Angkor Ban, Cambodia

Located on the banks of the Mekong, Angkor Ban is a little village of Sampov Loun District in Battambang Province, north-western Cambodia. Not a tourist hub, this rural village is a unique monument to tradition in which centurion wooden houses still exist and the old rustic life of Cambodia has barely changed until today.
Nicknamed the “lucky village”, Angkor Ban is not only one of the few escaping the Khmer Rouge's ransacking, it also survived American bombing during the war and the flash seasonal floods that often visit the region. As a result, this laid-back riverside community successfully retains many of its venerable wooden houses and the local agricultural life as the testament to the long history of Cambodian.
A visit to Angkor Ban village is an excellent introduction to the Mekong banks: the daily life without smartphones, the Internet or traffic jam in the modern life. You will be welcomed by residents’ warm smiles, beautiful square-shaped houses on stilts, lush green trees, or slender cows grazing on the fields. It is a charming and authentic scenery to behold, which is also quite rare in Cambodia. Soaking up the mellow rhythm of Angkor Ban, you’ll know that their lives take place around their century-year-old houses, with cattle and chickens underneath the floor, adults working in the fields while children cheerfully frolicking around the village paths. If you’re keen on playing with kids, it’s worth paying a visit to the local school where you can join the class and help the little cute with their English pronunciation and reading. Before leaving this bucolic place, make sure you spend some time in Angkor Ban Pagoda. This two-storey pagoda in Khmer style and dedicated to the Buddha offers a special blessing ceremony by local monks, which could be the capstone of your Mekong River journey.