KOMPONG CHAM

Although it doesn't feel like it, Kompong Cham is Cambodia's third largest city and the first major stop for travelers heading up the Mekong. With the opening of the Lao border north of Stung Treng and the recent completion of a gargantuan bridge across the Mekong, Kompong Cham has also become a transit point to the north and east of the country. Despite the fact that there is not much to see or do in the city, Kompong Cham is a pleasant provincial city, and there are certainly worse places to be stuck for one night.

TRANSPORTATION The road from Phnom Penh to Kompong Cham is in excel­lent condition. Buses leave Kompong Cham from behind the market on the same street as the Canadia Bank for Phnom Penh (3hr., 8 per day 7:30am-4pm). The road to Kratie is horrible and there is no need to take it, since boats run to Kratie year-round. But if you're so inclined, pickups leave for Kratie from the mar­ket. Traveling north by boat is preferable. Boats go to Kratie (fast boat 3hr.; 7:30, 9am, 2pm; slow boat 5hr.; 6:30, 10am) and Phnom Penh (fast boat 3hr.; 9:30am).

ORIENTATION AND PRACTICAL INFORMATION Kompong Cham sits on the west bank of the Mekong River, 120km northeast of Phnom Penh. Fast boats from Phnom Penh and Kratie dock opposite the Mekong Hotel, on Preah Bat Siha­nouk, the riverside road. Just south of the Mekong Hotel, Sihanouk supports a string of guest houses and intersects Rue Pasteur, which runs inland past the police station. Heading north from the Mekong Hotel, Sihanouk bends inland to a six-way intersection, abutting the market, also a bus stop. One block north, Kosamak Neary Rath runs inland through a major traffic circle to the governor's mansion.

The tourist office, in front of the governor's mansion on Kosamak Neary Rath, is eager to help but low on resources. (Open M-F 8-llam and 24pm.) Canadia Bank will exchange currency and cash traveler's checks but will not take credit cards. (Open M-F 8:30am-3:30pm, Sa 8:30-llam.) A provincial market sits next to the six-way intersection of Preah Bat Sihanouk. Here you can buy fine kra-mas (the traditional checkered scarves found everywhere around Cambodia). The police, on Rue Pasteur one block from the river, speak no English. The Kompong Cham Provincial Hospital runs a bare-bones operation on Rue Pasteur, one block from the river. The post office is on Khemarak Pumin, one block north of Kosamak Neary Rath. (Open M-F 7-llam and 2-5pm.) Long distance calls can be made from shops around the city, including some on Rue Jayavarman VII, one block north of the police station and from an international phone booth at the edge of the market.

SIGHTS AND NIGHTLIFE. Wat Nokor, an 11th-century sandstone and later Buddhist temple, claims top billing in Kompong Cham, which is not saying much. Many of the statues in the temple were defaced by the Khmer Rouge, and al the paintings on the walls of the scenes of the Buddha's life were painted over it black. But since then the temple has been reconstructed to its former image. The ( ruins contain an active temple 2km west of town. From the road to Phnom Penh take a left at the traffic circle or hire a moto driver. Phnom Pros and Phnon Sray are 5km farther toward Phnom Penh.

Nightlife is not one of Kompong Cham's strong points. Only Phnom Prosh Night club in the Phnom Prosh Hotel even pretends to be a spot for nighttime entertain ment. If karaoke is your thing, try the open-air places that have opened up on the other side of the new bridge and are quite popular with the locals.