Prey Veng
Prey Veng is quite a sleepy Cambodian province, that just
happen to have one of the countries busiest highways running straight through
it-National Highway No 1, which links Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City in
Vietnam. It is a small but heavily populated agricultural region located on the
east banks of the mighty Mekong. The name of the province means literally tall
forest, but actually doesn't refer in any case to lush forests as most of them
were chopped down in the past 30-50 years. Also rubber played once a big
economical role in this province, but since the war took over the country the
plantations are no longer commercially viable.
There are little places of significance to see nowadays, but
during the pre-Angkorian times it must have been one of the most populated and
lively areas of the country. One of the earliest pre-Angkorian kingdoms was
located in the area around Ba Phnom.
The sleepy provincial capital is also named Prey Veng and situates on the
National Highway No 11, recently rebuild as a road link between National Road
No 11 and No 7, or Neak Luong and Kompong Cham. There aren't a lot of
travellers making their way to that small town. So if you would like to escape
from your fellow travellers that's an opportunity, especially on the way to
Kampong Cham. It's also a stop worth on the way to or from Vietnam. The town
itself hosts a few decaying colonial buildings, showing that this was once a
lively and important centre. There is a huge lake on the west edge of the town,
which evaporates from March till August and local farmers cultivate their rice
on the fertile ground.
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