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Published: February 24th 2011
After six nights in the beach resort of Sihanoukville, we decided it was time to move on to pastures new. After a (surprisingly) pleasant minibus journey we ended up in the charming town of Kep. During it's heyday, Kep was an upmarket resort created by the French and later enjoyed by Cambodia's elite. The years have not been kind to Kep, and the combination of political and economic factors have left it desolate... That is until recently. All over town there are abandoned colonial mansions that are now starting to be lapped up by property developers.
At the moment though Kep is still a pretty sleepy place, and it's town centre consists of a crab market, a tour operator and a handful of restaurants. Due to it's proximity to Kampot (home of the best peppercorns in the world!), a lot of the local menus revolve around seafood and young green pepper on the vine. It has been immense, that's all I can say!! We're back off down to Kimly's Restaurant on the seafront tonight for our second helping, and even though $6.50 for a main isn't the cheapest by Cambodian standards, it's well worth it!
We're staying at the
Verdana Natural Resort which is on the hillside looking down over the coast. It's a beautifully crafted place with wooden walkways connecting the bungalows and bars. We're surrounded by jungle and fruit trees so can hear and see loads of birds and stunning butterflies, some of which are the size of bats!
During the night though this place gets a whole lot more interesting... Its when the beasties come out!! We've seen bats, giant lizards/salamanders feasting on the mossies outside our bungalow, and the hugest crickets! I had one the size of my fist fall from the outer doorway almost on top of me last night and then fly around, bouncing off the walls. Dave heard me scream, but didn't fancy leaving the bungalow for fear of what would jump on him. Sensible move I'd say! The jungle is SO noisy with life, it's quite cool and scary at the same time...! We've spent the last couple of nights doused in mossie spray, sitting on our balcony playing crib. Dave is getting the hang of it more now and even managed to beat me (once). :-)
The beaches around here are nothing special so when we haven't been
out and about we've been lounging by the pool. There are snorkelling trips to nearby Rabbit Island, but we thought we'd get to see more stuff when we get to Borneo and the Philippines. We have been on a city tour in a Tuk-Tuk where we got to visit pepper plantations, deserted villas (the ghost town??), and some random caves. The kids from the villages where we stop love practicing their English. We've said 'hello' to about 25 children today and had random conversations with a few too! I also managed to get Dave out on a 2.5hr jungle hike the other morning, as there is a national park metres from our hotel. He was probably more energetic than me, but it did get very hot very quickly and I was carrying the backpack!
We've got our bus booked back to Phnom Penh which should take about three hours. Then it's one night there before we attempt to get a fast bus to Siem Reap which should be around 5hrs. We hear that the Mekong Express bus is the way to go, not our friends Paramount who stop for every man and his dog! Arh well, you live and learn!
See you in Siem Reap!
Love Emma & Dave xx
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