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Published: March 2nd 2011
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Exploring Kampot - the Market, Kampot Train Station and Around Town
Today Monk decided to explore more of Kamport town and hired a bike for 75 US cents.
The market in Kampot is amazing. Apart from all the fruit and vegetables, much of which Monk couldn't even put a a name to, there was just about every type of meat, live fish and live birds. Sacks and sacks of rice, of course, but also dried fish, dried prawns and lots of dried fungi. The whole place was bustling with shoppers. Monk spent the best part of an hour just wandering in amazement.
Monk's a bit of a trainspotter and just had to find the train station to investigate what the situation is regarding the trains in Cambodia. There's a train line that runs from Phnom Penh down through Kampot and on to Sihanoukville. Monk originally hoped he could take a train on this line to get to Kampot. After researching other blogs, it seems that the line has not been operational for a number of years. The station takes a bit of finding. It's 2 or 3 kms outside Kampot, half a km down a side turning, on
the right off the Phnom Penh road. As you are riding out of Kampot, the Phnom Penh road goes over the 'level crossing' - except there's no track. The station building looks like a 60s creation grafted onto the original building. In the forecourt are bits of pieces of trains and pile upon pile of decaying wooden sleepers. The ticket office looks forlorn and it seemed that families were living on the platform. Monk found an office and inside were 4 men at computers - a incongruous sight amongst all the surrounding derelict buildings. The project engineer explained that they were re-laying the entire track from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville. The railway is currently working to a town not too far from Kampot but only for transporting construction materials for the continued building of the line. It was expected to open entirely by the end of 2011. Before any other travellers get too excited about the prospect of jumping a train to the coast, he stressed that there were no plans yet for a passenger service - the priority is freight. Phnom Penh is landlocked with access to the sea only over difficult roads to the port at Sihanoukville, overland
through Thailand or via the Mekong through Vietnam. A fast route to the sea would provide vast economic benefits through the transportation of goods to, and more importlantly, from Phnom Penh, creating part of the infrastructure for the growth of modern export industries in the capital.
The rest of the day was spent riding east beyond Kampot along the Kampot river toward the sea. A most enjoyable day in the saddle.
At around 11 at night, Monk was taking some photographs, from the river bank, of the lights of RikiTikiTavi when a 'lady' approached and asked if he was interested in her. Monk replied that he preferred men, hoping that would get rid of her, just as a man arrived and asked if Monk was interested in his lady. Monk repeated his preference. 'Oh', says he, 'That's OK - me man, you man, she man'! At this point Monk decided things were getting just a bit too complicated and left the ladyboy and his pimp to return to the safety and sanity of Riki's.
Unknown to Monk, this encounter with the ladyboy had been witnessed by a couple of the girls at Riki's and, next morning when
Monk turned up for breakfast, there was fun and laughter all round - the ladyboy is a well-known local 'girl'. The gay manager stroked Monk's arms seductively saying 'Mr Monk, me not know you like ladyboy' before launching into a playful taunt of 'Ladyboy lover, ladyboy lover ...'.
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