Kampong Cham

Kampong Cham is the capital of the province of the same name and the third largest city in Cambodia. With its Mekong River location and relatively close proximity to Phnom Penh (123km) and Vietnam, Kampong Cham has always been an important trade and transportation hub. The highway from Phnom Penh is in excellent condition-you can get here in just under two hours by road or by the bullet boats that are a main mode of transportation between towns on the Mekong River. Either way it’s a nice fide, with views of the rural countryside or river area, depending on which way you go.
The town itself is quaint and charming with its bustling morning river scene and wide boulevard streets beside the river. There are a few worthwhile attractions nearby and with its location on the way by boat or road to Kratie, Mondulkiri, Rattanakiri and Stung Treng Provinces; it’s a nice jump-off point.
Kampong Cham is a mix of the old and the new, with a new temple being built in and around old ruins and the big ferry boats taking people and goods to the other side of the Mekong, right next to the construction of the first bridge ever built here.
Because there is little foreign investment and no massive tourism (almost every foreigner who comes here is a backpacker), this city is quite poor with a few modern buildings, though not lacking in French architecture from the colonial period. It is similar to many other Cambodian cities, being rather dirty, with garbage a common sight. The people of Kampong Cham are very friendly and open to engaging with tourists.
If recent projects seem to be improving the state of things here (relative to other Cambodian cities), remember that both PM Hun Sen and former Phnom Penh Governor Chea Sophara are originally from this province.

BANTEAY CHHMAR - Banteay Meanchey Province

This enormous complex, which was a temple city, is one of the most intriguing in the Khmer empire, both for it’s scale and it’s remote location. Never excavated, Banteay Chhmar fits the picture of a lost Khmer city with its ruined face-towers, carvings, forest surroundings and bird life flying through the temple. It has a romantic and discovery feel to it.
Banteay Chhmar dates from the late 12th to the early 13th century and it means Narrow Fortress. It is thought to have been built by Jayarvarman II. It was later rebuilt by Jayarvarman VII as a funerary temple for his sons and four generals who had been killed in a battle repelling a Cham invasion in 1177.

Like Preah Khan, Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, Banteay Chhmar originally enclosed a city with the temple at the heart. No traces of the city that surrounded the temple remain.
The temple area covers 2km by 2 and a half km. It contains the main temple complex and a number of other religious structures and a baray to its east. A mote filled with water and a huge wall inside of that encloses the center of the temple. This mote is still used to present day by locals for fishing and daily chores. A bustling small market and village bounds the east and south east and perhaps there has been continuous habitation there since the founding of the temple.
Inside the mote, a stone rest house and chapel can be seen. The highlight of Banteay Chhmar is the bas-reliefs, which are comparable with the Bayon. They depict battle against the Chams, religious scenes and a host of daily activities. In parts, the outer wall has collapsed. On the west side a spectacular multi-armed Lekesvara can be seen. The temples central complex is a jumble of towers, galleries, vegetation and fallen stones. Beautiful carvings can be seen throughout.

Pailin

Pailin is a small municipality in the West of Cambodia very closed to the border of Thailand. The provincial capital is called Pailin City and is known to much of the world as being the area where many of the Khmer Rouge leaders came from and retreated after their fall. Until the year of 2001 Pailin was part of the Battambang Province, but was then elevated to city status and thus became a province and autonomous zone of its own.
The city was during the 1980s and 1990s a major Khmer Rouge strongpoint and resource centre. Even after the death of their brutal leader Pol Pot in 1998, many Khmer Rouge leaders still remained there. Some of the leaders went into hiding in fear of punishment for their crimes, although other leaders or henchmen lived openly in the province. It is said that almost 70 percent of the area's older men were fighters for the Khmer Rouge, but unfortunately none of the regular fighters have yet been brought to justice. As of September 2007, Pailin's remaining Khmer Rouge leaders were being rounded up to face justice by an international tribunal, including Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea. So after years of the governmental dump contemplation regarding the crime of the Khmer Rouge, its time for lasting enlightenment of what has happen.

http://www.tourismcambodia.com/travelguides/provinces/?ProId=15

Banteay Meanchey

Banteay Meanchey is a Cambodian province in the northwest of the country, and its capital is named Sisophon. The town of Sisophorn is today a charming, quiet place that only gives hints to its turbulent past upon closer examination. Like Siem Reap and Battambang Provinces, control of the province has changed hands many times between the Thais and the Khmers in the more distant past, and the Khmer Rouge and central Phnom Penh government in recent decades.
With the final demise of the Khmer Rouge (locals, however, firmly believe the Present national reconciliation only the Khmer Rouge trick), the province and towns are striving to rebuild their culture and economy.
It's very friendly place with the locals genuinely happy to see foreign faces and the stability that it implies. Normally just a passing-through spot on the way to the border, or between Battambang and Siem Reap, the area has a few sights that warrant a visit, such the Banteay Chhmar temple ruins, the only other Khmer temple ruins besides the Bayon (Angkor) and Preah Khan ( Preah Vihear Province ) that features the famous four-faced monuments. This area was part of the extensive Khmer empire, with its most notable remains the Banteay Chhmar temple (built in 12th and 13th century) in the north of the province. In the 17th century the Siam took control over Cambodia, and made the area of the modern province part of Sisophon Province. In the year 1907 the Siam had to cede control to the French, and the area was then included into Battambang Province. In 1988 the province Banteay Meanchey was split off from Battambang.

http://www.tourismcambodia.com/travelguides/provinces/?ProId=2

Kratie Province

Kratie (pronounce: Krachèh) is a provincial backwater along the Mekong river, roughly 315 km northeast of Phnom Penh.
Though the town and surroundings are pleasant enough, Kratie's main attraction are the freshwater, or Irrawaddy Dolphins in the Mekong river north of the town.
Despite what some guide books might tell you, there is no river transport to Kratie. Fast boats from Phnom Penh to Kratie and further north to Stung Treng have been discontinued years ago. There is occasional river transport from both Stung Treng and Kompong Cham to Kratie, but with the upgrading of roads in the region there's not much demand.

Kratie is a laid-back friendly town, very similar to Kampot in southern Cambodia, but to be honest the place in itself does not have a lot of attractions. Travellers are staying overnight in town on their way to or from Laos, or they visit Kratie for its prime attraction: freshwater dolphins.
These Irrawaddy dolphins are named after the river in Myanmar, where they also have their habitat. Cambodians believe these water creatures are half human and half fish. Not difficult to understand, when you spot these dolphins with their rounded head and a straight mouth instead of a beak like their seawater cousins.

http://www.frizz-restaurant.com/cambodia-travel-guide/east/kratie.html

Kirirom National Park

Initially established as a holiday resort and tourist city in 1945, the area was named Kirirom namely "Mountain of joy" by the King at the suggestion of a monk from Phnom Penh.
A hill of 700m covers an area of 35,000 hectares.
Especially interesting is the Chambok Ecotourism site.
A large new concrete sign on the right 88 kilometers from Phnom Penh on National Route No. 4 makes finding the turnoff very easy.
This beautiful national park area was once a favorite resort for the influential, the powerful and wealthy and a retreat for King Sihanouk himself.

There are not many types of larger wildlife in evidence on Kirirom, but it is an ideal spot to glimpse some of the Kingdom's unique birdlife and birdwatchers even come from overseas to visit. Park rangers charge foreigners a 20,000 riel ($5) entrance fee.
The natural resort is decorated with many categories of pines imported from Japan.

More Information visit this site:http://www.frizz-restaurant.com/cambodia-travel-guide/south/kirirom.html

Angkor Thom-Siem Reap

Angkor Thum was built over and around buildings and temples built by earlier Khmer kings, but its layout was modeled on Angkor Wat, a Hindu temple complex south of Angkor Thum. Angkor Wat was finished about thirty years earlier under Khmer king Suryavarman II, who was overthrown by the Cham army. Jayavarman was a recent convert to Mahayana Buddhism, and is thought to have abandoned Hinduism as a result of the defeat of the Hindu Suryavaram II by the Chams.

http://www.galenfrysinger.com/angkor_thom.htm