For a supremely relaxing bicycle ride, it’s hard to beat Koh Paen, a rural island in the Mekong River, connected to the southern reaches of Kompong Cham town by an elaborate bamboo bridge (toll 500r to 1000r) in the dry season or a local ferry (with/without bicycle 1500/1000r) in the wet season. The bamboo bridge is an attraction in itself, built entirely by hand each year and looking like it is made of matchsticks from afar.
The island offers a slice of rural local life, with fruit and vegetable farms and traditional wooden houses. During the dry season, several sandbars – the closest thing to a beach in this part of Cambodia – appear around the island.
Bicycles can be hired from some local guesthouses.
