Phsar Krom is, for us, Kompong Chhnang’s clear highlight. This bustling riverside market ticks all the boxes: it’s vibrant, colourful, photogenic and of course traditional. Found along the Tonle Sap waterfront, half on dry land and half on water, it is to our knowledge unique in Cambodia (at least, for its size). If you ignore the motors of the larger craft and traders yakking away on mobile phones, it’s a scene that hasn’t changed in a long, long time.
Kompong Chhnang serves as the market and commercial centre for a sizeable chunk of central Cambodia, and Phsar Krom is the hub. The town’s waterfront is a kaleidoscope of all kinds of river craft from dawn to dusk, including passenger ferries, cargo vessels and rowing boat taxis disgorging passengers and goods or arriving to stock up on supplies.
The crazy scene. Photo: Mark Ord
Heading down the causeway known as Phsar Krom Road, the market area is divided into sections. Passing by the small covered Kompong Chhnang Market to your left, street stalls selling fruit, vegetables and household goods line the right side of the road. Where it meets the riverfront, benches set up under shady rain trees create a popular hang-out spot for locals and you’ll find a bunch of snacks and drinks stalls. To your left, along the wide, paved ‘promenade’ is the main wet produce market right by the water. In dry season, this is set up on the muddy, litter strewn riverbank while as the waters rise the stalls move up the bank until, by the end of the rainy season, the market is located on the promenade itself. The market building is a roofed bamboo structure with vendors selling their produce from bamboo platforms on the ground. It’s about as traditional as you get and identical to market scene bas reliefs you’ll find at Bayon temple, for ... please log in to read the rest of this story.
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By
Mark Ord.
Last updated on 4th November, 2016.
How to get there
It should cost around $1.50 to $2 for a tuk tuk ride here, depending upon your hotel's location, or an easy and straight cycle ride.
Location map for Phsar Krom
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