Kampot, Cambodia

Kampot, Cambodia

This guy was not happy with my camerawork

The prison at Kampot, Cambodia

I had heard great things about the relaxing and quaint river village of Kamopt. I left my beach paradise a couple of days early to see what it was all about. I booked a mini van at 3:00 PM for $6. Two hours later, I arrived in downtown Kampot. I took a tuk tuk to Naga House where I had a reservation for two nights in a $3 dorm room. This place was pretty awesome. It was right on the river and they had a big, beautiful deck reaching out over the water. 

The deck at my hostel, Naga House, in Kampot, Cambodia

I settled in, grabbed a happy hour beer and quickly met some cool people. I ended up hanging out with two British guys, Gavin and Thomas. We drank by the river and shared travel information. I ordered my first fish Amok, a traditional Cambodian food. It was delicious. There were chunks of boneless, crispy fish in a curry-like sauce with a side of rice. 

Amok at a place downtown Kampot

The following day, I rented a motorbike with Gavin and Thomas and we biked to Bokor National Park. The park itself was "eh" but the ride up was so much fun. It was winding and full of twists and turns. It was maybe 25-30 minutes to the top and fun all the way. There were great views halfway up, but once we got up higher than that we entered the clouds. 

Riding into the clouds

I'm pretty sure this was the old casino. How haunted does this look?

On the decent down Bokor National park we could see the ocean through the haze.

This ride was actually perfect practice for my 3rd time on a motorbike. These speedsters really made learn how to approach turns to try and keep pace with them. After making it down I was much more confident on a bike. Turns out Tom cornered a little too hard racing down and got a flat. We had to wait at a gas station for someone to come and take it and Tom hopped on Gavin's bike. The guy fixed it quickly and for cheap and we returned to Naga House.

The driveway to my hostel on the river, Naga House. 

I had thought about riding to Kep, the nearby city on the coast, but I figured I just had a lot of time at beaches and hanging by the river was cool with me. There were also some caves in Kampot that I didn't make it to. Kampot was really relaxed, slow paced and scenic. I was sucked into the scene and just took it easy.

Kampot, Cambodia

Walking Bridge 

That night we rode into town and I had fish Amok again for dinner. There was a party that night in our guest house but I was too exhausted from the sun and heat and ended up crashing at 10 PM as it was kicking off. The next morning I awoke to two naked people sleeping in the bed below me. When I say naked, I mean not even sheets. Interesting. I must have missed a great party. 

That morning I said bye to the English gentleman who were headed to Sihanoukville and I headed out for a couple more hours with my motorbike. I explored the city, and had some food. 

I then went back to Naga House to return the bike and get ready for my 3 PM minibus to Phnom Penh so I could take an 11 PM night bus to Siem Reap. 

Next stop Siem Reap.