After our time in Phnom Phen, Cambodia, we headed out to Kampot, a sleepy southeastern town beside the Preaek Tuek Chhu river and very close to the coast. The main attractions of Kampot are relaxing beside the river and visiting Bokor National Park, both of which were also enjoyed by the French when Cambodia was a French protectorate. Kampot and a nearby town called Kep were popular French resort towns, and many villas and hotels were built. However, now all that remains of most of these buildings are the concrete walls surrounding the property and abandoned broken buildings.
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| Kampot river |
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| Across Kampot river |
When we arrived in Kampot, it was pouring. Streets were flooded and the tuk-tuk that took us to our accommodation acted more like a boat. Turns out we were staying a few kilometres our of town, so the next day we decided to rent a scooter. The scooter was great! Dennis became failure with driving on the right-hand side of the road, and we were soon exploring Kampot and the surrounding area.
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| View of the river from our accommodation in Kampot |
One day we ventured out to Bokor National Park, where some impressive abandoned French hotels and buildings still stand. The entrance to the park was so impressive and over the top! After a dusty highway, we turned onto the smooth tarmac, passed through the security gates, and followed the long and windy road to the top of Bokor Mountain. For the first time since leaving New Zealand, we got cold! The mountain was actually quite high, and the swirling mist and wind dropped the temperature to a chilly 20 ˚C (a bit lower than the 30 - 35 ˚C we were now used to). After a 30 km drive through the forest and mist, we arrived at an extremely ugly casino and hotel, the only functioning building on Bokor Mountain. Although construction hasn’t completely finished, the 500 rooms were mostly empty, and the only visitors seemed to be day trippers. It was odd. We had a little look around, ordered an overpriced baguette sandwich, and left.
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| Bokor National Park entrance |
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| The road just after the entrance to Bokor National Park |
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| Statue of a gardian over sailours half way up Bokor Mountain |
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| It was very windy, misty, and cold |
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| We warmed up with rice porridge and chicken for dinner |
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Then we made the mistake of agreeing to a "fruit salad".
We thought we were just getting fruit, but it came with ice on top.
This was the first time in a month and a half of travelling around Southeast Asia that we were sick. |
The following day we took a day trip to a nearby town called Kep. This town is famous for crab fishing and therefore, crab restaurants. Kep was about 30 km away from Kampot on the highway, so we jumped on our scooter and arrived late morning. We walked around the crab market and got to see the massive amount of blue swimmer crabs sold there. Old women were huddled around crab pots, trying to get us to buy a small bucket worth. In the deep dark smokey end of the crab market, cooking pots bubbling over small fires where you could get your crab cleaned and cooked in front of you.
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| Welcome to Kep |
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| Crab pots at Kep crab market |
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| Kampot peppercorns |
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| Cooking fires in the Kep crab market |
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| BBQ squid skewers at Kep crab market |
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| Crab pots are kept in the ocean to be haulled out when a customer arrives |
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| Crab fishing boat |
We continued on, towards Kep "beach", where the sand is freshly delivered, stalls line the pavement selling nick-nacks, and you have to pay to sit in one of the thousand hammocks. After driving around on our scooter, we worked up an appetite and found a nice little place for lunch near the crab market. This was one day that we splashed out and got a nice meal! We ordered whole Kep crab with a Kampot pepper sauce (keeping it local) and a crab ammok
. Both dishes were amazing, with delicious fresh sweet crab, flavoured beautifully with local ingredients and flavours. We had a seaside view, a nut cracker to get through the crab shell, and a nice cold beer.
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| Statue at Kep beach |
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| Looking at Kep beach |
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| Kampot pepper sauce on Kep crab |
It was great...until we saw the weather turn bad. A huge black cloud and a wall of water blocked our view up the coast in the direction of Kampot. Within 10 minutes, torrential rain was pouring down, flooding part of the restaurant, and squashing our hopes of getting home dry. Kampot is 30 km away from Kep so we decided to wait out the storm in the restaurant (a small shack by the beach). Miraculously, the weather started to clear after half an hour, so we took the opportunity and raced back to Kampot.
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| It started raining (a lot) |
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| We were lucky to be inside the restaurant and not driving back to Kampot when the rain hit |
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| The fishermen were used to the rain |
Later that day we decided to try to find a cave just outside of Kampot that was recommended on Tripadvisor. Following the directions given by google maps and ended up driving through the beautiful countryside and small villages. When we reached the cave entrance, some local teenage boys told us that it cost US$5 each to go through the cave with a “guide”. As it was getting late, and we didn’t really feel the need to pay money to see a cave, we turned back towards Kampot. We were happy with exploring the countryside and being the sun set over the green rice paddies.
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| Road to the cave |
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| Sunset over rice paddies |
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| A house in the countryside |
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| Another photo of the sunset over the rice paddies |
After a few days in Kampot, we took a minivan to Otres Beach, which was about 15 minutes away from a popular coastal party town called Sihanoukville. We only stayed one night at Otres Beach so that we could catch a boat to Koh Ta Kiev Island, where we stayed for three nights. For the first time since leaving New Zealand, we treated ourselves to pizza, fries, and beer for dinner while sitting on the beach watching the sunset. It was at that moment that we knew we were on holiday!
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| Relaxing at Otres Beach |
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| Sunset at Otres Beach |
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| Pizza and beer for dinner |
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| Stunning sky |
We had bought two boat tickets for US$10 each, thinking that we were getting a direct water taxi to Koh Ta Kiev Island. However, we realised that we had been put on the “three-island boat tour” that conveniently stopped at Koh Ta Kiev Island. On the way to the island, we stopped to do some snorkelling. This required an awkward change into our togs in the middle of the boat, but we were soon swimming over a coral reef with may different types of beautiful tropical fish.
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| On our way to Koh Ta Kiev |
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| Lunch time at Koh Ta Kiev island |
After another short boat ride, we arrived at Koh Ta Kiev Island. We were each given a freshly cooked chicken breast, coleslaw, and a baguette for lunch on the beach. In broken English and hand gestures we were told to follow a signed pathway to the other side of the island where our accommodation was (Kactus Bungalows), then in three days time, we would come back to the same beach to be picked up again.
The walk ended up taking about 40 minutes; 10 minutes past some small hippy-run, weed-smelling bungalows on the beach, 15 minutes through the jungle, and another 15 minutes down a sandy beach to Kactus. By the time we finally arrived at Kactus, we were hot, sweaty, and sunburnt. We had not expected to have a full-on morning out on the boat in full sun.
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| Walking down the beach to Kactus bungalows |
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| We have arrived! |
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| View from the restaurant/lounge bungalow |
We know that we were splashing out a bit when we planned to stay on the island as our combined budget of US$40 did not cover the accommodation, food, and transport. However, we wanted to treat ourselves to a relaxing time before we jetted off to China for a period of more intense travel. We did not regret our few days of overspending; Koh Ta Kiev Island is a beautiful place.
We had our own private bungalow in the jungle with a small veranda. The bungalow was made of thatched palm leaves, bamboo, and wood, and sat above the ground on stilts. Over the three days on the island, we went for a jungle walk, explored the beach, and went swimming in the ocean during the day and while the sun set. Unfortunately, Koh Ta Kiev island is not immune to Cambodia's pollution. Due to the currents, rubbish was strewn along the beach where Kactus bungalows sat.
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| Our bungalow for three nights |
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| The veranda on our bungalow |
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| Relaxing on the sundeck |
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| Kactus |
We walked from Kactus to the opposite end of the beach, however, it became difficult to walk much further due to the amount of rubbish. While sitting on some rocks at the end of the beach, we became very thankful for the unspoilt nature of New Zealand's landscape.
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| We walked to coral beach |
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| Rubbish on Koh Ta Kiev island |
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| At least they were trying to clean up the rubbish...even if it meant burning it |
The meals at Kactus were expensive, but the only available option and totally worth it! A french chef worked in the kitchen and designed the menu. For breakfast, eggs on toast or pancakes were our favourites. For lunch and dinner, we were given a choice of two delicious meals; our favourite was the barracuda steak with Indian dahl and fresh vegetables. We thoroughly enjoyed having western-style food for a few days.
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| Breakfast time |
Kactus was a great place to stay and relax...until our last night when we realised that we shared our bungalow with at least 6 large spiders and one gigantic spider (who Dennis named "Nina"). After a beer and a couple of cocktails to celebrate our last night on the island, we were brave enough to return to our bungalow and retreat into the safety of our mosquito net. We were pleased to say goodbye to Nina the following morning and walk back to the beach to be picked up.
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| Kactus certainly had a relaxed feel |
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| A picture of Nina the spider (she was bigger than Erin's hand) |
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| Another resident of our bungalow |
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| Sunset at Koh Ta Kiev |
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| When we went swimming, Dennis got in the way of Erin's foot and ended up with a black eye |
On the way back to Otres Beach, we did a cliff jump into the ocean (we were the first and second people to jump) and snorkelled near another island. We felt that our time (and extra money) was well spent on Koh Ta Kiev island. We were relaxed and happy, but also a little bit sunburnt. We had a few more cocktails back at Otres Beach and played some pool (Dennis won 4 of our 5 games). The following morning, we took an early tuk-tuk from Otres Beach to Sihanoukville and then took a bus back to Phnom Phen for one night.
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| Beautiful Koh Ta Kiev island |
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| Dennis doing the cliff jump |
We were very pleased with our decision to hang out at on a Cambodian island rather than an island in southern Thailand. We often heard people say that the Cambodian coast and islands are like the Thai ones were 15-20 year ago. Although Cambodia feels like a tourist destination, we still felt like we were on a secluded, undeveloped island...perhaps that was just the lack of power, internet, and hot water for three days.
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