This small and desolate town wouldn’t draw a single tourist if not for the fact that Pol Pot, infamous helmsman of the Khmer Rouge, lived and died here. Anlong Veng is less than 10 miles from a border crossing with Thailand at osmach.
Pol Pot and many of his henchmen were based in Anlong Veng up until the ultimate demise of the Khmer Rouge in 1997. Pol Pot executed a number of family members in Anlong Veng in what he called a ‘power struggle’, and was later put on trial and sentenced to house arrest by one of his closest allies before his mysterious death.
Those with whom Pol Pot shared power also spent time in detention in Anglong Veng. Some were tried and found guilty after the turn of the century. Others still await their fate. The only real attractions, if you can call them that, are the graves and former houses of Khmer Rouge officials.
This small province is unkempt and littered with land mines. As an area of political importance to the Khmer Rouge, it received excessive military attention. Today’s victims are those who wander down the wrong path, so by all means stick to well-traveled areas.
Orientation
Anlong Veng is small town near the border of Thailand that has little in the way of tourist infrastructure; near the doves-of-peace-memorial at the roundabout in the center of town are a a few guesthouses (to the east) and restaurants (both north and south). The bus station and the taxi station are located just south of the monument and the main attractions (Ta Mok and Pol Pot’s houses) are along the road north of the traffic circle, where you will find a few other guesthouses if you are insistent upon staying the night in town.
There are no internet cafes, ATM machines, or any shopping opportunities worthy of note, though there is a bank just south of the bus station and the new market is located just opposite the Doves of Peace Monument.
Most likely you have arrived in Anlong Veng with your own transportation, so getting around shouldn’t be a problem; if you arrived by bus, your only transportation option is motodop taxi, which will typically be people with motorbikes looking to make an extra buck.
Where to Go
- Champei Waterfall: a resort scene is emerging around this beautiful waterfall and the dense jungle that surrounds the area some 20 miles from Samraong.
- Pol Pot’s house: (Tamu House) - Though there is not much to see here, the house of the infamous ruler is at the end of a scenic drive through the jungle.
- Pol Pot’s grave: another underwhelming site: a somewhat pathetic, yet befitting grave for the man who oversaw the murder and starvation of millions of Cambodians.
- Ta Mok’s House: the townhouse of Pol Pot’s number four man is well preserved and has so far been spared by graffiti artists.
- Khmer Rouge Memorial: A statue in the road commemorating the Khmer Rouge era.
- Doves of Peace Memorial: A small monument in the center of Anlong Veng town.
When to Go
Anlong Veng shares its tropical climate with the rest of Cambodia; a ‘dry season’ that lasts from November to May and a ‘rainy season’ that runs from June to October. Temperatures are relatively constant (i.e. hot) throughout the year but humidity can vary. There are times of the year that are noticeably cooler or hotter, and as is normal for a monsoon climate, times when heavy rain is nearly constant. Anlong Veng is fine to visit during most of the year, though the hottest months from March to May can be too hot for comfort and the roads become impassible during the muddy monsoon season.
Humidity and rainfall may vary through the year, but Anlong Veng is typically hot. Few visitors will experience something they would call cool. Temperatures in the day range throughout the year from above 100°F in the early afternoon to around 70°F at night.
The hottest time of the year in Anlong Veng is toward the end of the dry season, when daytime temperatures can be dangerously hot. During the wet season, although copious amounts of rain are dumped on Anlong Veng with monotonous regularity, rainstorms and thunderstorms often last just one or two hours in the afternoon.
While monsoon rains may provide respite from the intense Cambodian sun, torrential rains wreak havoc on rural dirt roads, which become muddy morasses; travel to areas serviced by these roads can become difficult to impossible in the monsoon season months (June-October) for those without 4-wheel drive vehicles or off-road motorcycles.
Things to Do
The small border town of Anglong Veng features the Tak Mok’s Anlong Veng house (a.k.a. ‘The butcher’), who placed “Brother Number 1” Pol Pot under house arrest, until he died shortly thereafter and was buried in a non-descript Anlong Veng Pol Pot’s grave. Near the house is Anlong Veng Lake, which features the remains of Pol Pot’s house.
While Samraong is the capital of the province, very few tourists venture there, other than those crossing at O’Smach (very few) and those doing a loop up and around to Banteay Chhmar from Siem Reap (very few). Most people who visit Oddar Meanchey simply swing by Pol Pot’s grave at Anlong Veng, typically en route to Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province.
Getting There
Anlong Veng is roughly 90 miles (140 km) N of Siem Reap and just 7 ½ miles from Thailand in Odar Meanchey province. Most tourists cross from Thailand’s Si Saket Province and continue on from there. Buses from Si Saket connect to Bangkok in 9 hours, with travel by train taking a bit longer. The most popular onward route is to Siem Reap by shared taxi, a journey that takes 4 to 6 hours. Siem Reap offers international air connections to cities across Southeast Asia.
The easiest and fastest way to reach Anlong Veng is by crossing from Thailand into Cambodia at the border crossing at Choam (16 km north of town), which can be reach via National Road No. 67. Motodop taxis can shuttle you to or from the border, while busses and share/private taxis can transport you to/from Siem Reap, where the nearest major airport is located, roughly 2.5 hours away.
Getting Around
As for getting around town, Anlong Veng doesn’t offer a wealth of transportation options; ask at your guesthouse if you have arrived without transportation and need assistance visiting any attraction nearby.
Where to Stay
As Anlong Veng doesn’t attract many overnight visitors (at least not many western ones), there is only a small selection of hotels and guesthouses for visitors, which are generally located in the center of town, just east and north of the Doves of Peace memorial traffic circle.
Where to Eat
There are very few dining options in Anlong Veng. A few very basic Cambodian restaurants near the center of town (just north and south of the Doves of Peace memorial traffic circle) are basically your only options. That said, the location of the town near the Thai border mean that Thai culinary influences are found in local cuisine, leading to better food than one might expect.
Where to Party
There is almost no nightlife to speak of in Anlong Veng, certainly not any catering to foreign tourists. There are a few local-style beer bars in town, which are basically open-air establishments that have attractive waitresses to serve beers and/or whiskey. If you hunt around a bit you may find one that doubles as a karaoke parlor, which has karaoke rooms for singing (typically only Khmer music) but also ‘karaoke girls’ who aren’t necessarily there to sing.
Where to Shop
There are very limited shopping options in Anlong Veng. The town has a central market (Psar Thmei) that is typical of most Cambodian markets, selling nearly everything local’s need for their day to day lives, though the new market, across from the Doves of Peace memorial may replace the old one as the go-to shopping venue for locals. There are some small shops selling other sundry supplies around town, but otherwise this isn’t much of a destination for souvenir shopping.
Need to Know
- What to do: visit Pol Pot’s grave, stop by the leader’s Pol Pot’s House.
- Best time to go: during the November to March dry season.
- How long? Most tourists spend as little time as possible here; usually just while passing through
- Trivia: the spirit house at Pol Pot’s grave was commissioned by a Thai lottery winner who says he received the winning numbers from Pol Pot in a dream.