The kilometre or so of riverfront promenade along Preah Bat Sihanouk Boulevard is the heart of Kampong Cham. A continuous row of two-storey French colonial shophouses, painted yellow and pale blue, faces the broad brown Mekong; at dusk families gather on the grass strip between the road and the river to eat fried noodles, fly kites, and watch fishermen cast hand-nets from the bank.
The Kizuna Bridge — Cambodia's first bridge across the Mekong, opened in 2001 with Japanese aid — anchors the south end of the strip. The riverfront is at its best between 5 and 7 pm: street-food carts open along the embankment, the colours of the shophouses warm in the low sun, and the boats moored along the bank turn into floating restaurants for an hour or two.