Kampot & Kep...................R.I.P CAMBODIA!

So we decided after a week of doing literally nothing but eating, sleeping and drinking that we best move on and see some more before our time in Cambodia came to an end. So we decided to head for Kampot, this is a sleepy little river town which its tourism derives mainly from the national park on its dorstep.

We got a mini bus for $6 each and landed in Kampot around midday, we found a few guesthouses and after some hagglinbg i got one for $4 a night which included free internet (altho it turned out it didnt even work). The room wasnt great and was really hot at night but we endured for the sake of our budget. We had the whole afternoon to sightsee, so we hired some bikes from the guesthouse and set out. These bikes were bright pink, with little white baskets on the front! so you can imagine what i looked like cruising round cambodia on my low rider! Even so much more as every local found it absolutely hilarious they were pointing and laughing and everyone was running out saying hi, it was the most welcome we had felt throughout our whole trip. We just pottered around all afternoon taking in the river and sights, we ended up outside a school and all the kids rushed to the windows and were shouting and saying hello to us, it was really nice.

The next day we had booked a trip to Bokor national park, for over a year the road has been shut to cars but for 2 days it was open, PROPER LUCKY AGAIN! otherwise its a 6hr trek up the hill! so we paid $20 each and spent the day at the top of this hill treking aound, at the top is a deserted village which was built in the early 19th centry by the french colonists but was destroyed in the war by the Khumer Rouge in battles with the Vietnamese, this place was once described by an author as the erriest place on earth, and we can definately see where he gets it from. The old casino can be creepy when it is foggy and dark up there, but lucky for us it was brilliant blue and gorgeous sun! we had the offer to stay the night up on the hill but i really dont think it was worth it there was nothing more to see or do up there.

The next day we heard you could volunteer at a local school, so we went along to see the school and meet the kids and teachers, they were really excited to see us and to have us come in, we agreed to go back on the monday and spend the day there, but we were really gutted as we realised out funds wouldnt allow us to stay an extra 2 days in Cambodia so unfortunately we had to leave without getting the chance to teach at the school.

So the next day we left and headed for the town of Kep, we brought a bus ticket for $2 each and climbed on a local bus. We were dropped off in the middle of absolutely nowhere in the torrential rain, just stood on the corner with not a clue where we were or where to go! eventually we found a tuk tuk and he took us to a guesthouse (which had an amazing view over the town and ocean) so we dumped our stuff and after the rain stopped we headed out in to the "town". The town of Kep is famous for its crab, they have the crab market on the seafront which is really a row of local restaurants. After a walk around we sat at one of the local restaurants which is perched over the sea, here we had prawns and rice, absolutely lush!

Apart from that there was nothing to do or see, everything shut at 9 and there were no other tourists, so then its off to Vietnam!

Scott & Katie

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