With time up our sleeve we decided to explore more of Cambodia than simply the two majors cities, so we headed south to the coast to Kampot. We had visited a booking agent the day before who had recommended a new bus company operated by the government, 50 cents more expensive and 2 hours off the typical 4 hour patience breaker. It was great; AC, movies (not Mr. Bean YAY) and no stops.
Kampong is a small fishing village on the divergence of a river, not far from the sea. Before the founding of Sihanoukiville down the coast it served as a major Cambodian port. It’s now a secluded town on a charming river, with a number of colonial French shop-houses in various states of disrepair. Arriving early we found our way to our guesthouse (battling our way through a crowd of tuktuk drivers) before seeking out some lunch and some advice regarding things on offer. It seemed like you could spend a lot on money on tours of the surrounding Bogor National Park and caves without seeing much. Instead we opted for our own motorbike for 5 dollars/24 hours and sped off to find a small set of rapids and a local processor of pepper corns. Kampot pepper is world famous (devastated somewhat by the Khmer Rouge), grown in the rich soils in the nearby valleys. The collective we visited developed the commercial arm for farms of over 100 families in the area, and gave a great explanation as to how the different kinds are harvested and dried.
We passed on visiting the local zoo, despite it looking like it needed our tourist dollar. It gets a slightly rosy write up in the LP, however its ‘paragraph’ is dominated by a review of the concrete lions at the front gate rather than the animals.

On our way back, we decided to take a few dirt roads and explore the fishing settlements and rice paddy’s that dot the river. It was nice to drive through truely local surroundings, children running out to wave, yelling ‘hello’ and attempting a high five with Emily. The Khmer people of Cambodia are incredibly hospitable, much like what we experienced in Mongolia.
Beautiful vibrant green paddy fields line small dusty paths; a definite balancing act to make it through on our motorbike. It was planting time for rice, hence the muddy water-laden fields were a hive of activity. We watched a few minutes of a chaotic football game, and enjoyed the sun setting over the river. Back in town we headed out to dinner, a local expatriate bar our choice for the night complete with a golden labrador! Despite the slow service, the ribs were amazing, and the conversation with a British family and their children was entertaining!

The following morning we utilised our motorbike and headed down the coast towards Kep. Kep is famous for its crab market, cheap bungalows on the beach, and as an access point to the secluded Rabbit Island just off the coast. The road was only 25km but it took a good part of 90 min to ride there, having been sent along the local coastal road instead of the main road. This consisted of small paths between paddy fields and rickety bridges and a lot of sand! We visited the market and saw women wading out into the surf to baskets floating – full of crab! With tummies rumbling, we headed to a famous crab restaurant to sample some produce. The crab Tom yum soup and fresh spring rolls were amazing!
Rolling back towards home was a very hot affair with the sun blazing down! We both ended up looking like we had faked tanned our faces due to the bright orange dust coating our faces, complete with big panda marks where our glasses were. A clean up with wet wipes, a cold beverage down the road, and a 2 hour bus ride down the coast to Sihanoukville followed – afternoon complete !