KAMPOT – NOT JUST THE HOME OF PEPPER

HEADING TO KAMPOT

I was going to be flying out of Cambodia from Sihanoukville in a few days, so it made sense to head down South in preparation for this. I’d heard a few good things about Kampot, so I booked myself a bus down to there.

Actually 2 buses. The first, a night bus to Phnom Penh, taking around 6 hours and arriving at 5:30a.m. and then another at 8:00a.m. which arrived at Kampot around midday.

Not a bad journey, but I certainly didn’t get much sleep.

I got a tuk-tuk to my hostel – Karma Traders – checked in and had a snooze before checking the place out.

 

The hostel was great. A really chilled atmosphere, really friendly staff and a decent private room at a good price.

I quickly felt at home here.

 

WALKING THE GRID

On my first full day in Kampot I wandered into town to take a look around and get a feel for the place.

Kampot is a quaint riverside town, with its colonial influences obvious, with lots of French-style architecture on display.

It was quiet season while I was here, so it didn’t have loads to offer from a tourist perpective, but it was still nice to take a wander around.

There’s plenty of great restaurants and cafes here. I’d recommend Ellie’s if you’re in town.

Here’s some snaps from taking a wander around:

While wandering the streets of Kampot I bumped into this expat named Alex, who was working on his boat at the riverside. A 60 year old guy from Gloucestershire, who now lived and worked in Cambodia.

He walked with me for a few minutes and showed me this makeshift bar that he’d created from leftover pieces of wood and other bits and pieces he laid his hands on.

Here he is:

And here’s his bar:

A couple of makeshift benches. An old table. A cool box. A couple of bottles. Basic isn’t the word. I amused myself with the thought that a place like this would do well in Shoreditch.

I sat here for an hour or two and had a couple of drinks with him, while we exchanged life stories.

After a couple of drinks I carried on my walk around the town until rainy season showed its mettle and the heavens opened.

I grabbed a tuk-tuk and made my way back to the hostel.

 

SCOOTERING

On one of the days, when the weather was a bit brighter, a few of us from the hostel rented scooters and headed up to the nearby Bokor National Park up in the hills, as can be seen in the distance here.

The ride up here was incredible, an epic winding road up into the hills for around 30 or 40km. So much fun.

We stopped off part way through the ride to make sure everyone caught up and admired some of the views here, over Kampot.

As we carried on further up into the hills, the fog started to descend around us and became denser and denser.

We rode past a huge buddha statue, that we almost couldn’t make out because of the fog, and stopped to take a few pictures.

Carrying on, further up into the hills, the fog was still really dense and we eventually made it to our final stop – an old abandoned casino.

This place had a really creepy vibe to it while shrouded in fog. A great moment to take some photos!

Also a chance to get a couple of the guys from the hostel to model the dice for me:

We took the scooters back down to Kampot and grabbed a bite to eat.

An awesome ride and a great way to see the nearby beauty of the national park area.

 

TACO TUESDAYS

My last night in Kampot was on a Tuesday and the hostel always made a big deal of Tuesdays. They served tacos, had special drinks offers and live music. It ended up a really boozy night and great fun.

I’m glad I stayed this extra night, as I was going to head off earlier. If you stay at Karma Traders, do not miss Tuesdays!

 

 

ONTO OTRES

After four days in Kampot I was heading onto the next stop – Otres.

I was flying from nearby Sihanoukville airport in a couple of days, so the aim was just to have a couple of quiet days relaxing here.

I booked a bus through the hostel and took the short, 2 hour journey, to Otres.

Once I arrived I jumped in a tuk-tuk to take me to my hotel, where I had a lush private bungalow with King size bed. Luxury.

 

HOW WAS OTRES?

I have to admit, there’s very little for me to say about Otres. It was quiet season when I visited and it was pretty wet. Effectively, Otres is just a building site at the moment. There’s development everywhere, but nothing really to do.

The beach is beautiful, but that’s all there is to it really. I’d recommend staying away for now, if you’re thinking of going, and maybe visit in a few years once the development has settled down.

The Chinese are currently buying up as much land as possible and building many hotels and resorts.

Anyway, here’s a couple of snaps from Otres:

 

NEXT STOP – SRI LANKA

So it was time to leave Cambodia and I’m writing this as I sit in Sihanoukville airport. Probably one of the smallest airports in the world.

It had been a good couple of weeks in Cambodia, but it was time for the next adventure.

Bring on Sri Lanka!!