Cambodge Part II

Southern Cambodia

We traveled south via Phnom Penh to Kampot and Kep. The area was previously under French control and this had an obvious effect on the buildings and food. Kampot has been compared to the UNESCO towns on Luang Prabang in Laos and Hoi An in Vietnam. I can see where the comparison comes from however Kampot needs to be resorted extensively before it will have the tourist pulling ability of the other two. That said the place was still very beautiful in a run-down sort of way. If there was more to do in the area I would have enjoyed staying longer.

The locals were very friendly in Kampot, people were always waving and saying hello, they would stop there motos for a chat, one took us to a temple on the other side of town, gave (good) advice on riding up Bokor Mountain and gave (bad) directions to some nearby caves - well his map was badly drawn... but he was very helpful. The main difference with the people in Thailand is that most people in Cambodia are learning English so are very keen to practice with you. We sat down on the edge of the river one evening to take a few photos of the sunset but within seconds had a few boys gathered around asking to talk to us. It was interesting to talk with them, however the guys talking to had very basic english and all asked the same basic questions. Choco was a little luckier, while the boy talking to him was younger his English was much better. While it was interesting we got bored after an hour and went off for a beer.

Bridge in Kampot, built in three different styles due to repeated bombings




Hill Station, Bokor Mountain. This was initially a weekend escape then small settlement for French people living in Southern Cambodia. On top of Bokor Mountain the French built a casino/hotel, a church, the Black Palace - the old Kings residence up there and later a few other building. People would travel up the mountain on weekend to enjoy cooler temperatures and the nearby waterfall. It was built in the 1920s and was used until the beginning of the second world war when it was abandoned. The Khmer Rouge took over at one point and the Casio was the site of fierce fighting between the Vietnamese's and KR in the 1980s. Sounded interesting so we hired a trail bike and headed off. We were told it was about 30 kms from Kampot, so we drove, and drove and drove. We stopped to ask for directions but no one spoke English. We drove to the next big town.... knowing we had gone too far, but still no one could tell us where is was just that we had driven too far.... we turned back... still couldnt find the entrance... finally we gave up and started back to Kampot. Just before town (probably 5 km out) we found a small sign to Bokor mountain! We paid our $US5 entrance fee and headed up the hill. Bloody hell!!! The road was paved 20 years ago but was in very bad condition, in fact the small areas of bitumen were probably more detrimental than good. The path was made up mostly of stones about 10 cm in diameter. It was a very slow trip to the top of the mountain. We had left home at 9am, finally got to the entrance at 12:30 and it took 1.5 hours to get up the hill. We stopped at the Black Palace along the way before continuing up the hill. We finally made it and decided to quickly see the waterfall first. 25 min to the waterfall, 10 min at the waterfall, 25 min back.... 15 min to the settlement, 10 min at the Church, 15 min back and then down the hill so we could get back before it got dark!!! We saw the Casino - from the Church..... It looked impressive but who really knows! If I ever find myself back in Kampot Ill try to see it again, might go in a car or truck next time......

Trail up Bokor Mountain



Hill Station Bokor Mountain



Church at Hill Station - Bokor Mountain




The drive from Kampot to Kep was stunning. Fields of rice of varying shades from really lush green to nearly ripe yellow were dotted with coconut trees protruding towards the deep blue sky, and broken by red earth paths. Wooden farm houses built on stilts were surrounded by banana, pawpaw and occasional sugar cane. Children played by the house, younger kids looked after the cows, older kids rode bikes through the ride paddies. It was so beautiful!

Countryside between Kampot and Kep








We had heard about a cave between Kampot and Kep which contained a temple that was older than any of the temples at Angkor, so with the (very) rough map our friend drew for us a few days back we headed out. We drove back to the bridge which was our first reference point and rode in the direction indicated. Our map said after 3 km we should see a mountain which we needed to go behind to find the entrance to the cave. After riding for 20 min I asked Choco when we were going to turn around.... we did after a few more minutes. We continued riding looking for the entrance but couldnt find it. None of the hills/mountains even looked like they would contain a limestone cave! I suggested we try a mountain in the distance that looked a little more promising. As young children started running after us asking to be our tour guide we decided we were heading in the right direction. However we still couldnt find the cave so eventually accepted a 20yo local as your guide. He, his mate and 6 young boys took us past bulldozers and other mining equipment to the mouth of the cave. Inside they showed us a temple the Khmer Rouge had destroyed and that would shortly be completely demolished by mining! The boys offered to take Choco further into the cave, but suggested I wouldnt be able to make it. Choco assured them I would. First we had to climb up, this was fairly easy. Choco later told me all the young boys were trying to look up my skirt while I was climbing up, but the older guy wouldnt let them! We continued through the cave, stopping at a shrine surrounded by Chinese writing. Climbing up was fine, but next we had to jump down, all the Cambodians did it easily, even though the jump was around 3m. This bit I didnt like. I could just see myself landing badly. Even Choco had difficulty getting down, but with a little help I made it... We continued to explore the cave finally emerging where it all began. I took photo of the paintings in the cave, deciding my flash was going to do no more damage than the demolition of the cave! We said goodbye (and paid) our 6 young tour guide – who really just hung around and got into mischief instead of showing us anything – and with our two older tour guides headed for another cave. After parking our bikes we walked the rest of the way to the cave, past a monument/building containing the skulls and bones of people murdered by the Khmer Rouge. The older boys were very blasé about this, having lived with it all their lives. Arriving at the entrance of the Cave we paid a donation to the monks looking after the temple, who want to build another. Inside the cave was a small temple that a stalicitite was slowly destroying. On the way out of the cave I found a chilli plant. I grabbed one to munch on much to the amazement of the boys – chilli isn’t eaten in Cambodia as it is in Thailand and even by Thai standards I eat a lot! The boys then offered to take us to one more cave. This was a garish shrine to a famous monk who may have passed by at some point…. This cave was party under water and previously you could take a kayak into the caves but that was not prohibited. Our older tour guides were unemployed as they needed further education to get a job, but didn’t have the money to go to university because they couldn’t get a job… After wishing them luck finding jobs and paying them we headed home.

Outside the first cave



Painting in the first cave



Housing the bones of many people killed by the Khmer Rouge



On the way to the second cave




Riding into Kep the first thing I noticed were the elaborate fences keeping the cows in and ornamental gates leading to nowhere. Kep was previously a French quarantine town, long since abandoned by the French. Most of the houses were damaged or destroyed during the civil war and by the Khmer Rouge. During the famine in the early 1980s the houses were further stripped of anything of value. Some of the old houses – well just the shells really – were inhabited by locals now.

We stayed at a lovely hotel called the Veranda. It was simple but really done. And come with our own pets, just like Noahs ark, there were two of each, however I didn’t realise we had two frogs until I nearly trod on one…. We also had two giant geckos, two smaller geckos with black and white striped tails, numerous normal geckos and an undetermined number of mice…. Which we discovered trying to eat Chocos brownies one night! He was outraged, it was amusing!

We went on two day trips to Rabbit Island, the beach at Kep actually wasn’t all that wonderful so everyone went to the Island for better beaches. I think I have been spoilt for beaches as I really wasn’t impressed by the ones on Rabbit Island either, the water was warm and shallow and there weren’t any waves….. but it was still a pleasant beach. The first trip we decided to walk around the island, not realising how far it was, especially when you have to back-track because you don’t stay on the path! We only just got back in time for the boat. Second visit we stayed on the main beach.

Eating in Kep was an interesting experience. Crab is the local specialty. Its really fresh and really cheap at about $US5/kg cooked. Wonderful, no? It was, but as every single restaurant in town cooked crab in the same 3 ways; boiled, grilled or fried with local pepper, it was a little boring after a while. And we couldn’t get any vegetables… which we started to crave after the third day. I was quite disappointed with the food in general in Cambodia, we had some lovely food in a market in Siem Reap – a sort of fish pate and some fried chicken, a delicious spring roll noodle soup in a market in Kampot – which was very similar to Vietnamese food, and the local Amok curry which was nice but all in all the food was bland, even accepting the fact that they don’t use chilli….

Sunset in Kep



Beach on Rabit Island, Kep



Choco modeling the latest beach fashions



Gutted house in Kep



I saw a number of interesting signs in Cambodia, telling the people to hand over their weapons as they didn’t need them any more, Coke sponsored landmine warnings and lots of condom ads. Love and War. It was strange to think how dangerous this quiet little country was and is. There are an estimated 6 million live landmines still in the country. I do wonder how close I came to one of them.


A sign which I think says - we dont need weapons anymore



Coke sponsored landmine warning sign