17. Kampot

So having decided I needed to pull myself away from the lure of the beach, I caught a mini bus to Kampot about 3 hours away, travelling further east towards the Vietnamese border. On the bus I met 2 Dutch ladies and we shared a tuk tuk from the bus station to find a place to stay, we found a guest house just back from the river front for $12 a night with own bathroom and hot water (which was a luxury as no hot water on the beach). My cheapest place so far..... I'm going cheaper all the time! The guest house had a beautiful garden to sit in and a lovely balcony. 

Kampot is a sleepy riverside town with a quirky bridge which has obviously been mended in many different styles! 

And some quirky roundabout features...

The fruit statue below is the durian, and Kampot is a big area for growing durian.... And note I almost got a bike and trailer piled high with cane furniture in the picture! 

The Cambodian Vietnam Friendship Statue. Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1979 to free them from Pol Pot, although the friendship has waned recently.

 

This was the old colonial prison in Kampot next to the new one

and this the view over the road from the prison.... Daisy was sitting watching the world go by....

I did a night boat trip down the river to look at the fireflies. I've seen them before but they were beautiful, all flashing in unison until the guide put his torch on them, then they were in total disarray for a while til they found themselves again. I don't know why, must google it! 

The next day I did a tour to the Bokor Hill Station, an old French resort built about 100 years ago in the hills to escape the heat and humidity of the lowlands. There were some beautiful buildings....

The Catholic Church where you can imagine the expat French coming in their Sunday best

The pagoda built nearby for the Cambodian king who also came here to escape the heat. It was built on the clifftop with jungle below

And the old colonial hill station which was also built in the same red brick, but is now being "restored" and covered in concrete. They have covered over the bullet holes where battles were fought with the Pol Pot regime. 

 It is going to be turned into one of a series of hotels to serve the HUGE Chinese funded casino and hotel complex very nearby which has totally changed the whole atmosphere of the hill top. But who are we to judge, we destroyed our heritage up until 1970s when we started to realise its value. So too the Cambodians are destroying some and preserving others. 

We were then taken to waterfalls nearby, which, being the dry season were non existent. The rock is limestone, and it very much reminded me of the Dales this summer where rivers had dried up.

And again...the people

Kampot is famous for its pepper, black, white, red and green, and we visited a pepper plantation. This plant was about 8 years old, and there we're lots of green pepper seeds on it. Later in the year they are picked and dried to make black pepper. When the outer husks are removed it becomes Red pepper, while White involves another soaking and drying process. 

The day ended with a sunset boat trip down the river, although it was a bit hazy, but we did see the fishing fleet going down river on its way out to sea for the night.