Kratie, Cambodia: travel guide
A sleepy Mekong river town of shuttered French shophouses, and the most reliable place in Cambodia to see the critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphin — the pool at Kampi, 15 km upstream, holds a resident group year-round. Cross by ferry to Koh Trong, a slow farming island of dirt tracks and pomelo orchards, or ride north to the hundred-column pagoda and turtle sanctuary at Sambor.
- Country
- Cambodia
- Currency
- KHR
- Time zone
- Asia/Phnom_Penh
Top places to visit in Kratie
Kampi Dolphin Pool
Wildlife · 4.4 rating · about 1.5 h · entry USD 10
A deep Mekong pool 15 km north of Kratie holding one of the last resident groups of critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins. Wooden longtails put out from the Kampi landing at dawn and late afternoon and cut their engines to drift; the…
Phsar Kratie (Samaki Market)
Market · 4.0 rating · about 0.8 h
The town's central market, a covered block a street back from the river selling river fish, fruit and the fried tarantulas the province is known for. Busiest just after dawn.
Kampi Rapids
Nature · 4.2 rating · about 1 h
A broad braid of Mekong rapids and sandbars just upstream of the dolphin pool, with thatched stilt platforms let out by the hour over the shallows. Cambodians come to eat, wade and sit in the current; in the dry season the exposed rock…
Phnom Sambok
Temple · 4.4 rating · about 1 h
A hilltop meditation pagoda on the road to Kampi, reached by a long stairway lined with painted panels of the Buddhist hells. Two terraces of shrines lead to a summit view over the Mekong floodplain, and monkeys work the steps.
Koh Trong Island
Nature · 4.5 rating · about 2.5 h
A 6 km Mekong island reached by a five-minute ferry from the Kratie quay, circled by a single flat track through pomelo orchards, stilt villages and a floating Vietnamese hamlet. Bicycles and ox-carts are the transport; the loop takes…
Wat Roka Kandal
Temple · 4.4 rating · about 0.5 h
A small nineteenth-century wooden pagoda 2 km south of town, one of the oldest surviving in the province and restored rather than rebuilt — dark teak columns, a low tiled roof and original painted panels inside.
Hundred Pillar Pagoda (Wat Sorsor Moi Roi)
Temple · 4.2 rating · about 0.8 h
The largest wooden pagoda in Cambodia, at Sambor 33 km north of Kratie, its hall carried on more than a hundred columns. The present building replaced a much older one on the same site, and a legend of a girl sacrificed to a crocodile…
Koh Pdao Community Ecotourism
Cultural · 4.1 rating · about 2 h
A community-run homestay and boat programme on a Mekong island 45 km north of Kratie, in the stretch where the dolphins range. Village-organised: ox-cart rides, rice-field walks and dolphin trips run by the families themselves.
Mekong Turtle Conservation Centre
Wildlife · 3.5 rating · about 0.8 h
A hatchery inside the grounds of the hundred-column pagoda at Sambor, head-starting Cantor's giant softshell turtle — one of the rarest freshwater turtles in the world — from nests found by local villagers, then releasing them into the…
Where to stay in Kratie
Hotels
- Dary's Village Guesthouse & Restaurant
- Pomelo Homestay
- Sorya Guesthouse Cafe Restaurant & Bar
- Privada Lodge - Historic Hotel - Rooftop Bar & Grill
- Tonle Mekong Homestay
- Discover Kratie (dk) Homestay
Getting around
- Walking
Every city has walking. 2.5 km ceiling is a placeholder default, not a researched per-city figure -- Singapore is sheltered and air-conditioned, Bangkok often has no pavement.
Best time to visit Kratie
- May 34°C · MoWRAM/WMO WWIS 1982-2024 normal for May: 222.3 mm over 19 rain days (national station Kraties (WMO WWIS city id 3646), 1.45 km from the stored city centre).
- Jun 34°C · MoWRAM/WMO WWIS 1982-2024 normal for June: 253.7 mm over 23 rain days (national station Kraties (WMO WWIS city id 3646), 1.45 km from the stored city centre).
- Jul 33°C · MoWRAM/WMO WWIS 1982-2024 normal for July: 224.5 mm over 26 rain days (national station Kraties (WMO WWIS city id 3646), 1.45 km from the stored city centre).
- Aug 33°C · MoWRAM/WMO WWIS 1982-2024 normal for August: 275.7 mm over 24 rain days (national station Kraties (WMO WWIS city id 3646), 1.45 km from the stored city centre).
- Sep 32°C · MoWRAM/WMO WWIS 1982-2024 normal for September: 294.2 mm over 29 rain days (national station Kraties (WMO WWIS city id 3646), 1.45 km from the stored city centre).
- Oct 33°C · MoWRAM/WMO WWIS 1982-2024 normal for October: 201.8 mm over 29 rain days (national station Kraties (WMO WWIS city id 3646), 1.45 km from the stored city centre).