Charming Kampot – it was love at first sight! 

Kampot is a sleepy charming river side town in the South of Cambodia and we spent our first day wandering its quaint streets and strolling along the river. 

After an 11 or so hour journey from Battambang (via Phnom Penh) it was great to have a leisurely day, starting with a tasty brunch and great coffee at Espresso (an Australian owned and run cafe where they roast their own beans).

Kampot seems to have quite a substantial expat community and there are many cafes, bars and restaurants. Sadly, we didn’t get the opportunity to sample them all but we did have the obligatory drinks and ribs at the Rusty Keyhole and on our third night some dumplings and duck noodle soup (mmmm noodle soup…) from Ecran Noodles and Dumpling House (both located along the river). 

For the second day we organised a tuk tuk to take us around (we got the details of the driver from the Move to Cambodia website, a great and helpful website which we used a lot during our time in Cambodia).

This being our last day in town we wanted to tick off a few of the sights, starting with a drive through the countryside. The countryside was the most beautiful we have seen in Cambodia. We enjoyed the drive along the windy unpathed roads, passing rice paddies, sugar cane, grazing cows and occasionally the locals going about their day. Sadly, however, we saw quite a bit of rubbish littering the fields and the sides of the road. It is something that we have been seeing more and more in Cambodia and we have been pondering how we could come back and arrange a clean up. 

Our first stop on our drive was a Kampot pepper farm, La Plantation. Most of the blogs and guides we have read recommend visiting Sothy’s Pepper Farm but our driver, Vouthy, recommended La Plantation instead and we went along with his suggestion. 

After becoming a bit obsessed with Kampot pepper it was interesting to learn and see how the pepper is grown, and the difference between black, red and white pepper. Kampot pepper has received the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) designation which means that any product sold calling itself “Kampot pepper” must come from a designated region in southern Cambodia, that is, Kampot and surrounds (basically the same as Champagne). The green pepper is harvested and dried to make black pepper. The red pepper is that same green pepper but as it matures further it changes its colour to red (and goes well with dessert). White pepper is peeled and dried red pepper. 

La Plantation is very close to the Secret Lake and we made a quick stop to take a couple of snaps before heading to Kep.

Kep is about 25kms from Kampot and in the 1960s was a seaside retreat for the French elite. Nowadays it is sleepier than Kampot and draws visitors for its seaside location and seafood, in particular the famous Kep crab. We contemplated staying in Kep (or splitting our time between Kep and Kampot) but after a brief visit we were glad we chose Kampot. Kep is very spread out (has no centre) and to us it lacked the charm and beauty of Kampot. 

We had a quick stop in Kep for lunch and tried the local crab with fresh green Kampot pepper. Delicious but (as we don’t eat crab very often) hard and messy work!

You can also pick your own crab and have it cooked for you at the local Crab Market, which is a more authentic experience. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to do this as we were a bit short of time but we did have a wander through the Crab Market later in the day. 

After a quick lunch we jumped back in the tuk tuk and Vouthy sped to the pier so that we could catch the 1pm boat to Koh Tonsay (Rabbit Island). There are only two boats a day to the Island, at 9am and 1pm, and it takes approximately half an hour to get across. Most visitors head to the island for the day, although it does have very basic accommodation. 

After a short walk to explore some of the other beaches we decided to come back to the main beach (this is where the boats drop you off), found a couple of deck chairs (which were free), and spent a couple of hours swimming and relaxing. The beach was nice but to me it lacked the beauty of the beaches in the Philippines (yes we are very spoilt!). The main beach was quite clean but unfortunately during our quick walk of the island we saw quite a bit of rubbish. Such a shame to see these beautiful spots spoilt and tarnished by litter!

We caught the last boat back to Kep at 4pm and had a quick look at the Crab Market. 

Our last stop of the day was at the Salt Fields.  As the rain hasn’t completely stopped yet the fields were still wet but Vouthy showed us photos from the dry season when the salt dries to form a hard layer on top and the locals collect the salt in small mounds. 

There are more sights around Kampot and Kep, including the Bokor National Park, but we opted to be lazy and spend our last couple of days on the river. 

We moved from town (where we stayed at the Magic Sponge which was ok for $20 per night) to the beautiful Greenhouse  ($30 per night) which is on the river  and located 20 minutes tuk tuk drive from town. 

We spent our time at the Greenhouse swimming, SUPing and lying on a hammock with a good book. For me two days was not enough…I could have stayed at least another week!

Kampot was a great spot to end our few weeks in Cambodia! Cambodia has been amazing and we are sad to go but now it’s time to get excited about Vietnam.

Next: beach time on Phu Quoc island.