Famous for its pepper, Kampot is a quiet and relaxed riverside town in the South of Cambodia not too far from the Gulf of Thailand. Its serene location makes it an ideal place to relax and unwind with a good book, sipping on coffee at one of its many riverside cafe’s before you start your tomb raiding in Siem Reap. If you’re looking for something ‘slightly’ more energetic then rent a bike and explore the surrounding countryside and villages or simply sit back and relax with a river cruise while watching the stunning sunset fall behind the nearby Bokor Mountains. If you want to party though then this is not the town for you, head to Sihanoukville along the coast further 😉
We arrived in Kampot by minibus from the Vietnamese border town of Ha Tien, the process of which I will cover in another post. Not far from the border was a salt farm, I loved the way they raked the salt into little pyramids, it made for an interesting photo!
We had two reasons for coming to Kampot, firstly it’s an ideal first stop only being an hour from the border. Secondly we were meeting up with our friends Chris (www.photogravy.com) and Rachel (www.vagabondbaker.com) that we had met in Phong Na Homestay and were our travel companions through much of Vietnam.
The minibus dropped us off in the town centre and we picked up a tuk tuk to take us to Ganesha Riverside Eco Resort about 4 kms out of town and the place where we would be joining our friends. The ride in the tuk tuk was pleasant through the Cambodian countryside dotted with tropical vegetation and rice paddy fields. We turned off down a very bumpy dirt road where the odd pot hole slowed us down almost to a halt, we thought we would have to get out and push! We passed through a village where the locals gave us a wave, where we narrowly missed running over chickens and had to duck to avoid being slapped in the face by palm fronds. Most entertaining tuk tuk ride we have had to date!
Ganesha Riverside Eco Resort is run by a French couple and sits on the bank of one of the river tributaries and is set in 4 hectares of tropical gardens and surrounded by rice paddies with views to the Bokor Mountains. There are various accommodation options ranging from “The Tower” which sleeps a family, the more fanciful riverside yurts, bamboo huts and the cheaper option of a room in the upper level of the Hammock Cafe and Bar.
We opted for a bamboo Hut which is a simple Tribal Cambodian tree house style hut made from bamboo and overlooked a small pond with views out across the countryside. The hut was furnished with a simple double mattress on bamboo matting with mosquito net and a hammock was strung between the stilts of the hut.
The bathroom was separate and shared with the 4 other huts one of which was occupied by our friends. Being an eco resort the running water was air temperature and if you’re lucky you share it with large insects and small reptiles so if you don’t like creepy crawlies and scaly beasts then this place might not be for you! Although the visitor numbers of these species was rather minimal 😉
The Hammock Cafe bar area is a great place to socialise play pool, darts and relax with some of the best food we have had. The chef cooks up some real delights with French influence, the Khmer Curry I have to say is particularly tasty.
If you want something a little quieter and serene then head to the riverside deck, it’s sublime as is the swing bed next to the tower 🙂
The following day we borrowed bikes from the resort and the four of us rode into town to take a look around and enjoy some food and beer. The ride down the dusty country lanes was very pleasant.
In town we enjoy perusing the shops particularly Kepler’s Kampot Books, a second hand book shop with English titles. Another shop had some interesting cookies on display with one of the ingredients being Khmer crickets and they claim they are “Powerfully Delicious”! Hmmm I think I prefer choc chip myself!
While the others continued to browse I took off to take some photos of the town’s decaying French Colonial architecture, I loved the old weathered look, restoring it I think would ruin its character. I met up later with the others to enjoy some food and Angkor beer.
The ride back was even more pleasant as we stopped to enjoy a lake and rode through villages and past the local village mosque that shone well in the late afternoon sunlight.
The next day we continued to enjoy relaxing in this beautiful environment. We had been on the move for a few months now so it was nice to have a day of doing nothing. In the late afternoon the four of us booked onto the resort’s sunset cruise in a motorised canoe. It was so soothing cruising through the narrow waterway fringed by lush tropical vegetation, we felt totally at peace. The small tributary took us out into the main river where we passed locals fishing and bamboo resort huts with prime river frontage. As we motored down the river we sat back and enjoyed watching the sun set behind the Bokor Mountains, it was sublime and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else at that moment in time.
Over next couple of days we visited by motorbike both Bokor National Park and the Bokor Hill Station and Kep but I will save these adventures for another post.
Date Visited: Feb 2014
If you have enjoyed the photos and would like to see more! then the complete gallery can be viewed in the Trip Photos
Such happy memories! Ah, to be back there now! It was so blissful (I’ve even forgotten how ill I was for a time there – when I saw the darts photo I was like I don’t remember that! Was probably in bed!).
You and me both Rachel! would love to be back there now 🙂 such great memories. I loved writing the post too as it took me back and I relived it. I think the boys were playing darts the first night and you and I were probably sitting at our favorite table chatting and passive smoking the wacky tobbacky coming from the expats corner!! Yes I remember you being sick, you very quiet for a couple of days.
Ah was it! Maybe I do remember it now! Yeah, I remember all that smoke, he he!