Phnom Penh to Kampot!

26 December 2007

On the morning after Christmas we went back to the FCC restaurant to view the spectacular sunrise and eat a tasty Euro breakfast. This was an amazing-looking city which we hadn't even scratched the surface of. Perhaps one day we will be back.

With our bills paid and our bags packed we walked across the street to the area where we were told to board the bus for our 4-hour trip down to Kampot. Kampot is the one city on our agenda we weren't sure were going to have time to visit. By sacrificing a day in Saigon and one in central Vietnam, however, we figured we could do it. This turned out to be one of the best moves we could possibly make.

The bus to Kampot was air conditioned and fairly comfortable (far better than the one from Siem Reap to P.P.) but had annoying "Thai Karaoke" videos blasting the entire way. Cannot imagine what sort of species of human that could possibly enjoy this sort of "entertainment." Luckily we both had music playing devices with headphones to listen to (although Laura didn't use hers, preferring to "experience" the Cambodian atmosphere). We took some good photos from the bus and from the strange town we stopped in on the way down. One day it might be interesting to go back and check these non-touristy villages out.

We hadn't booked a guest house or hotel in advance because we wanted to try doing it the "euro-way" which is something we've seen time and again on this trip. Even in Siem Reap some of the people riding in with us from the airport didn't book anything in advance. After getting off at the bus stop where we were inundated by a score of tuk tuk and moto drivers trying to get us to go with them we hired some guy to take us around to different guest houses. Three of the ones on the riverfront were booked solid, one was available but looked hideous, so we found a room at the Orchid Guest House a five minute walk away from the ocean which was actually our first choice all along!

The Orchid GH was a few steps below the relative luxury we experienced at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Phnom Penh -- more like a bungalow you'd find on the set of "Gilligan's Island" but full of character. A lotus pond was in our back yard and the place shook every time we walked across the room. After a night there we were able to upgrade to a much better place with Air Con instead of a ceiling fan and hot water instead of just cold! (you can tell we're real experienced campers, can't you? ;) )

After we unloaded our bags we grabbed a table at the "restaurant" attached to the Guesthouse. We chatted with a very nice young Aussie couple who were in the process of checking out of the very room we had moved into (very convenient --thanks guys!). They were lazing in the sun, setting up a bike rental tour of the beach down the coast and seemed in no hurry to go anywhere, which we've discovered is a common theme in Kampot among travelers we've met here. In fact, we haven't met another US traveler since we've been here--they all seem to be from various parts of Europe or Australia/New Zealand. I guess we're paving the way!

Since it was getting late in the afternoon our touring options were limited. We decided to explore a nearby cave with a brick Buddhist temple inside of it from the 7th century AD. During our half-hour tuk tuk drive out there, we felt like visiting dignitaries because every young child who saw us waved frantically and said "Hello! Hello"!" in perfect English! Finally we felt like we'd really gone off the beaten path and were visiting an area that's almost completely agriculturally based without a ton of tourists. We have a feeling this will change in the next few years. There are fields of rice everywhere, ox grazing, haystacks, small raised thatched roof houses and people hocking their wares and food on the sides of streets. It was like stepping back in time. (We ended up having 3gb worth of pictures copied to CDs from Kampot alone!)

We also met a resident ex-pat named Bill -- our first one yet. Apparently the Orchid house (with attached restaurant/bar) is fairly popular (for what reason we do not know; guess it's the cheap prices and laid-back atmosphere). Bill was an interesting fellow from England who was very mysterious about what he did for a living (apparently a lot of these expatriates work for a few months in their native lands (probably during monsoon season) and spend the remaining 8 or 9 months here. During our 2.5 day stay here we ended up meeting a few ex-pats who seemed to make the Orchid House bar/restaurant their unofficial meeting place. One of these fellows married a Cambodian lady and one burly Canadian dude we nicknamed "Gravel-Mouth" bought property here for cheap. But it won't be cheap for long -- lots that used to go for 80k USD are now going for a quarter mil! Buy now!

(note: for a really good description of this town, written by someone who was fortunate enough to stay a lot longer than us, go here).