Kompong Cham

Kompong Cham is the largest town in Cambodia's most heavily populated provence by the same name, and yet there is nothing particularly touristy about the town - in fact, there are only a small handful of sit down restaurants on 1/2 of a city block at the waterfront and no others anywhere else in town. It is a stop for the tourist boats that ply the Mekong, but all of the tourists on those boats disembark and are immediately loaded onto swank buses for tours in the country side - these folks do not spend a moment in the town. 

Just south of town is the Island of Koh Paen, accessed from the mainland by the coolest ever bamboo bridge. It is about 1/2 a kilometre in length and must be rebuilt each year as the rainy season floods destroy it. During the wet season the island is accessed by ferry. The island is, for the most part, farmland - cane, veggies, tobacco and tree fruits. It is also home to Cambodia's largest population of Cham, a cultural group with populations in all South Asian countries.