KRACHEH
Koh Trong (កោះទ្រង់): Cycling the Mekong Island in Kracheh
Koh Trong is a small island in the Mekong River, sitting just across the water from Kracheh. Essentially a large sandbar island, it is known for its pomelos, village life and quiet roads that make it perfect for exploring by bicycle.
The entire loop of the island is only about 14 km, with the road running parallel to the river most of the way. Along the way there are a few temples, plenty of pomelo farms and a beach you can stop at. We spent a few hours cycling around Koh Trong, but we wished we’d taken it a bit slower and given ourselves more time to stop along the way.
Getting to Koh Trong
To get to Koh Trong we took the ferry. You’ll see the ferry going back and forth from Kracheh, carrying people across to the island. It leaves from just in front of the Jasmine Hotel. Head down the ramp and wait for enough people to arrive for the ferry to make the crossing. The trip only takes about 5 minutes, but it doesn’t run as frequently as you might expect. We waited about 45 minutes for it to leave. While we waited we watched the people going about their daily lives around us. People came to wash their motorbikes in the river and sellers arrived on motos piled high with snacks. Cars dropped off boxes of goods to be taken to the island.
On the ferry are a few chairs so you don’t need to stand while you wait. There is a light shade cloth overhead, but not much protection from the sun. Definitely bring a hat and sunscreen. Just as the ferry is about to leave someone will come and collect your 1,000៛.
On the other side, there is still a 200 m walk along a bamboo pathway to the Koh Trong Community-Based Ecotourism Information Centre. There are motodops waiting for the ferry and they can take you to the information centre for 2,000៛.
Cycling around Koh Trong
You can’t miss the tourism centre. It is the first building you get to as you climb the only road into the place. We hired bicycles for 4,000៛ and headed south, taking the road to the left. You can go in either direction but we noticed some other tourists heading north so we took the quieter option.
You can also hire a motorbike for 20,000៛, but the island is small so we just stuck to bicycles.
We noticed quite a few local tourists using horse-drawn carts, but we wouldn’t recommend them. We are not comfortable with the horses pulling tourists around the island in the heat, so cycling was an easy choice for us.
The road that loops around the island is all sealed and fairly quiet, except for the odd motorbike, child on a bicycle or cow. The landscape is a mix of pomelo orchards, banana trees, vegetable gardens, and beautifully kept gardens.
What to see along the way
Our first stop was at a Vietnamese pagoda. Right on the tip of the island is a small pagoda with just a couple of main buildings, but it felt quite different to the Cambodian pagodas we’d usually visit. The pagoda, used by the local ethnic Vietnamese community, had a few religious shrines and statues including one of Quan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, and a cemetery. It also had great views over the river.
As you turn to loop back up the other side of the island, through the trees you can see the Vietnamese floating village. We could see wooden houses floating on the water, some of them connected by planks and others with boats tied alongside them. We watched life on the floating village for a few minutes, people washing clothes, talking in Vietnamese on the phone, kids playing.
We continued cycling around the island, past more farms, small temples, and quiet homestays. There are a couple of roads that cut across the middle of the island. We actually took advantage of one of these when we needed a bathroom, cutting back across to the pagoda as it was the only place we’d seen toilets.
Further along the western side, the scenery opens out into wide sandbanks and patterned river edges where the Mekong changes shape with the seasons. We were there in May so the river was already beginning to swell. The sandbanks here are also a habitat for the critically endangered Cantor’s giant softshell turtle, although you’re pretty unlikely to actually see one. We didn’t have time to explore the beach, but it’s something worth knowing if you stay longer.
Getting back to Kracheh
Because of our tight schedule, we didn’t complete the full loop and took a right turn just before we got to the end. We passed more temples, colourful gardens, pomelo farms and haystacks on our way back.
Our timing heading back turned out to be quite good. A group had been waiting for nearly an hour for the ferry and had decided instead to hire a private boat back. We were able to jump on and paid 5,000៛ each for the trip back.
We could’ve waited for the ferry, but we had a bus to catch back to Phnom Penh. In hindsight we wished we’d spent the whole day at Koh Trong. We could’ve stopped at one of the homestays for lunch and spent some more time relaxing rather than watching our clocks. We spent a couple of hours cycling around the island, but if you want time to stop and enjoy it along the way, we’d allow at least four hours. In fact, if you have a bit more time, we’d suggest staying a night to watch life on the island after the sun goes down.
We visited Kracheh in May 2026
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