly rising path will take virtually you breath away.

Taking the routing via the south western part

through Sre Ambel which is about 150km southwest of Phnom Penh and a small town in the Cardamon Mountains. This is one of the biggest more or less undisturbed nature spot in South East Asia with a size of around 4,420,000 hectares. A survey in 2000 listed around 30 types of mammals, over 450 variants of birds, 65 reptiles and around 30 amphibians plus countless exotic plants and insects, that a real nature treasure trove. There is a proven record for tigers, elephants, leopards, bears, various monkeys and even some crocodiles have been spotted, if you want to have a closer look check with this travel agent they are located in Sre Ambel.

Visiting the waterfall at Sre Ambel

is a 30 minutes ride with a scooter and about one hour hike upwards into the hills, thereward is the beautiful waterfall and a amazing panorama, this is one of the best daytrips from the capital and also when starting in the south.

For the casual tourist the most interesting is for sure a day trip to Peal Rong Waterfall. The ride from the main road and the hike to the waterfalls are really worth the $ 20,- money the motorbike taxi will ask for. During the wet season when there is much more water the falls are a spectacular natural thunder.

is Tatai Waterfall or rather rapids the elevation wont matter it just looks good and one of the other positive thing is you as a traveler have all this for you, there are no others around, here again the same story take a local person maybe with a scooter and let him carry you there, why, you wont have any problems and he is happy because earning some money, thats a excellent social behavior to let locals participate on the pleasure we have in their country.

needs a daytrip to Bokor National Park. This is one of the absolute highlight of southern Cambodia and a showcase of the past since the French were here. Again take a tour operator in Kampot book able including pick from any hotel or guesthouse in Kampot and them do it. The place on the mountain is quite large and very interesting it might be worth to come for another day but the first day take the guided tour for orientation otherwise you get lost for sure, this are raw nature places with dirt treks and no signs if you do this trek without a basic knowledge you get lost on top of it it looks as if there are quite some wild animals around plus mines. On the guided tour there is always one military guy with the group carrying a Kalashnikov for security.