Kep, Cheeky children And Amazing Meal

hello All, yet again i have got behind with my blog by a week or so. Now in Vietnam and have been for a week, it hasn't been the best country I am afraid to say but will write more about it in a later blog. I left you having 2 days in Phnom Pehn and heading south to Kep on the south coast.

Tuesday 6th December

Sunset at Kep

The minibus arrived on time to pick us up at 9:30am, we had a short drive to the bus terminal where we would board a local coach down to Kep. The journey was only 3hrs and for a change uneventful with enough room for us all to have our own seat. we arrived in Kep just after midday, met as always by hoards of tuc tuc drivers wanting our money. By now you would think you would be used to it, however they literally stand at the bus door almost picking you up and throwing you over their shoulder just to get you into their tuc tuc. I have learnt now that its easier just to step off and pick one yourself, I always go for the quiet one, the one not shouting or trying to pull at your limbs. We found a guy who was pretty cool, he said 'no hurry' and just to chill for 5mins, never expected that. We hadn't booked anywhere, so the guy said he would take us to a couple to see if we liked them for only a dollar each. It turned out we took the first one we looked at. 'Kukuluku'was the guesthouse name, we were greeted with open arms, just as it has been in the rest of Cambodia, very friendly and helpful people. The guesthouse was lovely, with a big rear garden with swimming pool, hammocks and to top off a small beach leading to the sea. The beach and sea where not much to look at and i wouldn't be swimming in the sea but still a great setting. We opted for the Dorm and what a dorm is was, 8 double beds in huge airy room with lots of windows and light, and a balcony running round the outside which overlooked the rear garden, sea and beach. For $5 each, it really was the best dorm i had ever stayed in and for an unbeatable price. By now the time was nearing 2pm. We knew there wasn't much to Kep other than chilling out and beach. We had seen the main beach on the way in and I am afraid that wasn't much cop either, nether less it was quiet and chilled, so for the rest of the day we did just that and read, updated blogs and generally just lazed around. We ate at the hotel that night, Kep having no 'town center' to speak of, and no restaurants (apart from the crab market which I'll come to later). Kep is also perfect for Sunsets and we were treated to another great Sunset in Asia, I still don't get bored of them and still take lots of pictures.That night we sat round had a couple of beers and chatted to some of the other guests, including the owner who was French, he was a funny character and bordering on a bit of a pervert. Myself and Thelma stayed up the latest and chatted and drank a few more beers before heading to our lovely dorm at around midnight.

Wednesday 7th December

We all arose earlish after a pretty good nights sleep. As there wasn't alot in Kep itself we decided to hire some scooters and ride to 'Kampout' which is 30KM North west of Kep. we set off around 10.30ish, opting to all get a scooter each rather than sharing. It was a nice day and the sun was blazing. The ride there was very scenic, with rice field, after rice field and bamboo and wooden huts on stilts with locals either harvesting the rice fields or just chilling in the shade from the hot sun. The road was fairly busy, with cars, trucks and buses and of course motorbikes, with many carrying loads that would have filled a flat bed truck never mind sitting on the back of a motorbike, one of the highlights of the ride to Kampout was seeing an old Cambodian fella on a motorbike with 4 fully grown dead pigs strapped to the sides, only in Asia!!! We arrived in Kampout just after midday, we drove around a little while and soon realised there wasn't much to do, so we found a place to grab dinner and checked out the local map of the area. We found a couple of things we could see on the way back to Kep, including a 'secret lake' and some caves. After some local cuisine we headed back towards Kep. We veered off the main road after about 5KM and headed for the cave.

The track was very dusty, bumpy and potholed and took is to some local villages, kids playing in rivers and riding bikes and locals going about there daily chores, this was the real Cambodia. After riding for what seem like ages, we stopped at where we thought the cave was, we were approached by a young Cambodian boy who asked if we were looking for the caves, he offered to take us to it, we were sceptical but said OK, we followed him as he cycled down another potholed ridden, dusty road, which was so bad that he kept in front of us even though we had scooters. We stopped at a point were he advised we would have to walk the rest of the way, here we were met by what we presumed were his friends. Of course they all wanted to be our guides or look after our bikes, they all spoke great English and were all friendly and welcoming. After some debate between myself, Raami and Thelma we decided that we would give $1 each to 3 of them for looking after our bikes, they really didn't need looking after, we had the keys but they were just trying to make a bit of cash and $1 isn't that much to us. The other 4 then proceeded to lead us to the cave, which was in the side of a biggish hill.

They led us through rice fields all the while chatting away in amazing English, it was hard not to adore them, ages ranging from 10-14 years old. After some steep steps and sweating like a pig in the still roasting hot sun we reached the cave. Our newly acquired friends were very knowledgeable on the cave and gave some history, however it was far from the biggest cave, or even that interesting. We headed back down, though i decided to go down through the cave, Thelma and Raami decided against it, they chose wisely, it was pitch black, smelly from bat shit and piss and so tight. I made it through of course, with the help of my new Cambodian friends, who also made it more entertaining by playing a couple of practical jokes. Once out the other side we headed back to the bikes. As we had left, our 3 scooter watchers were pretty much in the same position had we left them. We paid each of them a dollar each, so we thought, we seemed to have missed one who seemed like he was going to burst into tears. we had no dollars left but had given the eldest a little extra to share out so we told him to give it to the one we missed. We set off back to Kep, by now all dying of dehydration we stopped about 5min later.

Our Cheeky Cambodian Friends

As we bought water the boy who we missed turned up on his bike, he was crying and looking at me and Raami like we were the most horrible people in the world, he really seemed to putting on a show. It turned out the eldest hadn't shared the extra with him, now with change Thelma gave him a dollar, shortly after the eldest arrived and then shared the extra. Crafty little shit, he knew what he was doing, and yeah it might be only a dollar but he now had more than rest and even now in my mind i am sure we originally gave him a dollar also, his whimpering and cries soon turned to smiles, he really was a crafty little shit!! As we set off again, Raami noticed hos wing mirror smashed and scratches all down the side, the bike some how had fallen over after we left it, Raami quite rightly severely pissed off! Great job they did in looking after the bike!! He would later have to pay $15. It was another 1hr or so before we got back and it was early evening just before sunset so we just chilled in the garden and read, used the Internet and chatted to other travellers, Justin and Sasha both travelling separately joined us. At around 8ish we ordered a tuc tuc and went to one of the things Kep is famed for, the 'Crab Market'. Not a market at night but restaurants selling, so we had been told 1KG $6 dollar crabs. There were around 10 restaurants all lined up, of course the tuc tuc driver took us to the 'best' one, clearly on commission or family member. We decided against it and went next door, as it seemed cleaner, busier and better atmosphere. What a dinner we had, by far in the top 3 meals i have had on my travels. We ordered a large Crab, a large fish, side plate of vegetables, side plate of noodles and rice, all to share. The crab was amazing and the accompanying sauce was just as a amazing and set off the crab nicely, the fish was also good and meaty but after the crab it was only mediocre. We hardly spoke a word through dinner, the 3 of us enjoying the best meal we had, had for a while. What was more amazing was the price, the food along with 2 bottles of good wine came to £30, OK yeah. I think we are in the realms of flash packer again here but even so, for all that food, 2 bottles of wine and great, quick service, there isn't many places in the world that would come near it for value. We headed back to the Guesthouse, as yet we hadn't booked our tickets to Vietnam for the following day, we did this at a cost £18 and was told it would be a 7hr journey to Saigon, this later would be a frustrating and HUGE lie!! We drank a few cocktails with Justin who hadn't come to dinner and then hit the sack, ready for a 9am pick up.

So that brings an end to my time in Cambodia, it was a rushed affair as would be Vietnam, but having now booked Phi Phi for Xmas and had to be in Thailand for the 22nd we were on a tight schedule. I wish i had more time to see Cambodia, Siem Reap was good even if Angkor Wat wasn't what i expected and the Killing fields in Phnom Penh were an eye opener and interesting, if not very harrowing and sad, i am glad i got learn about the genocide and the history of it, for how many people were killed and only 30 years ago, the country has really picked itself up and the courage of the Cambodians is plain to see. The people are so friendly and helpful even if some times there is an end goal for them. We chose Kep over sihanoukville as we thought it had nice beaches and we wanted to chill, the beaches we saw were not nice, though on the front pages of the lonely planet it lists Kep as one the must see places is SEA, and pictures a beautiful beach, as i have come to refer to the lonely planet, the 'Lonley Liar'. Kep was still nice, and it was chilled but since we have heard from other travellers that Sihanoukville was great with awesome beaches! Oh well, you make your choices.

So next on to Vietnam, must say its probably the place i am least excited to see, i have heard stories of people being very unfriendly and being quite aggressive and rude. As i have been in Vietnam now a week, I must say that doesn't seem to be the case, though they do seem to get aggressive quickly. I will write more about Vietnam in a separate blog. Thanks for reading and for those of you in Europe, i hope its not too cold for you, I hear snow in my home town of Bristol today!! Sorry but not envious of that! Take care my friends.