MY INITAL PLAN :
In Kampot my inital plan was to
- Shop at the Market and the Old Market to see what a typical Khmer family buys on a daily basis.
- Go for live music, at Arcadia, Naga House or Bodhi Villa
- Participate to a sunset cruise
- Eat at rikitikitavi : Restaurant & Khmer Roots Cafe
- Rent a scooter to go around
-Visit Bokot National park : there I can see the old French hill station at 1,080m for $0.5 it takes 30mins just to ride up and I might have to spend 2/3h around the park I can also try to find the Pokovil waterfall (but seems to be only during wet season).
WHAT DID I REALLY DO :
DAY 1 : AROUND THE CITY WITH MY SCOOTER
On day 3 I was planning to go to Sihanoukville but the most people I talk to about this city were telling that there is no much to do and that Kampot was a best spot to stop first, Kamport was also in my plan and it would be easier to go there first and then take a bus to Sihanoukville to catch the boat for Koh Rong.
In PP impossible to book on Giant Ibis website with my credit card so V drive me to the main station that is next to the Night Market. 9 dollars and they said it would take 2h30 (in fact it took 4hours and it was a sunday).
I woke up at 6 am, at 7h15 i am taking a Tuk Tuk on Pass App, 30 min later i am at the night market, waiting for the bus to leave. We received a breakfast and no one is sitting next to me, it's not even a bus it's more like a mini bus, quite comfortable.
At 12, i arrive in Kampot, they remove all the bags from the bus (except mine that always stay next to me and loads of Tuk Tuk driver jump on us to get the job, I look on my map, my hostel "Pepe and the Vikings" that i book on booking for 5 dollars a double bed room is only 7 minutes walk. The sun is already warm but walking through the city is a first way to visit it.
The hotel is not amazing but convenient, I am also super hungry and decide to sit at their restaurant, they only serve burger with Australian beef and nice cheese. I am completely full now I have not eat that much since i came in Asia. Lunch is done it's time to rent a scooter, nice experience. I ask the hotel where i can find one, "the first street on the left", sounds quite easy, it's written 4 $ for the day, amazing. I sit down and ask the guy for one, the condition of the scooter look 200% better than the one in Bali, all is good until he ask me for my passport. My Passport ? No way !!!!! I decide to continue the road to see if some of them would accept an other paper or a copy. After a long time of speaking and explaining that i would not give my passport away, the guy accept my ID. The scooter is full of petrol, let's go on an adventure. But first stop : pharmacy I am still having trouble with my throat.
The sensation of being on this scooter is amazing, wind in my hair, sun in my face, I feel so free. On the way I met a girl Anais from Switzerland who ask me if she can follow me to Arcadia she was dreaming of seeing the place : sure why not. Arcadia is a hostel and a water park they build there slider and animation to play in the water. If you are not a guest of the hotel it would cost 7$ to use the platform. Ok the hostel look awesome but the water is to dark for me, I am not sure I want to risk jumping in, let's continue the road.
After that i continue the road, straight, I have been stop to pay 2$ to enter an area where i have not seen a lot of things, people where having a bath it was a familly moment where you can rent a hamac for the day and enjoy the river. But after that i have no idea where i have been it seems that i did this trip.
I also had to pay 2$ to enter to the waterfall area. It was on a Sunday and it was really full of people and not that amazing view but a nice walk up to it, where children all run after me and smile.
The sun is going down soon, i have to drive back down. On the way I decided to make a break on the river at Naga Guest House, back home my plan was to watch the sunset at O'Neil where it say the terrace is amazing but when i arrived in front of it, nothing so I turn around and decided to take a Sunrise boat for 5$.
The sky look gorgeous, we pass few bridges where everyone has to watch that their head does not get kick by the bridge. Dinner time, I still have not try the fish Amok so I decided to invest in my dinner for 7$ at rikitikitavi.
DAY 2 : BOKOR AREA
Yesterday I book the bus for Sihanoukville at 3pm so i woke up early in order to reach the Bokor area and be back on time. The most impressive thing about this area is the way to get their, you go through the National park of Bokor it look gorgeous. Arrived on the top of the hill you can see the old casino, it's normally not allowed to enter inside as they are restoring it but ... I succeeded to get in and it's a proper maze with an amazing view.
After the casino I tried to find what they call the Bokor hill station but impossible, I am thinking now that the old casino and the hill station are the same ... It's a huge structure and a small place I can't believe I missed it, especially because I am a pro when it is about finding the lost things and getting lost in place (to see in my next article) ... maybe it has been destroyed. Instead, I have been to the Sampov Pram Pagoda, it s a Buddhist monument with an amazing view on the park as well, the sensation of being so small is impressive.
Riding back was not an easy task as per the wind was quite strong I needed to put my head down not to get kick by it or the sand, and sometimes under the trees it was a bit cold. Back in Kampot it's lunch time, for 1 $ i got some fried noddle on the street to get strong for my way to Sihanoukville.
And that's now that the funny part start, I got a private but to Sihanoukville and the driver enjoy that to become a public transport bus and get some more money.
He also promised me to bring me to my hotel for 2$ (i accept because we would arrive at night) then he changed his mind and left me in the middle of the city 16km from my hotel situated in Otres !.. Happy days I also have not battery on my phone. After asking around for some prices to go to the island and for renting a scooter or getting a ride their everything was too expensive, I finally negotiate a Tuk Tuk for 3$. The hotel is really nice I am in a little bamboo house for 14$ a night, not far from the beach but also more far from the party. For dinner I have been to an Italian place where they made they own home made paste it's called papa Pipo and it's the last restaurant on the beach. There i met 2 nice french girls we had sone beers and discussion around our meal and time to go home to sleep tomorrow I have a big day.
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