Southern Cardamoms Protected Forest Travel Guide

A part of the large Cardamoms mountain range in southwest Cambodia, Koh Kong Province, the Southern Cardamoms Protected Forest was set up in addition to the Central Cardamoms Protected Forest to keep loggers and poachers at bay.

The boundary of the 550-square mile region is between Koh Kong and Andong Tuek, just north of the expansive Botum Sakor National Park. The Southern Cardamoms Protected Forest is to become a center for ecotourism with efforts led by the Cambodian and Dutch governments.

There will eventually be a couple of visitor centers with extensive information on the geography, flora and fauna of the Cardamom Mountains and forests, with one at Andong Tuek and the other on the Tatai River. In addition, ecotourism lodges along the Tatai and near Chi Phat are also on the cards.

Currently, you can do boat tours and hikes of the Southern Cardamoms Protected Forest from either Koh Kong or Andong Tuek, although the hiking in the Central Cardamoms is better and more established. It is best accessed from Thma Bang, which is three hours from Koh Kong town.

In brief

What is it? The southern portion of the Cardamoms Mountains in southwest Cambodia - strewn with forests, waterways and slated to become an ecotourism site.

Opening hours: 24 hours, daily.
Entrance fees: charge.

Address/website: www.conservation.org/sites/gcf/portfolio/asia_pacific/Pages/cardamoms.aspx.

Where: central/south Koh Kong Province, southwest Cambodia.

How to get there: buses run to Andong Tuek from Phnom Penh en route to Koh Kong town in about 4 hours.