We drove along the southern coast to Kampot, which is famous for their
peppercorns and pork ribs. You could definitely see the French colonial
influence in the architecture throughout the city.
In the first half of the day
we drove up the mountain to Bokor National Park and took in a variety of
sights - I mean a REAL variety! First we saw the huge Lok Yeay Mao monument,
which was built within the last few years and is said to protect travelers,
fishermen and hunters. Our next stop was to see the Popokvil waterfalls, where
you could essentially walk or climb all around the falls to see it from
different vantage points. We also saw the casino, Chinese temple, Catholic
church, and the abandoned hotel casino ruins. It was quite a mish mash of
sights but we got to take in a great view from the mountaintop and the old
hotel casino ruins were really neat!
Once we made our way back down
the mountain we went into Kampot and had lunch at ‘The Rusty Keyhole’ for
"the best ribs in Cambodia". We ordered the 1.5 kg order of ribs to
split amongst our group of six people; the restaurant challenges customers to
attempt eating this meal – for one – in less than an hour, we definitely
weren’t going down that road though!
After our bellies were full, we walked
through the market to check out the multiple displays of wares and food, and to
track down some of the famous Kampot peppercorns to take home.
There were all
sorts of fish and other sea creatures laid out on tables or sitting in buckets
of water, as well as a variety of meats, vegetables, and fruits available.
We
were on the hunt for durian fruit in particular, which is said to have a very
pungent odour, but had no luck since it is currently out of season; we did,
however, get to see the durian statue at one of the traffic roundabouts in
Kampot.
We made it back to Kep just in time for a dip in the pool before sunset
and then headed out for dinner near the hotel, most of us could barely keep our
eyes open through dinner since it had been such an eventful day – good thing we
still have one day of some serious rest and relaxation on Rabbit Island planned
for tomorrow!
Sarah Armstrong
DWC Team Leader
DWC Team Leader
Cambodia, November 2014
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