Kampot, Kep, Rabbit Island

We got up late the next morning and headed out to get a taxi to Kampot. We decided the taxi, although $10 more expensive than the bus, would be a faster and more comfortable ride than the bus. It took about 20mins of haggling with a group of about 8 taxi drivers trying to get our business but still trying to rip us off with our tuk tuk driver translating for us. eventually we got a taxi for $25, which they then squeezed another 3 passengers and finally left for Kampot. It did cut out 1.5 hours of travelling so in the end it wasnt too bad a decision but will learn for next time how to do it properly.

As soon as we arrived we hired a motorbike and drove out to the pepper plantation about 40ks from town. Kampot is famous for its pepper - it is meant to be the best pepper in the world. It was a long bumpy road there and we turned off at the sign onto a red dirt road that looked like home. we werent sure we were at the right place because we drove for ages without seeing anything. Then some people started yelling and waving at us from the side of the road - we'd found one! One of the farmers showed us around his pepper farm. They sort of grow like grapes on a vine. He picked off a few bunches for us to try. He explained (sort of as he didnt speak much english and we dont speak any cambodian) how they make white, red and black pepper. He also showed us the fruit trees he had - bananas, papayas, jackfruit, and mango. We bought a little pepper (not sure how were getting that home) and when we said not to worry about our $2 change they were so gratefull, it is amazing how much they appreciate the smallest amount although im sure they can do more with $2 than we could.

We headed back and watched the sunset at a restaurant on the river. Some kids were fishing off the balcony with a bamboo pole and we drank some Angkor the local beer to finish off the night.

The following morning we took a tour to Bokor National Park. Bokor satation at the top of the mountain was built in the 1920s for the french elite and it had houses, police station, church and a casino/hotel. When the French left Cambodia it was abandoned and has since been used / abandoned throughout the various wars with Khmer Rouge and Vietnam. All that is left is the police station, church and casino. At the moment they are building a (private) road to the top (the best road in SEA) and a 5 star hotel amongst other tourist amenities. So to go to the abanded buildings you have to take a tour and part of the price is a bribe to use the road. Anyway they include a hike up the mountain, english speaking guide, lunch and a sunset cruise along the river in Kampot. The hike was kind of fun walking through the jungle where bears, tigers, cobras, monkeys and elephants are meant to live (although because of the explosions for clearing the road they are all scared away) and the transport on the back of a small truck wasnt too awesome because there were about 20 of trying to squeze in and not fall out but the casino was awesome. It is completely run down, it was five stories and you can imagine how it would have been in its hey day.
Out the front was a courtyard and then it was straight off a cliff, which they say many chinese businessman jumped off after losing everything... You could see bullet holes in the floor and some walls were there was a standoff between the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese, one hiding out in the casino, one in the church. The church was just as run down but wasnt quite as impressive. We finished off the trip with the sunset cruise which was nice and relaxing.

For tea (and quite a few beers) we went to a place just 2 places down from our guesthouse. It was called the lazy farmer. The owner was super nice and stopped to sit down and have a chat with everyone that came in. We ended up talking to him and his other barman all night. They told us all about their lives as farmers, how they farmed, life in Cambodia and showed us some Cambodian music remixed into pop music. It was a great night.

We went home realising it was midnight and we had to get up early next morning to head to Kep. We left at 7am for the 40min drive. We wanted to go over to the popular Rabbit Island and thought the ferry was just up the road. We ended up walking 2kms with our packs on by the time we got there. The ferry turned out to be a heap of fishing type boats that would ferry a group of 2-10 people over at a time. We headed over to find a small patch of beach with nice sand and lightly lapping waves. There were little bungalows along the beach and we got one for $5. We spent the whole day sitting by the water and sleeping. It was a little cool for swimming and we both ended up unwell but we still enjoyed a whole day of nothing at the beach.

The next morning we headed back to Kep and decided there wasnt anything to do there so went back to Phnom Penh for the night. We were both still recovering from being crook so only had a quick dinner and spent the afternoon / night in the most comfiest bed we have ever slept in. In the morning we were fully recovered and ready for yet another bus ride.. to Siem Reap.