Southern Cambodia

I left Battambang on Friday morning, aiming to get to Kampot or Sihanoukville in the south of Cambodia. Getting there however required catching a bus to Phnom Penh and then trying to catch another bus south. The bus from Battambang dragged a bit and I didn't arrive into Phnom Penh until late afternoon. Phnom Penh doesn't have a centralised bus station, with the countless bus operators instead operating services from their offices. The company I went with didn't have any services heading south until the morning, so I decided instead of faffing about trying to find another bus company I'd stay the night in Phnom Penh. Doing that resulted in me in being able to purchase an sd card reader for my tablet so it actually worked out quite well.

Come morning I left Phnom Penh bright and early, opting to head to the town of Kampot, arriving later that morning. Kampot is located about 25km from the town of Kep which I also wanted to visit, with many of the areas attractions lieing between the two towns. I managed to find a really nice place in the small fishing village of Tuek Chhou about 6km outside of Kampot which offered free bike hire and my own room with a double bed, and in a great location in terms of exploring the two towns and surrounding areas. After settling in I headed into Kampot for lunch and to explore the town a bit.

Kampot sits along the east side of the Kampong Bay River near the base of the Elephant Mountains. The town is particularly popular due its quiet lanes and colonial architecture housing an array of cafes and restaurants. After picking up a tourist map I cycled round the slightly worn yet quaint streets, the highlights including this old bridge across the river which had been partially bombed during the Khmer Rouge, and these statues situated on many of the towns roundabouts. It wasn't a very nice day though in terms of weather so I kept having to dive in for shelter, but I still managed to get a good feel for the place before heading back to Tuek Chhou.

The following day I went out on a bike for the day to explore some of the countryside. First stop was Phnom Kbal Romeas, an impressive cave system which was easy to explore to the due to that fact it was almost like a cavern and there were several holes in the ceiling flooding light inside. I explored for a fair while and it almost felt as if I could climb out the top in places, although I couldn't! I then went to Phnom Chhngok Cave Temple which was another cave system, although this one also housed a small Angkorian temple dating back to the 9th century, as well as this large rock which supposedly resembled an elephant. I had to climb a staircase to reach the cave and apparently you could exit at the bottom the by decending through the caves, although I wasn't confident enough to do that without a proper torch.

After leaving the caves I went to the Brateak Krola Lake, more commonly referred to as the Secret Lake. I think they've had a lot rain in the south of Cambodia as the dirt tracks I was cycling on was basically a mud bath. I stopped for lunch there as there were several nice restaurants sitting on the lakes edge with these little huts you could sit in. Apparently you could even swim in the lake but it wasn't that appealing in the rain!

A short ride from the lake was La Plantation, a pepper farm which offered free guided tours and tastings. Pepper farming was brought to Cambodia by the French, but after they left and the Khmer Rouge took place the farms were abandoned. It's not until recently that there has been a revival and nowadays there several pepper farms in the area. The guided tour took me around the plantation where I learnt about all the different types of pepper and the processes used to make them. It was very interesting, and I particularly enjoyed the tasting session at the end. I never knew there were so many different types of pepper! They also made things like turmeric, jam, and rum which you could try. I headed back after the tour and chilled out for the rest of the day as it was a very overcast day and it kept raining.

On Monday I went to the nearby town of Kep for the day, cycling there along a nice tarmac road which was a nice change after the muddy dirt tracks the previous day. Kep is a popular destination with Cambodian holiday makers, and is particularly famous for its crab shacks. With quiet beaches flanked with jungled mountains the place just had a chilled out tropical vibe. When arriving I went and explored the Kep National Park which formed the backdrop of the town. I followed this trail which went around the hills edge, getting occasional viewpoints of the coastline along the way. It started raining before long however so stepped it out a bit, heading into Kep Town for lunch and shelter.

Luckily the rain eventually cleared somewhat and I followed the coast getting great views of some of the outlying islands. I passed several statues along the way too including this crab literally in the sea. Before long I reached Kep Beach which was home to nice and sandy beach. Before having some beach time however I headed back into Kep National Park to visit Sunset Rock, passing an abandoned temple en route. The view from Sunset Rock was a little lacklustre however, and I soon headed back down to the beach which had several bamboo shelters with hammocks in. After chilling out for a bit I continued along the coast to the crab market, which was fascinating. The locals had these cages in the sea full of freshly caught crabs which they were selling straight from the sea, as well several shacks selling freshly made meals. I cycled back to Tuek Chhou after the market, getting back just in time before the rain got heavy again.

I had a far more chilled out day the following day after all my cycling, heading into Kampot town around lunchtime where I found a nice place by the river. It was actually a really nice day and I was tempted to go and explore the mangroves and salt flats which lie on the coast outside of Kampot, although I opted against that. In dry season they produce large quantities of salt in Kampot by literally flooding the fields with sea water in the morning and allowing it to evaporate throughout the day, collecting the salt left behind later in the day. It isn't possible during wet season however.

On Wednesday I went for a day trip into the Preah Monivong National Park to visit the old ghost town of Bokor up in the heart of the Elephant Mountains. En route we stopped at this viewpoint looking out towards Kampot, Kep, and the coast. It was interesting seeing the expansive salt fields from above and my guide even had a drone which he flew out over the hills, to see a birds eye view through its camera! We then stopped at the Black Palace which until the 1970s was a Royal Residence. It was now basically just a set of derelict buildings, and I actually thought this street artist who had put graffiti on it was more exciting than the building itself. There were more great views from there though, including some from this giant statue of Yeay Mao.

As we continued climbing the weather unfortunately turned and by the time we reached Bokor it was torrential rain and very poor visibility. Situated at over 1000m, Bokor was a small holiday resort town built by the French in the 1920s mainly for its cooler climate being at altitude. It was abandoned many years ago however and people come today to see the eerie buildings accompanied by stunning views. We stopped at the old temple which was situated on the cliffs edge, before passing buildings such as an old casino, hotel, and police station. The visibility was very poor however, but it was nice to hear our guides detailed insight into the area. We did get out and stop at this old Catholic Church, but we didn't stay very long.

From Bokor we descended down to the Popovkil Waterfall, with the heavy rain prior creating quite a torrent. We had lunch there before heading back to Kampot, where it was much nicer weather. I had a couple of hours in the afternoon to relax before heading over to the river for this sunset river cruise. There wasn't any sun for a sunset, although I still really enjoyed it as we went through the mangroves and as it began to get dark the reflection of the hills and clouds in the river was very pretty. We even saw loads of fireflys on the way back to Kampot when it was dark. The only sketchy thing though was going under the bridges, as where I was sitting on the roof you literally had to lie down to fit underneath!

I left Kampot Thursday morning and headed a couple of hours along the coast to the city of Sihanoukville, Cambodias most popular beach destination. Sihanoukville is also home to an array of nightlife, casinos, and duty free shopping, and is also the main gateway to some of the outlying tropical islands in the Gulf of Thailand. I planned to spend couple of days on the beaches on the mainland though; if the weather wasn't so unpredictable I would have gone to the islands. I instead thought staying in Sihanoukville was a more sensible option as the islands were apparently very basic, with things like power limited to just the evenings. The weather when arriving in Sihanoukville was awful, and it rained all day so I didn't make it much further than looking round a few of the shops near my hostel.

The following day I went out and explored Sihanoukville, firstly heading up to Wat Leu which was on top of a hill overlooking the city. In recent years Sihanoukville has recieved heavy investment from China and this was evident from the viewpoint at the top by all the building work taking place below, with the Chinese building high rise hotels on the several beaches around the city. Such is the rapid development in the city, that Google maps which I was using to navigate didn't have an up to date map, with several roads I tried to follow leading to building sites! I eventually made it to Victory Beach via the port where I stopped for lunch on the beach, with great views looking out to the islands.

From Victory Beach I headed via the Independence Monument to Wat Krom, another temple which in the surrounding courtyard had all these interesting sculptures. I nearly get bitten by a snake though after accidentally treading on it. I then headed to Independence Beach which was basically a building site, although it did have these nice umbrellas you could sit under. On my way to the next beach, Sokha Beach the weather turned however. It set in for the rest of the day and by the time I got back to Serendipity Beach where I was staying I was absolutely drenched. The rain just persisted for the rest of the day.

Come morning it was still pretty grotty and certainly far from being beach weather. As I was planning to attempt to cross into Vietnam the following day I was tempted to head to Phnom Penh to break the journey up a bit, but I'd already paid for the night in the Sihanoukville so I stayed put. It was very frustrating I couldn't do barely anything I planned to do in Sihanoukville, but I suppose it was nice to relax a bit.