Cambodia - Kep / Previous Saint-Tropez of the East

Kep, Cambodia 13.11.2014

After the last writing we stayed on the island for another four days. In total we spent ten days on the island. During the last days we experienced the seafood barbeque, plankton night-swimming and enjoyed the beach life. 

We left to Sihanoukville early on Saturday the 8th. We tried to get to Kep on the same day but the bus was full, so we booked the first bus next morning. We found quickly a nice guesthouse probably because we were carrying our backpacks. There was big festivities going on in the city because of the Water Festival. Lot of Cambodian people all around the country. Sihanoukville is kind of big and really turistic. We spent there one day and we had enough of it.

The bus arrived to Kep Beach after a three hour drive. It looked really cute with a nice boulevard next to the coast. We first tried to find a hostel by walking but after 2km with backpacks at noon we had to take a tuk-tuk. The driver was really friendly and took us to a cheap and really nice place. We have been here now for five days. The next day we noticed that Kep is really small. There is practically nothing in addition to the Crab Market, national park, travel agencies and guesthouses. And distances are quite long. It's easy to move around with tuk-tuks or by renting a bike or a moped.

We tried the crabs and they were really good. Especially the ones with Kampot pepper. One day we just drove around the area with a moped. Nearly 100km. We visited the caves with bats, the salt fields, Angkaul beach and the butterfly farm. It was so fun! Just driving and looking at changing sceneries. We tried driving a moped for the first time but happily there is not so much traffic so it's kind of relaxed here. I wouldn't try it for the first time in Phnom Penh..

We have been trying to do nothing and one day we succeeded. We watched tv-Animal planet and got even more an overdose of snakes. In Finland it feels like a documentary but here it's reality show. The sunsets are amazing.

Today we visited the national park that is a 8km walk. During the day we didn't see any special animals, only beautiful butterflies and lizards. But the jungle was so wonderful with its big trees!

On the walk back we checked some of the ruined colonial French villas. They are just abandoned and nature is taking over. Some of the villas are owned by rich generals waiting to get the best price. Seems to be taking time.

Tomorrow we head back to Phnom Penh. It'a nice to go back to the city :)

Ps. Rendez-Vous with snake nr 2...