Phnom udong

 Udong (the Victorious) served as the capital of Cambodia under several sovereign between 1618 and 1866, during which time victorious' was an optimistic epithet, as Cambodia was in terminal decline. A number of kings, including King Norodom, were crowned here. The mainattractions today are the twin humps of Phnom Udong which have several stupas on them. Both ends of the ridge have good views of the Cambodia countryside dotted with innumerable sugar palm trees. Phnom Udong is
not a leading attraction, but for those with the time it's worth the visit .

The larger main ridge the one you'll approach first if approaching from NH5 is know as Phnom Preah Reach Throap (Hill of the Royal Fortune). It's so named because a 16th-century khmer king is said to have hidden the national treasury here during a war with the Thais.

       At the base of the stairs leading up to the ridge, close to the road, is a memorial  to the victims of Pol Pot, which contains the bones of some of the people who were buried i approximately 100 man graves,each containing about a dozen bodies. Instruments of torture were unearthed along with the bones when a number of the pits were disinterred in 1981 and 1982. 

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