A little minibus took us the few hours to Kampot along with a very unhappy couple who were picked up from the same guesthouse as us, an hour and a half before us while we were still in bed.
On arrival Kampot seemed a bit quiet and run down, with the skies looming dark and heavy. Some hawkers trying to get commission from hotels met us, but they wouldn't listen to our need for a triple room, so we just ignored them. It then typically started to rain, so Jo and Jen stayed in a cafe and had a cup of tea while I went hotel hunting. Not far away I found a huuuuuge room for well in budget.
Kampot is a very quaint little place, but looked to be well out of season and having a lot of work done. A big market in the square is still being built/refurbished, and lots of building work was going on all around. This didn't inspire us much, and coupled with the bad weather, things weren't looking good. We found somewhere cheap and really good to eat and bumped into the German girl we wandered around the paddy fields of Yuanyang in China with, but she was anything but pleased to see us for some reason so we gave up even making polite conversation as she obviously wasn't bothered and left her to it. Jo and I then wandered around exploring the town a bit and found a nice little cafe/bakery to sit and play Bananagrams for a bit. That evening we found a nice little place to play some pool, drink some happy-hour beers and have some decent grub.
The next morning the rain had subsided from the downpour overnight, so we went out for breakfast where I chose to have steak and chips (I'm on holiday! I'm allowed!). Jen then decided to stay around the town wandering about as she still felt crappy, and Jo and I rented a motorbike. The joy of having a bike licence is I can ride manuals which are cheaper to rent! We went off across the river and up towards some rapids. We then pulled in to take some pictures and a shower opened up so we had a drink in a shack which was actually a womans living room/kitchen. The rain didn't last long and we continued up to see the rapids. We actually went straight past and I ended up riding around a hydro-electric dam, but we figured we really shouldn't be there, so we went back down to the rapids. It was really more of a fast flowing river, but was a bit of a locals highlight as there were lots of elevated wooden platforms with little roofs, with locals sat in having picnics and teenagers tubing a short way down the river. We headed back to town, with Jo shooting lots of pictures over my shoulder, and had some lunch. From there we rode around town, found a market, but was a local one full of car parts, kitchen appliances and food, so we headed back to find Jen, said hello and then went back over the bridge to do some more exploring. Before we knew it we were in the middle of nowhere, bouncing over the bumpy, bloody red track, paddy fields and water buffalo flanking us as far as we could see. Was great fun riding it, and beautiful scenery to boot. I did go a little further off-piste, and ended up riding along a sandy beach on the rivers edge on the way home.
That afternoon and night was the same as the day before; cake, coffee and beer with Bananagrams, followed later by cheap beer and good food on the riverside again!
In the morning we had just enough time for a quick breakfast before it was time to catch the bus to Sihanoukville!
On arrival Kampot seemed a bit quiet and run down, with the skies looming dark and heavy. Some hawkers trying to get commission from hotels met us, but they wouldn't listen to our need for a triple room, so we just ignored them. It then typically started to rain, so Jo and Jen stayed in a cafe and had a cup of tea while I went hotel hunting. Not far away I found a huuuuuge room for well in budget.
Kampot is a very quaint little place, but looked to be well out of season and having a lot of work done. A big market in the square is still being built/refurbished, and lots of building work was going on all around. This didn't inspire us much, and coupled with the bad weather, things weren't looking good. We found somewhere cheap and really good to eat and bumped into the German girl we wandered around the paddy fields of Yuanyang in China with, but she was anything but pleased to see us for some reason so we gave up even making polite conversation as she obviously wasn't bothered and left her to it. Jo and I then wandered around exploring the town a bit and found a nice little cafe/bakery to sit and play Bananagrams for a bit. That evening we found a nice little place to play some pool, drink some happy-hour beers and have some decent grub.
The next morning the rain had subsided from the downpour overnight, so we went out for breakfast where I chose to have steak and chips (I'm on holiday! I'm allowed!). Jen then decided to stay around the town wandering about as she still felt crappy, and Jo and I rented a motorbike. The joy of having a bike licence is I can ride manuals which are cheaper to rent! We went off across the river and up towards some rapids. We then pulled in to take some pictures and a shower opened up so we had a drink in a shack which was actually a womans living room/kitchen. The rain didn't last long and we continued up to see the rapids. We actually went straight past and I ended up riding around a hydro-electric dam, but we figured we really shouldn't be there, so we went back down to the rapids. It was really more of a fast flowing river, but was a bit of a locals highlight as there were lots of elevated wooden platforms with little roofs, with locals sat in having picnics and teenagers tubing a short way down the river. We headed back to town, with Jo shooting lots of pictures over my shoulder, and had some lunch. From there we rode around town, found a market, but was a local one full of car parts, kitchen appliances and food, so we headed back to find Jen, said hello and then went back over the bridge to do some more exploring. Before we knew it we were in the middle of nowhere, bouncing over the bumpy, bloody red track, paddy fields and water buffalo flanking us as far as we could see. Was great fun riding it, and beautiful scenery to boot. I did go a little further off-piste, and ended up riding along a sandy beach on the rivers edge on the way home.
That afternoon and night was the same as the day before; cake, coffee and beer with Bananagrams, followed later by cheap beer and good food on the riverside again!
In the morning we had just enough time for a quick breakfast before it was time to catch the bus to Sihanoukville!
I remember my trip in Kampot.. 8.00 PM even not a mototaxi for moove, nobody in this ghost city!
ReplyDelete