Oddor Meanchey Destination Guide

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Oddor Meanchey Destination Map

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Oddor Meanchey

Oddar Meanchey is one of the smallest provinces of Cambodia located in the far Northwest bordering with Thailand. Its name means “Victory Province” and the provincial capital is called Samraong. This area was formerly known as Phanomsok, a province of Thailand, which was ceded to French Indochina in 1906, and now remains a part of Cambodia. This province is also a recent creation that was carved out of Siem Reap Province, which the government did not control for much of the 1980s and 1990s.

The countryside is covered by the Dangrek Mountains (or escarpment, as they are sometimes called), which was an optimal shelter for the Khmer Rouge to hide. It is a very remote province that has been a notorious place, because this is where he nastiest of the nasty Khmer Rouge made their last stand. The diabolical Pol Pot and his seemingly bloodthirsty henchmen, Nuon Chea, Ta Mok, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan holed up here for the last years of the Khmer Rouge’s existence (another of the henchmen, Ieng Sary, already worked out a surrender and defection deal with the government in 1996).

Pol Pot died mysteriously here, after a supposed power struggle within the power elite (he had Son Sen and his family murdered) and after a controversial show trial. The debate focused on whether it was real or just a sham staged for the outside world to try to legitimize remaining Khmer Rouge figures. The trial took place in the power centre of the Khmer Rouge, the village of Anlong Veng. Pol Pot died mysteriously after he was sentenced to house arrest and the international community began real efforts (for the first time ever) to capture and put this butcher on trial. His henchmen had more than enough reasons to believe that he wasn’t dead at that point, because a Pol Pot on trial, as the ringleader most responsible for the genocide wrought upon his fellow countrymen, would probably have tried to shift portions of the blame (rightfully in the case of these guys) to the rest of the power elite.

The Khmer Rouge kept fragmenting after that and Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan worked out a surrender-amnesty deal with the Cambodian government and Ta Mok (also called “The Butcher”) was subsequently captured and is still awaiting a trial in Phnom Penh. As of March 2000, the United Nations and the Cambodian government finally seem set to come up with an agreement on putting the top surviving members of the Khmer Rouge regime on trial in Cambodia, with assistance from and in a partnership with the International Community. Stay tuned though, as this has been a real political football with seemingly more concern for one-upsmanship and personal gain than justice for the dead and surviving victims of Khmer Rouge brutality.

The international border is 14.5 km from the circle in Anlong Veng (Anlong Veng-Choam-Choam- Srawngam and O Smach-Chong Jom). There are plenty of tanks and tank shells to look at along the way and also a strange site in the form of a boulder that had Khmer Rouge soldiers carved out of the sides of it- they have all been decapitated since government forces took control of Anlong Veng. Anyway, it’s an interesting little ride to a low-lying part of the Dangkrek Mountains. The road is in fairly good shape with the exception of the climb up a rocky hillside near the border.

Where To Stay
Dining Out
Shopping

Actually Samraong has never been a big touristy spot so you’ll just find some very basic guesthouses clustered near the dirty little market, which is advantageously located right next to the taxi station.

Rikreay guesthouse:
This is a simple but clean place with a bed, mosquito net, fan (for a part of the night, as electricity may shut down) and share bathroom going for 10,000 riel.

Meanchey Guesthouse:
The Meanchey Guesthouse is likely the most conclusive one among these with some NGOs visiting. This place is similar to the Rikreay, only the power stays on for twenty-hours, which means your fan should stay on all night. A room with a share bathroom, net and fan is US $ 4 and a double room with a simple bathroom inside of it is $10 - expensive for what it is but you are paying extra for the power. The US$ 4 room is so to say the better deal.

In fact that there aren’t that much tourists staying overnight there are 3 very basic guesthouses in Anlong Veng. The most convenient one is the Reaksmey Angkor Guesthouse in the North of the small town. You will find quite clean rooms with mosquito net and a bathroom. The price is around 15,000-25,000Riel.

As Samraong isn’t big at all you will easily find the central market with several food stalls around offering saucepans of pre-cooked food for around 2,000-3,000 Riel a serve. Unless the pots are still hot, it’s a good idea to have them hear your servings up again so that you don’t get more than you bargained for like getting sick. If you would like to go more for some sophisticated food, check the Santepheap restaurant (one of the best in town), where you might find some proper dishes, but don’t expect Western food.
The best restaurant in town is only open for breakfast and lunch. A friendly English- and French speaking Cambodian gentleman and his family run it. They can make up most Thai Khmer dishes that you may wasn’t and also serve a good breakfast of eggs, French bread and coffee.

The restaurant scene in Anlong Veng is similarly limited as in Samraong. There are several local food stalls around the central roundabout offering some local dishes at very reasonable prices – mostly its typical Khmer and Chinese noodle dishes.

As it is quite common in Cambodia even small towns, such as Samraong have at least one marked. You may also find a market in Samraong centre, which is a busy area with local shops dealing the local daily consumer products, like fish, fruits, vegetables, meats and packed products. Most of the food and drink shops are surrounding the market.

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