West Cambodia

Pursat Province ពោធិ៍សាត់

Marble carving, a floating village that moves with the season, and a back door into the northern Cardamoms.

Where it sits

Pursat runs from the Tonlé Sap in the north-east down into the Cardamom Mountains in the south-west, making it one of the largest provinces in the country and one of the least visited.

What to see

Kampong Luong is the province’s best-known sight — a genuinely floating village on the Tonlé Sap where houses, shops, a school and a church all sit on the water and the whole settlement is towed to a new position as the lake expands and contracts through the year.

Pursat town is a centre for marble carving, and workshops along the road turn out everything from Buddha figures to household ornaments.

In the far south-west, the Veal Veng district and the Areng valley open into the northern Cardamoms, an area of increasing interest for community-based conservation tourism.

Practicalities

The province sits on the main road between Phnom Penh and Battambang, so it is easy to break a journey here.

Pursat on the map

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