Kep and Kampot

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After leaving Phnom Penh, we headed to Kep. Famous for crab, Kep was also a seaside resort for the French elite and the likes of Jackie O in the '60s. It's a pleasant place, if a little overpriced and spread out. It was also particularly sleepy as this is the low season. The crab market serves up some delicious seafood in Kampot pepper sauce. I'm not particularly talented at eating crab.


We learned a lot about education and secondary schools there. For my birthday, we went to El Dorado, a restaurant surrounded by a lotus-filled moat. The owner and chef was Hungarian and the happy hour specials on food and beer were great. He fired up the wood-burning oven for our pizza while we played Trivial Pursuit.


The next day, more people joined us from Phnom Penh. After a school tour, we headed to Rabbit Island. Minimalist bungalows on the beach and hammocks took me back to last year's trip. We hiked around the island and swam in the ocean between meals of squid and fried noodles. It was a great break and the company made it even better.


Sunday it was on to Kampot. I'm a little in love with Kampot. It's bigger and more cohesive than Kep and there's a lot of good people doing good things here. The rooms and food are cheaper than Kep, but it's much more laid back than Phnom Penh. A river runs through the town and there's been a nice wind to keep us cool. I spoke with one former Peace Corps Volunteer and he really helped me understand education issues in Cambodia and last night, I was asked to join a country band by a fiddle player/IT consultant from California. Really, does it get better than that?


Note: I realized that I have no photos of Kampot. I promise to remedy that on my next visit there.

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Photos

Library
Adam checks out the Kep High School library.

Cell diagram in Khmer
Kep High School

Students
Kep high school

Sihanouk
Sihanouk built a palace in Kep right before the Khmer Rouge took over. It has fallen into disrepair.

Coconut
Adam and Marianne share a coconut

View from bungalow
Rabbit Island

Bennett
This guy swims in this outfit.

Jake and Jennie...
... looking super cute on the beach. Too bad Jennie only dates guys over 6'.

Bungalow
Adam on the porch of his bungalow

Comments

[Jason]

Looks fun - see you soon!
Hey Megan, glad to see you've got the blog going again - what a beautiful place! - we're looking forward to seeing you in Kep in just over 2 weeks! - Jason