Kampot and Kep 26 – 28 May

From Sihanoukville we moved further down the coast to Kampot. Here we stayed at a chilled out place by the riverside. Our room was a three sided bungalow set in the garden, with a curtain as a fourth wall for privacy. This was quite idyllic setting, however we later learned that the main building was in fact a former snake temple; explaining the cool designs on the balustrades, and also the fact that there had been several snake sightings in the area, which made us feel a little less secure.

The bar at this hostel turned out to be a popular hangout for a bunch of expats; it felt a little like ‘central perk’ from ‘Friends’, or the bar from ‘how I met your mother.’ It was a great group of people hanging out and working at the bar though, and we hung around there a bit just chilling out.

We also rented a motorbike and scooted around, checking out Kampot, which is actually filled with some great old colonial buildings, from the time of the French, and nice little shops and cafes. One café we went to was run by the deaf community, and you ordered by writing down your choices, or signing them (signs for certain things provided in the menu).

We definitely felt the presence of the rainy season at this time, but decided to brave the rain with a day trip on the motorbike, down to Kep, armed with our cheap ponchos (basically like wearing a massive plastic bag, and just as noisy). Kep is a seaside town well known for its seafood, particularly crabs. We arrived at the crab market, and saw all the local ladies, fully dressed and knee deep in the surf hauling up cages full of crabs. Just down the road were rows of restaurants, serving said crab and other seafood. We sat ourselves down and proceeded to feast on delectable crab with kampot pepper. Interestingly, kampot pepper is apparently famous in the culinary world, and will soon be awarded ‘geographic indication;’ therefore allowing no one else to use the name ‘kampot pepper’ unless it’s grown in kampot (as with champagne, brie, etc.).

From Kampot we bid farewell to Cambodia and headed for the Vietnamese border.