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The Complete Cambodian Travel Guide
Kratie
Kratie, a mostly backpacker destination in the Northeast of Cambodia, is a little capital town in the province of the same name. It has some great activities to offer visitors, but is essentially a Cambodian village in a remote province with locals living a predominantly rural lifestyle- please be conscience and respectful of this in terms of your dress and behavior.
Recommend
​1 Go and see the dolphins!
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​2 Ride a bike along the Mekong River and enjoy the scenes of village life along the river.

​​3 Take in the sunset at the river while sipping a refreshing beverage at one of the riverfront stalls.
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4 Take part in some or all of the Mekong Discovery Trail that goes 180 km from Kratie to the Lao boarder and highlights village and rural life along the incredible Mekong.
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​5 Check out the temples outside of town for a quiet peek into Cambodia’s impressive past. Phnom Sombok is a lovely temple atop a hill.
About Kratie
The obvious highlight of a trip to Kratie province is to visit and hopefully see the endangered and incredibly unique fresh water Irrawaddy Dolpins. These mythical like creatures are snout-less (you have to see them to believe) and are alone well worth the effort of getting to Kratie.

However, once here, a little jaunt through the countryside on a rented bicycle or motorbike gives you great insight into picturesque rural Cambodian life. Be sure to venture down both sides of the Mekong River and enjoy the friendly locals.
A great way to see river life and communities is to partake in all or part of the wonderful Mekong Discovery Trail. This is a vast network of safe trails set along 180 km of the Mekong River (stretching all the way from Kratie to the Lao boarder) and lets you discover some of the most rural, poor, friendly and magnificent parts of Cambodia.
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The Discovery Trail offers free trail guides to help you plan your trip, accommodation and necessities along the way. The trail can be hiked or biked, done alone or with a group- there are many options for enjoying this unique look into Cambodian river life.

The local Community Development Tours office (Rue Sumamarit, House 695) can help you organize legs of the Discovery Trail as well as help you to see the area and the dolphins with as little impact as possible. Often the dolphins can be seen from the Discovery Trail.
Bikes and motos are inexpensively available from most guesthouses in town. This is handy as many of the great things to do around Kratie are actually out of town and a nice cycling trip can make a wonderful day of it.
One lovely day trip is to the island of Koh Trong, just across the river from Kratie. Take the ferry over and experience Cambodian village life as you putter around the 9 km island loop on a bicycle (either bring one over for free on the ferry or rent one there). Stay the night or make sure to catch the last boat back to Kratie at 6:30pm.
There are several wonderful temples in the area and make for nice rides out into the countryside, so go and see the following monuments: the hilltop temple of Phnom Sombok, Wat Sorsor Muoy Roi at Sambor, or Sambok Mountain pagoda.
If woven baskets are your thing, be sure to make a stop at the basket weaver villages just South of Kratie; nearby and a must if handicrafts and weaving are your thing.
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