Kampot-Where I learned to ride a motorbike

---

Patience and lateness are not two virtues that I was blessed with. I have tried my hardest to learn them, but they seem to ever evade me. Cambodia has taught me that Asia time is alive and real, and that I just have to deal with it. If a bus is only 45 minutes late, we are doing really well. I’ve learned to automatically add three hours to any quoted journey length. Meals? Don’t expect to get them within an hour of ordering them. In particular, don’t expect to get your meals any time near when the people you are eating with get theirs. Asia time is alive and real in Cambodia.



I left Sihnoukville to head to the small beach town of Kampot. I had heard lovely things about Kampot from a girl I met in Siem Reap. She described it as a small, sleepy French quarter town. I couldn’t wait to get there. In a crazy turn of fate, not only was my bus on time, but there were two people from my hostel heading to Kampot as well.



I had a great first day with Monika (Poland) and Mikey (USA). Our new hostel was hosting a pool party that day for an NGO that supports clean water in Cambodia. They were giving a certain portion of every drink sold to the NGO, as well as $2 dollars for every Christredeemer sold. In addition tot his there was a world cup game associated. For every Christredeemer you drank, your country got a point on the board. The USA points were quite pitiful, so Mikey and I did our bet to catch up. We stood no chance again England and the Cambodians. At the end of the night we met an English guy named James when we were being incredibly loud in our dorm.



The following day we all decided to rent motorbikes and go see the local waterfall. Was my first time on a motorbike and I actually loved it. It was incredible to be able to get out of the town and see some of the more natural areas of Kampot. The only flaw in our plan was our own idiocy. When we finally reached the top of the mountain we missed the most blatantly obvious sign to turn for the waterfall. Instead we carried on. Finally the road ended, but there was a path leading into the jungle. We made the mistake of assuming the waterfall was in the jungle. After trekking through the jungle for an hour in the downpour, and then climbing down the side of a mountain…we finally concluded we had messed up. Back up the mountainside, and an hour trek out. I am not sure I have ever been that wet or sweaty.



We got back on our bikes, and 20 m back down the road we saw the waterfall signs. The waterfall was quite incredible, but we were more distracted by the state of our bags. Everything in our packs was soaked from the rain. Phones..cameras…books the like.



After seeing the waterfall we headed back down the mountain. Only to discover that James’s bike was no longer turning on. With Mikey and Monika having to race to catch a bus, I stayed with James while he coasted down the mountain. The guards were able to kick start his bike, and off James and I went. We stopped for a quick bite to eat. We ate noodles that I insisted were maggots. James never let me live that one down.



After saying our goodbyes to Mikey and Monika at the hostel, James and I left for the Temple caves. The temple caves are very old caves that the locals had carved temples into. They really were incredible.



After finally leaving Kampot, James and I headed back to Sihnoukville. We both needed to get our Vietnam Visas. After two days, I finally have my visa and will head out to Vietnam tomorrow. Will be the first time in a while that I have been on my own. Looking forward to it!

---