Kampong Cham is a port city on the banks of the Mekong River, about 120 kilometres northeast of Phnom Penh. It is Cambodia's third-largest city and one of the more pleasant provincial towns to spend a day or two — relaxed, walkable, and less visited than the Angkor circuit.
The town's most significant sight is Wat Nokor, a well-preserved Khmer temple complex a short tuk-tuk ride from the centre. Nearby, the twin hills of Phnom Pros and Phnom Srei are topped by a stupa and shrines and offer views over the Mekong plain. A sobering reminder of the Khmer Rouge era, mass graves lie close to town — sites that draw visitors seeking to understand Cambodia's difficult recent history.
The Mekong waterfront is the heart of local life, with a bamboo bridge connecting the town to the island of Koh Paen during the dry season — a remarkable feat of annual reconstruction by local villagers. Upriver, the pre-Angkorian brick sanctuaries at Wat Hanchey sit on a high bluff above the Mekong; downriver, the surviving teak pagoda of Wat Maha Leap is one of the last of its kind in the country.