Kampot

Kampot as a destination caught our attention when looking for our next place to visit.

Kampot’s main attraction is its relaxing riverside setting.  Their economy is based on salt and pepper production, fishing and fruit growing (particularly Durian).  They even have a Durian monument sitting loud and proud in the centre of town.

The expatriate population in Kampot has also grown dramatically over the past five years and with it the number and range of restaurants, hotels, bars and general services.  The largest concentration of foreigner tourist businesses is along the riverside promenade.  There is also the renovated ‘Old Market’ and ‘The Old Quarter’.

We loved to stroll along the paved promenade which runs quite a distance along the river.  There is certainly a touristy area along the river in the ‘old town’ but there’s no sleazy parts that we could see.  Markets, cafes, restaurants and all the souvenirs are confined to the market area of town.  This means that you can wander the streets without being accosted to buy a sarong, tee shirt or coconut wooden tray!

Life on the river of Kampot

There is a newly built bridge across the river as well as the decommissioned ‘Old Bridge’.  The ‘Old Bridge’ is a mishmash of construction of various styles after being patched numerous times after being blown up during the Khumer Rouge days. Is is now open to motorbikes and pedestrians and is a picturesque reference point while strolling the river bank.

Accommodation

Our accommodation choices were limited within our budget range.  As Kampot is known as a tourist destination, we found the prices were the same, if not higher than Siem Reap.  Of course there were the cheaper options but none really excited us due to their location or standard.

We found our accommodation on booking.com.   I would describe  Kampot Manor as a Home Stay rather than a hotel.  It was a lovely family run BnB located across the river from all the hustle and bustle.  This made the location quiet but required us to walk around 20 minutes to get to town.  They had complimentary bicycles which we made good use of to get around.

Kampot Manor

Accommodation cost us $39US/$53NZ per night which included breakfast.

Our hosts Tim (English), his wife For (Cambodian) and their 4 year old son Sterling were welcoming and helpful.  They recommended places around town to visit and where to get the best local foods.  Tim also runs a motorcycle touring company and takes groups away.  Check out his website Cambodia Expeditions if you are into hiring a motorbike for an extended around Cambodia. 

Out and About in Kampot

We did some research on scooter hire and decided get one from a shop that was recommended by Tim our home stay host.  The scooter cost us $5US/$6.80NZ for 24 hour hirage. 

Cheap and easy to hire a scooter in Kampot

The next day was spent exploring.  We headed out early and motored out to Bokor National Park. 

This took up most of the day and we headed back to drop off our scooter.  We didn’t want to get pinged for an extra day’s rental.

Bokor National Park

The entrance to Bokor National Park is 8km from Kampot.  The road up to the summit is another 28 km.  Bokor National Park (1,500 square kilometres) is 1,000 above sea level.

The new road to the summit was completed in 2012 (to service the new casino/hotel/convention centre).  It is a windy, sweeping road and makes for a great scooter ride.  It would be even better on a more powerful two wheel machine.  Prior to this road being built, it could take a full day to drive the old road to the top.  We could still see some of the old bridges which are the only remains of the old road.  Over 1,000 lives were lost in the construction the road.

Despite substantial illegal logging, it’s still home to leopard cats, gibbons, hornbills, civets and sunbears.  We were so lucky to spot a couple pairs of hornbills.  These are truly magnificent birds with a huge wing span.  We have seen them in captivity but it was pretty special seeing them in their natural habitat.

A beautiful Hornbill, made it to the top, remnants of the old road

Bokor Hill Station

Bokor National Park is well known for the abandoned Bokor Hill Station, a remote settlement build by the French colonialists in 1921. It was used as a retreat from the heat of the plains. 

The area is dotted with rambling, crumbling buildings. We stopped at the some of the dilapidated sites which included The Black Palace (King Sihanouk’s residence) and the old bath houses. 

Wandering the derelict buildings, graffiti, the old casino before the mist settles, here comes the mist

At the summit is the old Bokor Palace Hotel and Casino.  It was a creepy derelict building, far from its heyday during the 1920’s and 1930’s.  It is now undergoing a massive redevelopment and we couldn’t wander through unfortunately.  We couldn’t get any photos of it either due to a thick mist descending upon us.  Visibility dropped to near zero which made our photo opportunity nil.  It was frequently used as a movie location, the most famous being City of Ghosts, starring Matt Dillon.

Catholic Church

The French also constructed a Catholic church in 1928 which was a very rare sight in Cambodia.  The entire Bokor region saw fierce fighting between the Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge.  At one stage one side was held up in the church and the other in the old Casino across on the opposite hill.  All the while they were trying to shoot each other to pieces.  Both the ruins of the old church and the casino still bear the scars today. 

There are also stories of bankrupt gamblers choosing between confession at the church or ending it all by jumping off the casino terrace.

The old French Catholic Church, still bearing the signs of war among the graffiti

New Hotel and Casino

A recent development of a gaudy casino, hotel and convention centre near the summit has affected the ghostly ambiance of the hill station.  It is a typical example of how progress can spoil an area which would have been better off left to nature.

Return Crab Shuttle Boat to Kep 

When making our plans of where to stay in Cambodia, we tossed up to go to Kep or Kampot. 

Kep is a seaside village 25 kms from Kampot.  After deciding on staying put in Kampot, we still wanted to visit Kep.  After all it is known as the Crab Capital of the world.  That is a good reason to visit as any I think.

Our fellow long term Kiwi intrepid family of travellers Our Awesome World Adventures (check out their blog site) were staying in Kep and we were keen for a catch up.  It is always nice to meet up with them and ‘talk Kiwi’, exchange stories and have a beer or two.  This would be the third country that our paths had crossed.

Always a pleasure to catch up with Our Awesome World Adventure

With our lunch date sorted, we just needed to decide the best way to get there.

We found some good reviews for the Crab Shuttle Boat from Kampot to Kep and decided that this sounded like a bit of us.

The boat is an original Crab Boat which departs Kampot at 9am and arrives in Kep 2 hours later.  The afternoon return trip departs Kep at 3pm so that would give us 4 hours in Kep.  It costs $13.50US/$18NZ for two of us return.

It is a popular way to get from Kampot to Kep and many take up the one way option to travel this leg (usually before crossing the border to Vietnam).  There were only 6 of us for the trip there and 3 of us for the return.

relaxing time on the Crab Boat, sunsets and beers

Kep Crab Markets

We headed straight to the Crab Markets as we definitely wanted to try the famous crab and of course the renown Kampot pepper.  Lunch consisted of Crab with Green Pepper Sauce and Lemongrass prawns.  These two dishes with three beers came to $13US/$17.60NZ.  Imagine how much this would have cost in NZ.

The colours and smells of the Crab Market and our lovely meal

Homeward Bound to Kampot

Our homeward journey was laced with unexpected entertainment.  Because it was two days before a super moon so the tides were extremely low.  It was the lowest it has been in years.  of course it was inevitable that at some stage we were going to run out of water.  Sure enough we ran aground on a sandbank.  After much reversing and our guide jumping out into waist deep water to give us a mighty shove we eventually came free. 

We were to continue the long way around and chugged our way to the newly dug out channel that is being dredged to eventually take a new ferry service. 

The entertainment didn’t stop there.  The engine then decided to die so we were left drifting in the boating channel.  The skipper and guide were banging around in the engine room as we sat on deck sipping ice cold beer.  We were in no way stressed and enjoyed the whole experience – even the unscheduled stops.  We eventually limped our way into Kampot at around 6pm instead of the scheduled 5pm so not too much of a hold up.

Departing Kampot

We once again decided to travel with Giant Ibis bus company.  We departed Kampot at 8.30am on a 25 seater mini bus for the 2.5 hour trip to Phenom Penh.

As usual, with things in Cambodia, this trip turned into 4 hours as we crawled through the crazy traffic of Phenom Penh.

Our Cambodia adventure continues…….stay tuned.  In the meantime, click on the link below for a video of our Kampot highlights.