Kambodja

It's not hard to see why travelers become entranced with Kampot (កំពត). This riverside town, with streets rimmed by dilapidated shophouse architecture, has a dreamy quality; as if someone pressed the snooze button a few years back and the entire town forgot to wake up. The Kompong Bay River – more accurately an estuary – rises and falls with the moons, serving as both attractive backdrop and water-sports playground for those staying in the boutique resorts and backpacker retreats that line its banks upstream from the town proper.

Sure, Sihanoukville (ក្រុងព្រះសីហនុ) would never win first prize in a pretty-town competition, and much of it is now dominated by casinos and tacky commercial centres. But despite the rapid and mostly unwanted development, it has remained the jumping-off point for the best of Cambodia's white-sand beaches and castaway-cool southern islands. The Serendipity Beach area is a decompression chamber for backpackers, who flock here to rest up between travels and party through the night.

Cambodia's southern islands are the tropical Shangri-La many travellers have been seeking – as yet untouched by the mega-resorts that have sprouted across southern Thailand. Many of the islands have been tagged for major development by well-connected foreign investors, but the big boys have been slow to press go, paving the way for DIY development to move in with rustic bungalow resorts.

Mondulkiri Province (ខេត្តមណ្ឌលគិរី), the original wild east, is a world apart from the lowlands with not a rice paddy or palm tree in sight.

Gateway for the temples of Angkor, Siem Reap (see-em ree-ep; សៀមរាប) was always destined for great things. Visitors come here to see the temples, of course, but there is plenty to do in and around the city when you're templed out. Siem Reap has reinvented itself as the epicentre of chic Cambodia, with everything from backpacker party pads to hip hotels, world-class wining and dining across a range of cuisines, sumptuous spas, great shopping, local tours to suit both foodies and adventurers, and a creative cultural scene that includes Cambodia's leading contemporary circus.

The glimmering spires of the Royal Palace, the fluttering saffron of the monks’ robes and the luscious location on the banks of the mighty Mekong – Phnom Penh (ភ្នំពេញ) is the Asia many daydream about from afar.

Koh Rong (កោះរ៉ុង) was once little more than a jungle-clad wilderness rimmed by swaths of sugary-white sand, with a few beach-hut resorts speckling the shore around tiny Koh Tuch village. Today the Koh Tuch village street-strip that leads out from the pier is a bottleneck of back-to-back backpacker crash pads, restaurants and hole-in-the-wall bars blasting competing music. You'll either love it or hate it, but for young travellers who descend off the ferry in droves, Koh Rong (particularly Koh Tuch Beach) is a vital stop on any Southeast Asia party itinerary.

Cambodia's South Coast (ឆ្នេរខាងត្បូង) provides the antidote to temple-hopping tick lists. The beaches draw most folk here, but stick around and you'll see this region is more than its sandy bits.

Long the no-go part of Cambodia for tourists, notorious for its squalor, scams and sleaze, Poipet (ប៉ោយប៉ែត, pronounced ‘poi-peh’ in Khmer) has recently splurged on a facelift. Thanks mainly to the patronage of neighbouring Thais, whose own country bans gambling, its casino resorts – with names like Tropicana and Grand Diamond City – are turning the town into Cambodia's little Las Vegas. However, beyond the border zone, the Poipet of times past is still very much present. The Khmers’ gentle side is little in evidence, but don’t worry, the rest of the country does not carry on like this.

Kampot Province (ខេត្តកំពត) has emerged as one of Cambodia’s most alluring destinations thanks to a hard-to-beat combination of easy-going seaside towns and lush countryside riddled with honeycombed limestone caves.