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After visiting Angkor Wat, one of the most majestic temples in Southeast Asia, you might be looking to retreat yourself to a beautiful natural environment. The Cardamom Mountains is a big swap of tropical rainforest in the south-west of Cambodia. The area was hard to reach in the past but, due to better road access in recent years, it has become easier to visit. Tourism mainly consists of community-based projects, like the amazing Osoam Community Center.
Cardamom Mountains Cambodia: Road to Osoam Community Center
The Cardamom Mountains are with its 4.4 million hectares the largest rainforest in South-East Asia. It consists of plains, mountains, swamps, lakes and rivers with stunning waterfalls and swimming holes.
If you’re a fan of spotting wildlife then this is the perfect place to spend a few days. Wildlife here includes Irriwaddy and humpback dolphins, 450 species of birds and the forest is home to many endangered species like Malayan sun bears, Siamese crocodiles, clouded leopards, Sunda pangolins, Indochinese tigers and Asian elephants.
Lake in the heart of the Cambodia Cardamom Mountains
After Pol Pot’s regime fell in 1979, a lot of Khmer Rouge soldiers fled to the Cardamom Mountains, creating a bulwark to continue the battle until the mid-nineties. This had a serious impact on the ethnic minorities inhabiting the mountains, creating severe poverty.
As a result, a lot of the locals turned to the illegal wildlife trade, logging, and poaching to survive. This still goes on today, but luckily a few sustainable and conservational projects were set up to protect this beautiful natural slice of heaven.
Osoam Cambodia
One of these fantastic projects is the Osoam Community Center. Osoam is a small village located in the heart of the Cardamom Mountains. The founder of the Community Center, Mr. Lim, is a very kind and knowledgable man who speaks English very well. The Community Center focuses on education, sustainable tourism and eco-friendly practices with the aim of ensuring a better life for the inhabitants and protect the natural surroundings.
At the center, locals get educated on topics like conservation and wildlife and can attend English classes preparing them for a career as a ranger or tour guides to visitors. With these skills, they can earn an income and leave their past life of logging and poaching behind and protect the forest, which they know by heart, instead of harming it.
As a conscious traveler, there are two ways to take part in the activities of the Community Center. You can either volunteer and help out with all kinds of projects around gardening, farming, construction, and teaching or you can visit the center on a tourist base and participate in all sorts of activities the Center organizes.
Activities on offer are one to multi-day Cardamom Mountains trekking tours to waterfalls, mountains, jungle and wildlife. Transport can vary from cars and minivans to motorbikes and boats. Kayaks and motorbikes are also for rent if you want to explore the area on your own.
Bridge in the Cardamom Mountains
Sleeping accommodation is basic but offers all you need. You can choose between a wooden cabin, a hammock or a tent, which you can rent or bring yourself. The wooden bungalows come with a mosquito net, blankets and a very thin mattress. Western toilets and cold showers are shared between all guests.
Breakfast, lunch and diner are cooked in-house by the lovely family of Mr. Lim and are absolutely delicious. There is no menu, but they do take into account special dietary requests, so it’s no problem if you’re a vegetarian or vegan in Cambodia. For breakfast and lunch, all guests gather around the big outdoor dining tables where the food is served. This way of eating at the same table creates a warm feeling of togetherness like you’re a part of the family.
Getting to Osoam Community Center and the Cardamom Mountains is relatively easy if you come from Koh Kong but a little harder if you are coming from Siem Reap, Battambang, or Phnom Penh. I’ll explain everything below!
If you’re coming from Siem Reap, Battambang or Phnom Penh you should take a bus first to get to the town of Pursat. Your hotel or guesthouse can probably make arrangements for a bus ticket and explain to the driver where you want to go. It is not a fixed stop on the bus route so the bus driver needs to know you want to get out at Pursat. He will drop you off at the main road next to the village.
Next up, look for road number 5 and walk into town to the old market. It looks partly like a market and partly like a parking area and you will see some people hanging around. Tell them you want to get to Osoam Community Center. They probably won’t speak English but they will understand and in our case, they even called Mr. Lim so he could explain to us what was going to happen. You can choose if you want to go by a private taxi which costs $ 70 or a shared taxi for $ 12/person. Make sure you arrange your taxi before 11 am or you have to wait until the next day.
The trip from Pursat to Osoam usually takes around four hours. After one and a half hour you will make a stopover at a town called Pramoy. You will change transport here from a car to a jeep. Until this point the road was paved but that will change now to a very rocky, sandy road which will not allow the jeep to drive faster than 30km/hour. Our jeep broke down, like you can see in the picture below. Luckily, we were only five kilometres away from Osoam and an ice truck picked us up which was quite an adventure.
It’s easier to get to the Cardemon Mountains from Koh Kong. Ask your hotel/guesthouse to book transport or head to Koh Kong bus station around lunchtime and ask for a private or shared taxi to Osoam. The trip takes two and a half hours.
Mr. Lim will arrange transport for you if you want to leave Osoam for Pursat or Koh Kong.
Visiting the Cardemon Mountains and Osoam Community Center is relatively cheap if you opt for shared transport. Here are some prices:
Here are some prices for the activities on offer:
ONE-DAY TOURS:
HALF-DAY TOURS:
There are also overnight trekking tours that start at $ 40 per person depending on the number of participants.
Keep in mind that the Cardamom Mountains are very remote and there’s no electricity, wifi or hot water. During the evening there will be generator-powered electricity for a few hours, but that’s it. These items should definitely be on your pack list:
Osoam Community Center does have a facebook page and a website but they are not up-to-date and I’m pretty sure it will also be hard to reach them through Facebook Messenger. But you can check this out for some additional information about the project!
I did find an interview with Mr. Lim on youtube in which he explains the area and how the Community Center operates! <3
Paying a visit to the Cardamom Mountains and Osoam Community Center is a great way to experience authentic Cambodian life and should be added to any Cambodia itinerary.
If you have any questions about the Cardamom Mountains or Osoam Community Center, let me know in the comments below if you have any questions or drop me a message through my contact page.
Also, don’t forget to check out my resources page with my favorite booking platforms and tips to start planning your trip. Additionally, have a look at my favorite travel gear if you want to pack more consciously!
ENJOY!
Disclaimer: This post may include affiliate links. If you click on them, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Hi! I am Annelies and this is Travelers & Dreamers, a blog about conscious travel which means traveling in a more mindful way, with a positive impact on the world and yourself!
On this website, I cover different topics like slow travel, plant-based food guides, responsible travel, sustainable packing, eco-travel, and more!
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Cosette
Never heard of the Cardamom mountains in Cambodia or from the Osoam Community Center. Although remote, it sounds like beautiful place to visit.
Carmina
I was lucky to visit Cambodia back in 2019. The country is far more beautiful than what one can find online. I’m happy to read about such initiatives around sustainable tourism. It literally broke my heart when I saw tourists riding elephants pretty much everywhere in SE Asia.
Lerato Bambo
I love places that focus on sustainable tourism. Would love to visit this centre in Cambodia, the work they do is amazing and more people should know about it
Melissa
A visit to the Osoam Community sounds like a lot of fun! I think it would be cool to visit both as a volunteer and as a tourist to experience both sides. I love the focus on sustainable tourism. I would love to go kayaking and enjoy the scenery.
Kaitlyn
Wow! I’ve never heard of this place. It looks beautiful. Such helpful tips.
annelies_degelas
If you want to discover off the beaten path Cambodia, this is the place you need to go! 😊
Alina Leise
Is it necessary to have some hiking shoes ? i don´t know what to pack für going to Osoam cardamom community center, thanks für answering 🙂
annelies_degelas
Hey Alina!
Well, it depends a bit about what you wanna do there. If you just want to visit the town and walk around a bit, it’s not really necessary but if you want to participate in the hikes MR. Lim organizes I do recommend taking some hiking boots with you. 🙂 Let me know if you have any more questions!