How to Get to Cardamom Tented Camp
Getting to your dream destination in a country where you don’t speak the language or understand the culture is for some people part of the adventure, while for others it’s a navigational and transport headache. But no matter what type of traveler you are, our team is always on hand to make sure you get to Cardamom Tented Camp safely.
Located in Cambodia’s Botum Sakor National Park, Cardamom Tented Camp offers a number packages that include direct land and boat transfers from several destinations, including Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, Kampot, Kep and even Trat town in eastern Thailand near the Thai-Cambodian border.
However, for the more intrepid traveler, there are alternative package options that leave you to make your own way to Cardamom Tented Camp’s Departure Lodge and pier in Trapeang Rung village, where you’ll hop on our boat for the final leg of your journey – a stunning one-hour boat ride through amazing tropical scenery to our ecolodge itself.
If you’re flying into Phnom Penh, one of the best options for getting to Cardamom Tented Camp under your own steam is to take a bus. In Cambodia the range of public transport is quite extensive and on sealed roads air-conditioned buses and express minivans are the best options. Phnom Penh now has good connections to all major cities by bus and there is a large range of reliable bus-ticket booking sites like BookMeBus.com, with all the major routes – and even a few obscure ones.
Trapeang Rung is on Highway 48 (NR48), one of the main highways linking Phnom Penh with Trat in Thailand that passes through Khemarak Phoumin, the provincial capital of Koh Kong Province. When booking your bus ticket from Phnom Penh, you’ll need to book a bus heading for Koh Kong. The bus will first head southwest out of Phnom Penh along Highway 4 (NR4), until it reaches Sre Ambel town 133 km from the capital. You will then head north toward Khemarak Phoumin along Highway 48. The distance from Sre Ambel to Trapeang Rung is about 87 km and it’s a beautiful scenic drive along a sealed road through some of Cambodia’s most spectacular countryside – the Cardamom Mountains, of course.
If you decide to make the journey by bus from Cambodia’s capital city Phnom Penh, make sure you get off just before Trapeang Rung Bridge – the third bridge you come to after passing through Sre Ambel. You’ll then walk down a small track that descends to the river on the left side of the bridge. After about 100 meters turn right under the bridge (heading north parallel to the river) and walk down the track for about another 100 meters, until you arrive at the Cardamom Tented Camp Departure Lodge and pier on the river’s edge.
Incidentally, it’s worth noting that Koh Kong’s provincial capital, Khemarak Phoumin, is more often than not simply referred to as Koh Kong, so when you are booking a bus ticket online look for ‘Koh Kong’, if you can’t see the city name. Khemarak Phoumin is also only 8 km from Cham Yeam on the Thai-Cambodian border – the crossing you’ll take if you are arriving at Cardamom Tented Camp from Trat in Thailand.
The bus journey from Phnom Penh to Trapeang Rung should take you about five to six hours, depending on how many stops you make. To find out more about the location of Cardamom Tented Camp, the Departure Lodge in Trapeang Rung village and other key locations, as well as the approximate travel times of busses departing from other major cities in Cambodia, check out our Getting To Us page.
Whether you plan to make your own way to Cardamom Tented Camp, or take advantage of an all-inclusive package, you will find the experience of staying at our ecolodge a unique opportunity to encounter the true wonders of nature completely undisturbed by the modern world. With only nine comfortable safari-style tents, our low-impact eco-camp is designed to provide guests with an all-encompassing nature experience, while also contributing to the research, protection and conservation of this pristine and irreplaceable ecosystem.
When we say, ‘Your Stay Keeps the Forest Standing’ we mean it, because a part of our revenue goes directly towards supporting one of our key partners Wildlife Alliance to help protect Botum Sakor National Park from illegal logging, poaching and sand dredging. Any additional profits are reinvested locally in the community on education and building awareness of sustainable environmental practices.
