Things to do in Oddar Meanchey

For those with a bit more time in Siem Reap and a curiosity about Cambodia's recent challenging history, Anlong Veng is a fascinating destination. Located 125km north of Siem Reap in the Dangrek Mountains, which form the border with Thailand, this area is significant for two main reasons: it was the final stronghold of the Khmer Rouge and the burial site of Pol Pot. While not much of Pol Pot's bunker remains—just a dilapidated house covered in vegetation and marked with graffiti—there's still a lot to learn. The province does have some minefields, but they are located away from the town center, and efforts to clear them are ongoing. Your guide will provide insights into the past few decades and may even share personal stories from their family's experiences during those tough times.

1. Be picked up from your accommodtion and travel in air-conditioned vehicle approximately one and half hours north of Siem Reap to near the Thailand border. 2. Ta Mok House: This house belonged to Ta Mok, a military chief of the Khmer Rouge and responsible for mass slaughter of Cambodian citizens during the Khmer Rouge regime of 1975 - 1979. Now preserved, somewhat as a museum outlining some of the atrocities committed during the regimes dictatorship, it is a good place to begin discovering the area that made up the last stonghold of the Khmer Rouge Cadre. 3. Pol Pot's Cremation Site: This untouched site remains as it was used in April 1998 when Pol Pot was cremated on an open air pyre. 4. Son Sen House and lookout: Former Minister of Defence, Son Sens house is strategically situated directly adjacent to a highpoint overlooking the country. Take advantage of the photo opportunity that this strategic vantage point offers. 5. Lunch: can be negotiated as to when throughout the day. 6. Pol Pot's House and Hideout: At the end of a dirt track, high up in the mountain that borders Thailand is Pol Pot's hideout. Although now falling into some disrepair the hideout is still clearly visible and interesting to see the lengths that the Khmer Rouge went to to secure this last hold, complete with underground bunkers, strategic natural lookout and water storage facility. 7. Transportation Work Site: Pass by the work site that would have been a hive of activity in its time. 8. Head back down the mountain before commencing the return journey to Siem Reap.