After our adventures up North, we decided that we had enjoyed Siem Reap so much that we weren't quite ready to leave Cambodia, so me and Matt made the decision to explore one of the quieter, less touristy parts of the country by the South coast, in a small riverside town called Kampot.
So after getting the bus back to Phnom Penh, we ended up staying the night and heading off to Kampot the next day on yet another GiantIbis bus (fair to say we are huge advocates!). I think that Kampot ended up becoming our favourite place in Cambodia - we ended up extending our stay to 5 days in total and it was fantastic.
I think a big part of it must have been our hotel, which was in a beautiful location by the riverside overlooking the jungle and the nearby mountains. It was run by a couple of expats (known by locals as the Pot-Pats) who were interesting and friendly. They also had a couple of dogs that were a little less friendly, but admittedly cuter, and spent their days lazing around by the pool... Aww.
So on our first night we chilled out and enjoyed the sunset from here, quite happy that there were a few less ants and mozzies than we had expected! We also had a visit to the heart of the action via tuk tuk and sampled some of the local foodie specialities such as beef saraman with peanuts (I'm clearly no food critic but this was truly top notch).
On day two we decided to explore the town by bicycle as these were available for hire from our hotel and we decided it would be a nice change from being escorted around by taxis and tuk-tuks. (We really wanted to take out the scooters but decided this would be a sensible stepping stone). The roads in Phnom Penh and Bangkok felt like a bit of a death trap and the traffic was manic, but it was so much quieter here (people averaging at about 20km an hour) that it felt safe enough. We had heard off the grapevine that due to the packs of dogs guarding houses en route, it wasn't safe to walk to and from town, especially at night. Supposedly there exists some gang culture amongst the dogs here and they can send angry signals to each other across the town! So we gave that one a miss.
We cycled to town, (which apparently takes a bit more man power in 34 degree heat), visiting lake in the centre that was brimming with lotus flowers, and stopped for lunch at a recommended cafe called Epic Arts. We grew to love this place! The food was superb and we became regulars for a couple of days on the trot. A few of the people who work here are disadvantaged and the cafe provides excellent opportunities for them too. (You know we love our ethical eateries!)
And so, with full tanks of petrol and copious amounts of suncream we were ready to embark on our grand adventure! We ended up heading to Nut Hill and Fish Island, which are quiet scenic areas by the coast. After some easy roads we eventually got to a dirt track which winded its way through the salt flats and countryside, it was lovely! We arrived at Hut hill and felt a massive sense of achievement when we could finally see the sea, ahhh! We knew at this stage that Matts navigational skills hadn't let us down and he had indeed succeeded in not taking us back to Phnom Penh (not that I doubted him for a second, tee hee).
When we arrived here there was a cute little hut with a hammock overlooking the sea and some curious little islands in the distance. There were also some Cambodians nearby who were enjoying a picnic and offered us a drink-further evidence that the Cambodians are lovely people. Overall the motorbike ride was a fantastic experience, apart from one minor kerfuffle (which is a story for a later date I think!)
After this we had a boat tour down the river at sunset. It stopped at a bar by the river and we had a beer here. There was an option to go swimming but after hearing about one mans stomach problems after taking a few dips by the banks, we decided not to! On our way back, we stopped to look for fireflies before heading back to town for more tasty food. Another lovely day!
Later that afternoon we headed to Seeing Hands, which is a massage parlour that appears all over South East Asia. Interestingly it is run by blind people. Apparently a few fake ones have appeared though, which either exploit the blind or end up being run by people who aren't actually blind! We were a little skeptical once we arrived there because the lady at the desk clearly did have vision! Anyway, she took us to a room and made us put what looked like prisoner pyjamas on (a bit concerning). But the two blind people arrived eventually! Turns out that it was a Thai style massage which involved some wrestling, twisting and elbowing. Matt said that he felt like his arms were longer afterwards. Not sure about that one! It was definitely a worthwhile experience anyway, and we would recommend it to anyone in this neck of the woods.
That night, we decided to head back to our much loved Rusty Keyhole for the Last Supper, as Matt had been umming and ah-ing about the Dino Rib Challenge for days and we didn't want to leave any unfinished business in Kampot. Unfortunately once we got there he was starting to feel ill so this never materialised (definitely for the best). He had some kind of food poisoning, it turns out. Bless! And spent the next day with ice cubes on his head looking sad. He didn't even eat one of the delicious banana and Nutella pancakes from the hotel the following morning, so he must have been ill! I should probably mention that he made a grand recovery in Vietnam and I like to think that overall, that didn't taint our memories of Kampot too much.
We never did find out if Matt could have conquered the Dino Rib Challenge though. We may never know!
So after getting the bus back to Phnom Penh, we ended up staying the night and heading off to Kampot the next day on yet another GiantIbis bus (fair to say we are huge advocates!). I think that Kampot ended up becoming our favourite place in Cambodia - we ended up extending our stay to 5 days in total and it was fantastic.
I think a big part of it must have been our hotel, which was in a beautiful location by the riverside overlooking the jungle and the nearby mountains. It was run by a couple of expats (known by locals as the Pot-Pats) who were interesting and friendly. They also had a couple of dogs that were a little less friendly, but admittedly cuter, and spent their days lazing around by the pool... Aww.
On day two we decided to explore the town by bicycle as these were available for hire from our hotel and we decided it would be a nice change from being escorted around by taxis and tuk-tuks. (We really wanted to take out the scooters but decided this would be a sensible stepping stone). The roads in Phnom Penh and Bangkok felt like a bit of a death trap and the traffic was manic, but it was so much quieter here (people averaging at about 20km an hour) that it felt safe enough. We had heard off the grapevine that due to the packs of dogs guarding houses en route, it wasn't safe to walk to and from town, especially at night. Supposedly there exists some gang culture amongst the dogs here and they can send angry signals to each other across the town! So we gave that one a miss.
We cycled to town, (which apparently takes a bit more man power in 34 degree heat), visiting lake in the centre that was brimming with lotus flowers, and stopped for lunch at a recommended cafe called Epic Arts. We grew to love this place! The food was superb and we became regulars for a couple of days on the trot. A few of the people who work here are disadvantaged and the cafe provides excellent opportunities for them too. (You know we love our ethical eateries!)
We enjoyed our bike ride but I think after this day we developed some major moto envy, so decided to rent some of the 2 wheeled wonders from the hotel. I'm not sure if they were automatic motorbikes or scooters.. But anyway! We were given a quick 3 minute dummies-guide to motorbikes and the keys were handed over... And voila -Cambodian driving licences earned! Bet you didn't know it would be this easy - we didn't either! I think we must have looked quite ridiculous when we first set off, wobbling around at 5mph and trying to figure out how to indicate. But we picked it up eventually. It was scary and exciting in equal measures! The hardest thing actually was finding a nearby petrol station, however we overcame this obstacle after a disgruntled shuttle around a few roundabouts. (We also got given some free biscuits when we filled our tanks - not a perk you get in jolly old England!)
And so, with full tanks of petrol and copious amounts of suncream we were ready to embark on our grand adventure! We ended up heading to Nut Hill and Fish Island, which are quiet scenic areas by the coast. After some easy roads we eventually got to a dirt track which winded its way through the salt flats and countryside, it was lovely! We arrived at Hut hill and felt a massive sense of achievement when we could finally see the sea, ahhh! We knew at this stage that Matts navigational skills hadn't let us down and he had indeed succeeded in not taking us back to Phnom Penh (not that I doubted him for a second, tee hee).
When we arrived here there was a cute little hut with a hammock overlooking the sea and some curious little islands in the distance. There were also some Cambodians nearby who were enjoying a picnic and offered us a drink-further evidence that the Cambodians are lovely people. Overall the motorbike ride was a fantastic experience, apart from one minor kerfuffle (which is a story for a later date I think!)
But the best part of the day was yet to come! We had read, in the Kampot survival guide (a very funny book written by an experienced Pot-Pat) that a great place to go for food was The Rusty Keyhole, which specialises in it's BBQ Ribs imported from Australia, so we decided to pay a visit. There was a photo board hall of fame for the "Dino Challenge", which is basically a competition to see if you can manage to eat 1.5 kilograms of ribs within one hour. There was a losers board and a winners board. We spent some time speculating about whether or not Matt (or me!) could accomplish this grand feat! We didn't opt in to the challenge, but we did have some excellent food here!
On day 4 we arranged a tour of Bokor Mountain and the surrounding attractions. We originally wanted to go hiking but the mountainous areas around are apparently difficult to navigate due to the forested areas (not to mention, the threat of landmines), so we decided to opt for the guided tour instead. This took us around some interesting sights, and whilst we did have some Moto envy, we enjoyed some of the great views from the top. We explored some interesting temples, an abandoned Casino (spooky), and the nearby lake which apparently sports a beautiful waterfall at certain times of year. We were a bit late in the season for this!
On day 4 we arranged a tour of Bokor Mountain and the surrounding attractions. We originally wanted to go hiking but the mountainous areas around are apparently difficult to navigate due to the forested areas (not to mention, the threat of landmines), so we decided to opt for the guided tour instead. This took us around some interesting sights, and whilst we did have some Moto envy, we enjoyed some of the great views from the top. We explored some interesting temples, an abandoned Casino (spooky), and the nearby lake which apparently sports a beautiful waterfall at certain times of year. We were a bit late in the season for this!
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| Creepy abandoned church... |
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| Aaaand, creepy abandoned casino. |
After this we had a boat tour down the river at sunset. It stopped at a bar by the river and we had a beer here. There was an option to go swimming but after hearing about one mans stomach problems after taking a few dips by the banks, we decided not to! On our way back, we stopped to look for fireflies before heading back to town for more tasty food. Another lovely day!
On our final full day in Kampot we hired out some of the Kayaks from the hotel and went for a pootle on the river. The locals make it look so easy and have these boats that they can stand up in, that only need one oar?! The kayaks weren't quite as easy here, maybe due to the currents and the wind. It was suggested that we take a circular route around through the mangroves and we were given a map. We were lead to believe it was an easy route because apparently only one person in the history of ever had found themselves getting lost. It was a little bit confusing in parts because there was so much jungle and a few islands. But nevertheless, it felt very Indiana Jones and we enjoyed the adventure! And in the true spirit of Indiana, I ended up losing my hat in the water somewhere. I never did get it back! There was also a growing wind on our way back to the hotel that made the rowing home a lot more difficult. But all in all, no disasters and great fun. We were very happy that, as well as not being the second people to ever get lost kayaking around there, we also managed to make our way back to the hotel without any additional assistance, or indeed capsizing! So we felt very proud of ourselves, overall.
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| What could go wrong?? |
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| Spot the hat |
Later that afternoon we headed to Seeing Hands, which is a massage parlour that appears all over South East Asia. Interestingly it is run by blind people. Apparently a few fake ones have appeared though, which either exploit the blind or end up being run by people who aren't actually blind! We were a little skeptical once we arrived there because the lady at the desk clearly did have vision! Anyway, she took us to a room and made us put what looked like prisoner pyjamas on (a bit concerning). But the two blind people arrived eventually! Turns out that it was a Thai style massage which involved some wrestling, twisting and elbowing. Matt said that he felt like his arms were longer afterwards. Not sure about that one! It was definitely a worthwhile experience anyway, and we would recommend it to anyone in this neck of the woods.
That night, we decided to head back to our much loved Rusty Keyhole for the Last Supper, as Matt had been umming and ah-ing about the Dino Rib Challenge for days and we didn't want to leave any unfinished business in Kampot. Unfortunately once we got there he was starting to feel ill so this never materialised (definitely for the best). He had some kind of food poisoning, it turns out. Bless! And spent the next day with ice cubes on his head looking sad. He didn't even eat one of the delicious banana and Nutella pancakes from the hotel the following morning, so he must have been ill! I should probably mention that he made a grand recovery in Vietnam and I like to think that overall, that didn't taint our memories of Kampot too much.
We never did find out if Matt could have conquered the Dino Rib Challenge though. We may never know!
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