Preah Vihear Province Getting there & around

Getting there & around

For now, travel around Preah Vihear is only for the most resilient of souls. The province’s main transport artery, the north–south oriented NH64 from Kompong Thom to Tbeng Meanchey (157km), is in a truly miserable state. Consequently, most people with their own wheels get to Koh Ker and Tbeng Meanchey by taking the new toll road (10, 000r for a car, free for motorbikes) from Dam Dek, on NH6 115km northwest of Kompong Thom and 35km southeast of Siem Reap. This road opened up previously inaccessible areas – some of them mined – to settlement and at many points you can see impoverished peasants setting up homesteads. The police in these parts carry AK-47s.

The morass of potholes and ruts linking Tbeng Meanchey with Choam Ksant and Sa Em (near Prasat Preah Vihear) to the north is passable for only half the year, and that’s stretching the definition of passable.

Roadworks are underway – or promised – all over the province, including NH64 (thanks to a World Bank loan). By the time you read this the situation may have improved, though we all know what the road to hell is paved with.