Things to do in  Eastern Cambodia

An unspoiled isle in the Mekong, opposite Kratie, Koh Trong Island offers a taste of Cambodia that time forgot. Amid rice paddies, orchards, and sandbanks, there are a handful of homestays, a couple of resorts, some simple cafés, several temples, and a small floating village, plus a 6-mile (9-kilometer) trail around the island.

On a twin-peaked hill outside Kratie, Phnom Sambok Pagoda is a traditional Buddhist monastery that houses an active meditation center and fragments of a temple that may date to the 7th century. A long staircase lined with colorful monk statues leads up to the pagoda, which offers epic views of the Mekong River and beyond on a clear day.