Kratie's colonial past

One of Kratie's most recognisable landmarks - a mushroom-topped colonial relic

This government office is one of the few buildings that has retained its former splendour

Staying in Kratie along the Mekong River for my next post, this time it's a quick whizz around Kratie's French colonial legacy and the buildings that remain, though like other provincial towns which host similar fine and sturdy structures - Battambang, Kampot and Kompong Cham for instance - few have so far been restored to their former glory. Fortunately, much of the massive bombardment from the US that rained down on eastern Cambodia missed Kratie and the French legacy lives on around the busy marketplace and along the riverfront, including the Governor's mansion complete with rutting stags and volleyball court. Information about Kratie's colonial heritage is impossible to find, so you'll have to make do with my photos, and a suggestion that someone somewhere takes the trouble to record all of these semi-neglected buildings before they disappear forever. A book on the French colonial legacy buildings dotted around the country would sit nicely on my bookshelf. As it is, the two-storey shophouses you see here are common in all of the former colonial centres, with their shuttered windows and thick columns, though few have been given the care and attention they deserve.

The Governor's mansion is all its faded elegance

Next to the Governor's mansion is this restored building and two rutting stags for company

This building along the riverfront used to be a guesthouse/restaurant, it's now closed

Another government office along the riverside, now in a state of neglect

Looking out over the central market, a typical shophouse

Shuttered doors and windows and a balcony are the main features of this 1st floor view

More faded colonial elegance in the center of Kratie

These two-storey shophouses are given the sunset treatment, on a road that joins the river with the market

All these buildings need is a lick of paint and it would brighten up the center of Kratie dramatically

Kratie's most easily identifiable building, just north of the marketplace