KAMPOT
★ GAY TRAVEL ★ GAY DAY ★ GAY NIGHT ★
KAMPOT
Kampot, where time passes slowly.
We went to Kampot after spending a week on the island of Koh Rong. It was December and Kampot was the chosen city for us to spend Christmas, before heading to Battambang and then Siem Reap where we were going for New Years Eve..
Upon arriving in Sihanoukville on the speed boat from Koh Rong, we already had a transfer waiting for us to take us to the hotel in Kampot where we will stay for 5 nights. You can also go by minivan or train to Kampot, but we searched the internet and for a little more, we had a private car that took us directly from the port in Sihanoukville to the door of the hotel in Kampot, and that's what we chose. It took about 2 hours and this because in fact most of the road was really, really bad.
Upon reaching kampot, we had the rest of the afternoon and evening to walk around the area and get to know the place where we stayed. We stayed in the Riverside area, which as the name implies is right next to the river and after walking around the area, we can say that it's really one of the best areas to stay, very central, close to everything with shops, supermarkets, restaurants and cafes. We really liked this area.
Kampot is a really calm city, where you feel that time passes slowly and everything is very relaxed. It's a city where many digital nomads go and there are also a lot of expats. And in case you didn't know, Kampot is very well known for its high quality pepper. We bought a lot!
If you're staying right downtown, like Riverside, many of the attractions are within walking distance. Kampot is a small and very charming city, full of French colonial buildings. Walking along the Kampot river gives you the feeling of being in the real Cambodia. You can walk or even cycle due to the short distances. We took a day off to ride a bike, which we'll talk about later. And on these walks, at a short distance, you can see:
- Kampot's Lotus Pond - At the south end of Kampot, roughly behind the governor's house, is a large lotus pond.
- National Bank of Cambodia
- Durian Roundabout - Kampot is not only famous for pepper but also durian (the fruit). The Durian roundabout is an iconic landmark of Kampot town.
- Kampot Old Bridge - Is an old french bridge and now open to motorbikes and pedestrian. And it's a thrill to cross this bridge, so you really have to try it! Motorbikes pass right next to us, the ground shakes everywhere.
- Kampot Provincial Museum - The history of Kampot and the outlying area.
- Samaki Market
- Kampot Fish Market
- Simply walk through the streets of the city center and sit on an terrace watching who passes by.
In addition to the city centre, there are other visits you can make that are not far away. One of the days we decided to rent bicycles and go on an adventure to see the countryside of Kampot. If you know how to drive, you can also rent a motorbike. We had a few places we wanted to go, but we were relaxed and stopped where we wanted, also because it was very hot.
As we walked around the city, we discovered a place that rented bicycles and that's where we went. If you google it, it's this: Tree Travel Tours Motorcycle and Bicycle Rentals.
We went in the morning, around 9am, and cycled through the city streets, first towards Paradise Gardens Kampot, a pepper farm and shop. Afterwards, we leave towards Phnom Kbal Romeas Cave. Along the way, we made some detours to places that could be interesting and we even went to a salt field and simply saw the pure rural side. Then we continued along the road and that's when the adventure began because Google Maps tricked us and we pedaled too much and we got really far from the destination we wanted! lol
But there we thought, we went back and this time much more attentive to everything! Along the way, we stopped at several family stalls to buy water and drink a cola and rest, because it was really hot! The families that received us were very friendly and it was clear that we might have been the first tourists to stop there, such was the distance that we cycled too much! lol
Finally, we arrived at Phnom Kbal Romeas Cave. Nobody was there and it is indeed an impressive place that is worth the visit. It's a small mountain with an abundance of dramatic caves weaving throughout that has become a popular site for rock climbing! We liked a lot.
On the way to this cave, we stopped at a village shop and bought a very typical rug that we always see in every house in Cambodia! You will notice them for sure!
At this point, we had already pedaled a lot and it was time to make the way back and before passing through some salt fields. However, one more mishap: Jorge's bike tire got flat and everything got even more difficult! lol
We still had one more adventure in a local workshop to find out if it could be inflated/patched, but it was really torn. After one more stop to drink a cola, another stop to buy water at a gas station, and very slowly, we arrived in town to deliver the bikes! lol
Some mishaps yes, but we recommend a bike ride because the countryside is very beautiful and you can see the real Cambodia. But here are some tips: pay attention to the path, take water and put on sunscreen! lol
There are other places we wanted to visit, but a little further away despite not being far. So we spoke to a tuk-tuk driver who quoted us the price of $25 for the day and tour of the surrounding area.
We left the hotel by tuk-tuk and first went to visit a salt field. At the time we visited it was not white, but we could see and understand the whole process better.
Then, we head towards Phnom Chhngok Cave, the most touristy and most visited. Phnom Chhngok is a small mountain featuring a Buddhist temple on one side and on its western side a cave featuring an ancient temple dating to the 5th century Funan Era.
Upon arrival, there are stairs that you must climb until you reach the entrance. Along the way and inside the cave there are many monkeys, at least on the day we visited. From what we understand from the conversation with the tuk-tuk driver, there is no entry fee, but when you get to the bottom of the stairs, there are security guards who tell you that you have to pay (anyway) but it wasn't much either, we paid and went up.
If you can pass/visit the agricultural fields around the cave, it's also really nice.
Then we headed towards Secret Lake, which, since all tuk-tuk drivers take tourists there, is not a big secret, but it's beautiful. The Secret Lake is an artificial lake and it lies between the pepper plantations and the Phnom Chhngok cave.
Then we went to visit a pepper plantation, perhaps the most visited by tourists and where all the guides take us: La Plantation. We knew that there were guided tours and that we had to wait a while for groups to form, one in French, the other in English. However, upon arrival, we confess that the experience was not very pleasant. Everything feels very robotic, cold, we have to take off our shoes to enter the store and wait, they immediately give you some pamphlets to get to know the plantation and what they sell in the store, you can't take pictures or film inside, then they tell you to sit down here, then go there... Anyway, we weren't enjoying it and we decided not to do the tour and we left. On the various trips we have already made, we have visited several pepper plantations and in Kampot there is no shortage of other plantations to visit. But of course it's up to you and we can say that the entrance to the store at Plantation is very beautiful.
Thus, we returned to the tuk-tuk and returned to the city where we spent the rest of the day.
Depending on how long you stay in Kampot, on another day you can also take a tour of Bokor National Park and Bokor Mountain.
One of the days we reserved to visit the neighboring city of Kep. The old colonial beach resort of Kep is just a short tuk-tuk ride away from Kampot (about 30 mins) and that's what we did. With the Grab app we called a tuk-tuk and went straight to the famous kep Crab Market. Kep is famous across Cambodia for its crab, which are found in Crab shacks - local restaurants serving its different local cuisines.
From here we walked towards Kep beach and where the symbol of the city is also located, the famous Krung Kep Blue Swimmer Crab Statue. From Kep beach it was fun to be able to see the island of Phu Quoc, in Vietnam, where we were a few years ago and which we simply loved!
Depending on the time you have, choose what you want to do and visit in Kampot and surroundings. There's also a pretty big market on Riverside that you can visit.
Regarding food, there is something for all tastes, from typical local food to hamburgers, pizza and pastas!
An area with restaurants with very good food is the intersection where the Portuguese restaurant Tertúlia is located. In addition to the Portuguese restaurant, on the other side of the street, on the corners, there are two restaurants with very good food, cheap and in huge portions... And with a $0.50 pint of beer all day and night! Tempting, right? And you also have the Kampot Night Market.
As we mentioned at the beginning, it was in Kampot that we spent the 24th of December, Christmas Eve. Although they don't celebrate Christmas in Cambodia, we thought that there was something more for tourists, but no. We confess that we even forgot it was Christmas!
But since we were away from the family, 7 hours apart, we decided to have Christmas dinner at the only Portuguese restaurant in Kampot: Tertúlia. And we can only say that we loved it: the food is simply fantastic, as well as the sangria and the desserts! We advise 100%!
KAMPOT BY NIGHT
As we've said before, Kampot is very relaxed and calm and the night is no exception. We don't know if it was because it was Christmas week, but at night everything closed very early and everything was very quiet, except for a new space that opened that week, aimed at Asians and which was the only place that made any noise.
Along the Riverside and in the center of Kampot there are some restaurants and bars, but as we said, they calm down very early and the bars there are in themselves are quieter places.
In short: most are restaurants/bars and you can have dinner and stay in the same place for a few drinks.
HELPFUL TIPS WHEN VISITING CAMBODIA & KAMPOT
- We took a trip through Asia, 3 countries: Singapore, Cambodia and Vietnam for a month and a half and we always like to have mobile internet. Many people know that you can buy a SIM card on arrival, but this time we opted for something different and very practical: an e-SIM. No physical card is needed, we bought it online still in Portugal before starting the trip and only activated it upon arrival in Singapore. We can say that it has always worked very well and it only takes one person to have it installed, because you could share the internet with another device. Easy to install and top-up was very easy too. You just have to pay attention if your equipment is compatible with an e-SIM. We bought ours at airalo.com. Mobile internet worked very well on the island of Koh Rong.
- In Cambodia the currencies used are the US Dollar and the Cambodian Riel. Both are accepted everywhere. But the question remains: which one should I use? At ATMs, which currency should I choose to withdraw? We leave here our opinion.
At ATMs we always make withdrawals in Reils. If you withdraw in US Dollars, the high probability is that the machine will only give you $100 bills, which can then be complicated to make payments, because there will be no change.
Once you get used to Reils, it's easy. You'll always talk about having millions, but it's a matter of habit. We also noticed that in terms of conversion, if we pay in Reils, it pays off a little more.
And even if you don't want to pay in Reils, the chance of paying with US dollars and receiving change in Reils is very high and most likely.
There is also a greater chance that counterfeit $100 bills exist.
- There are blogs on the internet indicating that in Cambodia they do not accept banknotes in poor condition, dirty or a little torn. It's not entirely true. This applies to US Dollars but not to Reils. We were in Cambodia for a month and almost always used Reils and whatever condition it was in (some banknotes in very bad condition) everyone accepted it.
- Cigarettes are very cheap in Cambodia and if you buy national brands, they cost around €0.50!
- Purchase mosquito repellent spray. There are indeed many on Cambodia. And if you happen to get stung, buy hydrocortisone cream. It relieves insect bites a lot and is also useful for sunburn. We bought it at several pharmacies across Cambodia.