http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Cambodia , South , Kampot en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 02:08:42 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 02:08:42 +0000 What is it that makes you fall in love with a country With 4 weeks cut off my intended trip by my stupid Sandhurst precommissioning course I had had to abandon my plans to spend part of my trip in Laos and Cambodia and restrict myself to a 10 day whirlwind transit through the latter on my way back overland to Bangkok to fly home on the 7th. I had made this revision without too much angst as I http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-450186.html Cambodia is truly one of the most beautiful places on this planet and yet so marred with disaster kind of like Alex right now We took a leisurely ''slow boat'' ride up the Mekong from the delta almost all of the way to Cambodia's capital Phomn Pehn. This ride while being extremely long has been one of my favorite parts of this trip. We finally had escaped out dreaded cities an http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-441683.html Hallo zusammenSorry dass mein letzter Eintrag ziemlich kurz ausgefallen ist ich versorge euch dafuer jetzt mit mehr Infos. 2 Wochen auf Phu Quoc und ich fuehle mich super. Jeden Morgen habe ich im NullSterne Resort gefruehstueckt und zu Abend gegessen die Tage habe ich an den diversen Straenden verbracht mit ganz unterschiedlichen Leuten. Die Strassen auf der Insel sind wirklich einmalig abente http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-432370.html I loved Kampot and Kep. They have that kind of faded grandeur that I particularly enjoy. Kampot used to be the primary port until Sihannoukville took over leaving it to drop quietly off the radar. Aside from the lovely colonial architecture and the chilled out riverine way of life the primary attraction is Bokor Hill Station. This was established as hilltop retreat for the French a cool and bre http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-419690.html 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 guesthou http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-409058.html Got up late because my cute room is majorly hot and the fan's not making it any better. And I managed to clog our toilet after using it once. Awesome. Not that any of you needed to know that but I thought I'd share anyway. I'm not really sure who is reading this so I'm going to say whatever I want After a breakfast of bread and Nutella yum Megan and I headed toward the river to walk ar http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-408798.html Got up this morning and did some more hammocking. Tough day really We got a boat back to Kep which was even wetter than the first time and then it started raining as well. We cleaned up and packed up quickly and loaded into three tuk tuks to head to Kampot a city about 30 kilometers from Kep. We're going to stay here for a couple of days to meet with someone from the teacher training http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-408423.html a small selection of southern Cambodian pics hope you like them http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-402380.html Owing to bad timing on our behalf the visa we required for our next country 'Laos' would take four days to produce as it was now Thursday and the weekend would impact delivery time so we decided to use the time to travel to the south of Cambodia to a riverside town called Kampot which was very close to the coast.The bus journey was a fantastic adventure in itself slowly making its way through wid http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-399250.html Kampot is a lovely little ghost town in southern Vietnam lovely but not enough to keep you entertained for long the local are even so stretched for things to do they have started a 'Spoof' new journal for Kampot So after one chilled out nite we and some french girls we have collected along the way head out in a Tuk Tuk towards the Cambodia Vietnam Border. Plan seems simple enough tuk tuk t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-398496.html 14.04.09 Our first day in Kampot is uneventful we walk around town look at the river the bridges which the Kep revival guide does mention as high points the statues. There's nothing in particular to see but it's nice nonetheless. The next day however is my birthday Iain had carried a care package from home so I get my own little cake with 26 candles as well as cards and an eye waterin http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-397604.html HelloOK... I'm now in Changmai and am determined to get up to date with my blogs before I go for lunch and I'm starving so I'm going to make it quick oKampot didn't really turn out as planned we wanted to rent mopeds and drive to the National Park to do some trekking but it was closed o We asked quite a few people just to double check but a lot of people in Asia tell porkie pies about t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-387259.html Kampot is a quaint town on the river. As the Lonely Planet states 'it's not a place to do it's a place to feel' and that's exactly what we did. It feels like being in cottage country in Ontario.The town is small enough to explore by foot or bicycle so we rented some bikes and rode around for a few hours before realizing the best view is of the river which has the Elephant mountains right behind http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-385262.html Getting to Kampot was quite the mission. First we had to get to Phonm Phen because the roads here are very limited. The bus from Siem Reap to Phonm Phen was local and loud with Cambodian pop music which is very unpleasant. On top of that the driver honks literally every 5 seconds to warn the motos on the side of the road. There is no chance to get shut eye on the 6 hour ride.Once in Phonm Phen we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-385261.html A short tuk tuk journey into town and at first glance its not as pretty as Kep. It's much bigger than its sister town and has a more cosmopolitan feel to it. Locals are out in the street doing daily stuff. Street corners are hugged by moto drivers traffics islands have gas stations on the day we arrived was the start of a 3 day weddingWe initially struggled to get somewhere to stayand after a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-380779.html Day 373839 KampotRabbit IslandWe left Phnom Penh at 1PM and arrived at Kampot around 630PM. It was a long bumpy ride. Once we got past the traffic in the city the SUVs slowly disappeared and the road seemed to as well. It was paved for at least the first 4 hours but it might as not have been. It was in terrible shape leaving us to wonder if this was a result of the Khmer Rouge. Even on p http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-374516.html It is always good to arrive in a town with no money then read in the Lonely Planet that there are no cashpoints in that town..........................our hearts sank with that bit of knowledge when we arrived in Kampot and had just enough cash for a room but nothing else. I took a wander upto the only bank to see if I could get a cash transfer or draw money off my credit card..................muc http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-372964.html We spent a month in Thailand mostly just to the southern beachesthe eastern island of ko chang and Bangkok. A complete reversal of our earlier plans to spend the month up north and leave the beaches for the cheaper season in July. Thailand being a distant memory for both of us at this point can be reviewed another day.We crossed the border into Cambodia on the 7th of Feb foolishly overstaying o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-371834.html Tuesday 30thWe monopolised the hammocks for most of the day.Wednesday 31stOn Jen's instructions starved myself until late afternoon following a visitation by the 'Kampot trots'. We headed to the Epic Caf and I had a wonderfully simple Cheese Roll with homemade pickle. Just what the stomach needed. Seemed to work and sufficiently recovered to see the Old Year out at a special buffet at the busy B http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-361727.html Sunday 28thUp for 8 'o' clock minibus. Actually it was at hotel by 750am. It was a ancient old battered minibus and we were the first passengers. There was of course no aircon and the standard air blowers didn't work. I was immediately regretting booking in haste last minute at the hotel reception rather than wandering up the street last night to the reputable company called G'Day Mate tours. Thi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-358742.html