Getting into relaxed pace of travelling ... Finally :-)

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We left Vietnam behind us together with tight schedules and fully packed itinerary. Since the beginning of our trip we were moving all the time trying to see as much as possible (especially in China). Cambodia is a much smaller country and also we only had a few places in mind that we really wanted to visit. At least that was our plan when we crossed the border and got to the capital city of Phnom Penh. Fanny was still with us and she was in fact going in the same direction so we decided to stick together. We stayed in Royal Guest-house (9$ per room) purely because it was located within short walking distance to food courts. Seems that food has much bigger importance in our lives than riverside location;-) We really only meant to stay in PP for a few days to obtain Laos visa (more details at the end of this blog).

In the meantime Tomek got ill. I know what you think – food courts;-) Well, yes and no as food was fantastic and very cheap (under 2$) not to mention pitcher of Lao beer for 1.6$;-) The mistake he made was that he drunk a complementary ice tea served with our food when the rest of us just pushed it aside. Surprising how I got ill the fist day in Sapa, Vietnam and he got ill the fist day in Cambodia. Hope we are not going to take turns like that every month;-) With him being stuck in our room I only managed to walk a little bit, do some research and respond to emails that waited in my in-box for too long. Fanny and I went out for a dinner and another pitcher but we did not feel safe enough to walk around after dark. We have heard so many horror stories about PP from fellow travellers and some of the muggings happened even to our friends. Bags being snatched, people being stabbed (not on purpose but when the attacker was trying to cut off the bag or camera strap) and Tuk-Tuk drivers taking solo travellers outside of town when they got robbed and left behind. We had small reunion with Lorraine and Kevin (couple we travelled in Vietnam with) and one girl in their hotel was mugged and hit several times by a Tuk-Tuk driver. First the rudeness of people, then the ridiculous ATM commission (5$) and then the danger of even walking through town - not the best impression of Cambodia during our first days.

We really wanted to see some golden Wats and the Royal Palace when in town. All of them very really stunning, especially the Palace (6$ entrance fee). We enjoyed our afternoon strolls alongside colonial buildings of PP, spotting orange-roped monks with their matching umbrellas, markets and just generally not rushing. What we constantly felt, was people really staring at our bags and Tomek's camera. Maybe that is why people don't generally feel save over there. We thought it was about what they have or able to buy. Most locals we saw were still using film cameras so no wonder they looked curious at our DSLR. We did not go to the Killing Fields as we simply did not feel like it. It may sound ignorant towards the Cambodian history but we did read a lot about Khmer Rouge to know what to expect there. Our lack of enthusiasm to visit this place could have something to do with the amount of war photos and stories we saw in Saigon. With these two visits being so close to each other we felt we had had enough of violent history. With our shiny new Lao visas in our passports we were ready to move south to Kampot (bus from PP, 6$).

We initially thought of stopping in Kep but we had Sihanoukville in our plan so we decided not to. Review of Kep are mixed from what we have read so not sure if we missed much. Kampot on the other hand, we loved straight away. Small, quiet and very laidback place. You can literally walk everywhere in town and you don't feel, which is very important to us, that you are in some major tourist attraction. Everybody heads first to the Blissful Guest-house as it is listed as a pick of Lonely Planet and is very cheap (4$-6$ they say). We contacted them before via email and we got response that they don't keep reservations but they have rooms for the price I mentioned. When we arrived they had two rooms left (very questionable quality) and they demanded 8$ or 10$. When asked why as even their advert board says 6$ tops they refused to respond. It was not the first time we came across hotels and restaurants becoming to confident in their service after being recommended by LP. Yes the atmosphere seems great there but there are also 10 other guest-houses around so we had a lot to choose from. As we were with Fanny we were looking for place that we would all like and we decided on the newly build villa (just next to Blissful) with triple room with en-suite for 12$ a night. This place was fantastic in terms of rooms, bathroom, their cute lounge and beer garden with hammocks. If only prices of food were more reasonable it would be perfect;-) We did not mind as we always like to eat in local restaurant not western restaurants.

We had lovely and quite evening, stumbled across Cambodian wedding so we stayed and watched a bit and then we had a river side walk looking for a perfect place to eat. We looked hard as Kampot may not be a big town but it is definitely a up-scale place with fancy bars and restaurants. We had big trouble finding something small and local. However we did and we loved it so much that we ate all of our meals there for the rest of the stay. The Smile Tourist Agency and Restaurant is a tiny (3 tables) place with one cook and big smiles of their owners. In our opinion they served the best food we had in Cambodia!!! Their Lok-Lak (traditional dish of meat in pepper sause) and Amok (Cambodian Curry) were just beautiful and I don't even want to mention their breakfasts. All of the dishes cost like 2-2,5$ in comparison to 4$ and above in other places;-)

We planned on renting a scooter again to explore nearby cave, pepper plantations and temples. Fanny was not really up for it but we got stopped by one Tuk-Tuk driver who offered us a whole day trip for 6$ each. We liked the idea of scooter but some of the places of visit were more than 35km away and it might have been challenging in such boiling weather. People always have mixed opinions about the Temple Cave – Phnom Chhnork so we did not have our hopes high. It was tiny and all but still quite nice I must say. What we liked most was the view of all area visible from the hill. Our driver extended his hand in a direction of empty field and said “This used to be a mountain. Chinese bought it and took it apart for stone”. We could not believe it. The landscape we saw was flat and flat and even more flat with occasionally saved hill. From there we were taken to a Pepper Plantation which was definitely a highlight of our trip. We could taste some fresh pepper seed and it was quite something. What we get from shops don't even taste like what they produce. Maybe that is why Kampot food is so delicious? Salt Factory was also interesting as we had no idea you could produce rock salt being located 50 km or so from the coast. The flat land and hot weather create perfect location for such business venture.

We liked Kampot a lot and we really considered staying longer but we had some beach time to attend to so off we went;-)



Additional Note:

* Officially there is no VOA when crossing from Cambodia to Laos (4000 Island crossing). It seems that is it available on every other crossing but here. Having said that, this is an official information available and we feel we got misinformed. For us it did not make any time or money difference as we paid 35$ each including agency fee but for most Western countries the fee is 45$ and above. When we crossed to Laos later on we discovered that every single person but US got VOA for 35$ no matter what nationality so if you care about time and the budget then you can easily go ahead and get it at the border.

** Canadia Bank is available in every town in Cambodia and does not charge any commission for withdrawals so worth looking for it.

*** when visiting Royal Palace you need to be covered and shawls are not allowed (maybe cause they have T-shirts ready for sale) so come prepared;-)

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Comments

[Theroadiscalling]

Sparks a memory...
We ate here too!!! :)

[Beata and Tomek]

yeah love this place;-)