From Shitanoukeville we jumped on a small mini van to Kampot. It's not very far from Shitville, so it only took 30 mins. We stopped in a place called Captain Chims just along from the bus drop off point for an iced coffee and then hired a moped ($5 a day) to get to our accommodation, Bohemiaz, which was 3km out of town up a long bumpy dirt track. It took 2 trips with our bags. Lucked out with the accommodation though, little white bungalows with thatched roofs, hammocks everywhere and a freshwater pool! Lovely and quiet, in the countryside with mountain views.
Kampot has a lovely relaxed feel after the hustle and bustle, and Russian Mafia, of Shitville. Very quite place with fairly empty roads by the river with lots of cafes, a little cinema, and some odd statues of durians. We found a little cafe called Cafe Espresso which we were quite excited about, it was run by an Aussie and Matt got a flat white for the first time in a month!
Corn fritters topped with poached eggs, chilli jam, aioli and sweet potato fries!!
Yummy :-)..... and a lovely change from rice and noodles!
Milly had a go on the moped on the dirt track which didn't go too well, it was really bumpy and not very wide. First she ended up in a field, then half way down a dyke which I had to pull her out of, then she got bitten on the foot by an ant and nearly dropped the moped while flailing her legs around screaming "get it off me!". These ants are really tiny, but when they bite they don't let go and it feels like a branding iron!
We went along for a bit, they had loads of stalls where you throw darts at balloons to win things like bottles of bleach and other assorted cleaning fluids or a tube of Pringles! Me and Milly had a go, she threw a dart which bounced off a balloon and nearly took a locals eye out!
.... and then bingo we were in Nam! Got over the border at 11.55, just in time to say.....
On one of the days we headed up the mountain to the Bokker hill station. It's an old abandoned French settlement with an abandoned hotel and casino. It was the last strong hold of the Khmer Rouge after the Vietnamese invasion, which put an end to Pol Pot. The ride up the mountain was 32 km of stunning scenery, two up on a 100cc moped! We stopped and had a fantastic view of a Hornbill. It's wingspan was huge!
To be honest apart from the view which was amazing the top was a bit shit. They have built a huge monstrosity of a hotel and casino for the Chinese up there. We were told that it's usually pretty empty, just a few guests and loads of staff. Today though it was rammed because of Chinese New Year. We went inside and there were stage acts murdering Kylie Minogue songs. It was very surreal!
The next day we took the moped across to Fishermans Island, a region on the outskirts of Kampot. The salt flats here were amazing, and you had to ride the moped across tree trunk bridges and across the top of dykes. I got off and walked for one stretch when it narrowed to 12" wide.
Looks like back breaking work
Rows of raked salt ready to collected into baskets
There are loads of sheds filled with salt crystals
We decided that we didn't want to go back to Shitville to get our Vietnam visa so instead we thought we'd pay the extra $5 each on top of the $60 visa cost and get a travel agent to do it for us, while we took a two day trip to Kep.
The lady we hired the moped from was really nice and offered the visa service so we sat down in the street with her outside her shop and told her what we wanted. 10 mins later a chap turns up, takes our passports, photos, and $130 and says the passports will be ready in two days. Great we think. As he is leaving we realise he is the local bus driver who she had phoned, and had turned up with a bus full of tourists who were watching us hand our passports over and shaking their heads!
We jumped on a bus for Kep. It's only 20 minutes from Kampot, has a little beach, and is famous for its crab. It was a nice few days and really quiet. The roads were pretty empty and gave me a good chance to have another go riding the moped. Matt thinks I have it sussed now!. I haven't.
The beach was nice and the food was good in Kep but the best bit was the 8km National park route round the very big hill. Best of all you could ride the moped around the track so we didn't have to walk!
A Crab market shack/restaurant
Strolling along the front
We hired another moped, this time it was bright yellow! Our hotel is just out of town,
$6 a night!..that's about £4!
Born to be wild
'Gasoline' for the bike is bought from little shops at the side of the road, $1 a bottle
Matt abiding to health and safety and not lighting a fag
View from our hotel roof restaurant, a great place to hang out
More by Matt...
After Kep we headed back to Kampot, 1st stop was the travel agent to see if our passports were back from their trip with bus driver...thank goodness they were, what a relief!
We stayed in a French colonial building on a quiet street near the town centre while we picked up our passports and arranged onward travel. The street didn't turn out to be that quiet, they started erecting a huge main stage for a Cambodian concert!
The music was so loud it was insane, the hotel was shaking.
Just a quick mention.....A lot of the women wear pj's as everyday wear....odd.
We left Kampot on a bus booked with Kampot tours for $14. It took us down to the border crossing at Ha Tien. It was a fairly lengthy but easy process...
The blue tin hut is the Cambodian visa office!
Matt passing the time by rolling a fag
Let me through, I'm a local
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