The King’s Island
How to get there
It costs 1000 riels per passenger and the crossing takes about five minutes.
To leave the island it’s the same, one just has to wait on the beach, or in front of the pagoda in the rainy season when the water level is high.
When coming to stay on the island with a lot of luggage, it is slightly more complicated…
The best thing is to specifically ask your hotel or guesthouse to organize the transfer from the peer on the island with an ox(or horse)cart (5$ one way), a moto-taxi (1$ one way) or the only tuk tuk on the island (5$ one way) to come pick you up or even organize a direct transfer by private boat (10-15$ one way) to the foot of your selected accommodation (in the rainy season only as the beaches that uncover in the dry season render that impossible).
Travelling there
The choice is all yours, bicycle, horse cart, tuktuk, moped or hiking…
The complete ride around the island is about 14 km.
It is useless to rent a bike in Kratie as the village community rents some upon arrival, in front of the pagoda for two dollars a day or one dollar for the round trip along the island. Guests staying at Rajabori can borrow bikes there at no extra charge.
Then you don’t need to climb down the stairs at the Kratie peer nor to cross the beach pushing dead weight.
The trip by horse cart or tuk tuk around the island costs 10 dollars and takes two hours, it can be organized in about two hours by the village community or Sala Koh Trong.
Besides, there are always marauding moto-doups in front of the pagoda. They are being driven by friendly matronly women.
Agriculture
Koh Trong is an orchard, the island prides itself upon its exceptional grapefruits, the best and most expensive of Cambodia.
Everything grows on Koh Trong, market gardening is everywhere as well as fruits and rice which is very sought after.
Animals are plenty full, cows in particular whose manure will further enrich the crops.
As a matter of fact, Koh Trong is one of the very few places in Cambodia where farmers have spontaneously decided not to use chemical fertilizers. Koh Trong is an « organic island » !
The khmer pagodas
There are two, the first is the one you see when getting out of the ferry, it is called Wat Chong Koh, it is the most lively as it is located in the most populated place of the island.
The second pagoda, called Wat Ti Pram ou Wat Kbal Koh can be found in the North of the island. It is by far the quietest and most pastoral.
The Vietnamese village
Set on the south-west corner of the island, the floating vietnamese village has been there for generations.
Destroyed under Pol Pot, it re-formed after the Khmer rouge were ousted from power. Both fishermen and fish farmers, these villagers supply most of the Kratie market. They rub elbows with the Cambodians but the two communities don’t mix too much.
Their village moves according to the seasons, stuck to the banks in the rainy season it then glides toward the middle of the river in the dry season and people reach it by boat or wooden gangways.
The Vietnamese have their own pagoda on terra firma, just above the village at the south point of the island.
True to tradition, they make the best coffee of the province.
