Final Joys of Cambodia

A bittersweet departure the next morning, beginning with a quick bus ride to the nearby town of Kompong Chhnang. Stepping off the bus we immediately realized how much slower the pace of life was here. Where we were dropped off, there were only a handful of moto drivers to be seen. These guys actually let us walk away without harassing us for our business. Again, we hooked up with a local who would show us the sights around town the following day. This guy was a far cry from Philay (perhaps quite drunk during our first conversation on the street), but his transportation was reliable and we took in the sights we had in mind. We found some beautiful clay work in a village at the foot of a huge mountain and visited some other great places like floating villages and enormous riverside markets.

Thanks to the advice of our moto-driver, we stood on the side of the road leaving town and waited for some cheap transportation to come to us. We hitched a ride in a minivan towards Oudong, the next town in our path. Rolling through town we second guessed our choice and decided to push on another 30km to Phnom Penh to stay one night. Now a little Phnom Penh savvy, we checked into a nice hotel on the Tonle Sap riverfront and treated ourselves to a great mid-day breakfast. We arranged a bus to Sihanoukville for the next day. A pleasant surprise in the morning, our 7$ bus ticket got us a plush, reclining seat on a modern bus with perks like sweet bread and bottled water. Six hours to Sihanoukville and about 30 minutes into it the driver pops in a Khmer Karaoke VHS tape. The “music” was cranked to a volume level any Metallica fan would approve of. 5 straight hours of this definitely helped us understand the frequently used term “CRAZY KHMER MUSIC”.

Upon arrival in Sihanoukville we met a mild mannered taxi driver and jumped in his Corolla. After the rundown from him, we cruised to a quiet end of a beach front road. Only 13$ for the night, with A/C, hot water, and only 200m away from Occheuteal Beach. We made the most of being located on a breezy and quieter section of sand and stayed 6 nights. Sihanoukville is a classic bustling beach town offering up entertainment including the red-light district, clubs and nightlife, a casino, and 4 km of beach to sleep it all off on. This was a nice place to hang our hats for awhile and work on our tans.

From here, we pushed on entering a new province, Kampot. This province is famous for its salt flats, and world renowned first-class peppercorns. The van dropped us at Kampot Guesthouse. Soon after check-in the resident baby kitty quickly latched on to us and joined us for an afternoon nap in the room. The guesthouse was complete with an inviting garden café and tasty food for a good price. Kampot was even more relaxed and stunning than we anticipated. We watched smiling locals leisurely peddle around town amongst the old French-era shops. The town is centered on a stunningly atmospheric riverfront where an endless supply of fresh seafood is available. We couldn’t help but feel like we were in the middle of a movie-set in this picture perfect location.

Next, we were on to Kep the “City of Ghosts”. This French coastal town, once booming and full of big money, is now dotted with the blackened shells of luxurious homes, owned in the 60’s by Cambodia’s high rollers. Even to this day, the destruction left behind from the Khmer Rouge is obvious. Although only ruins of homes, these places are all inhabited today by people who have no where else.

Located only a 25 minute boat ride south across Kep Bay lies Koh Tonsay, “Rabbit Island”. This place is rustic and undeveloped to say the least. Without any common comforts such as a fan, electricity, or even a toilet, we settled in to a super basic bungalow for a minimum of one night to start. After a quick walkabout we discovered that the shores weren’t the paradise we expected. Other than the main beach where we slept, trash and fishing nets covered the remainder of the coast. There were herds of local livestock grazing freely as well as wild hunting dogs and free-range chickens. We truly enjoyed the peace and quiet though, without any motors or noise. We watched the day float away as we lounged in hammocks reading and enjoying some time for reflection. Late in the evening as we lay on our bungalow mat surrounded by protective bug netting we heard a storm brewing in the distance. Soon enough the island was roaring with the most incredible thunder and lightening either of us have ever experienced. We sat out on our porch and watched the show. The intensity of the storm was so great that for a moment, we questioned our safety in our little shack in the middle of the sea. The flashes cracked right beside us lighting up the whole area as though it were daylight. After a while the storm moved across the water and faded into the distance. When we woke in the morning we were comforted by the light of day. Seems that the storm wasn’t the only close call we had through the night. As we un-tucked our bug net we found a LIVE SCORPION which had made its way through the net and right under our mat below our pillows!! A little shaken we swatted the scorpion through the slats of wood and decided that one night of “island paradise” would suffice…We relaxed for the day until the afternoon taxi boat returned to Kep mainland.

Since Kep had really made an impression on the two of us, we decided that we would cut out our next stop and would remain here the extra few days. Another 4 nights in Kep, we took in some of the local sights and enjoyed staying put for awhile. We rented a Honda Dream and day tripped on our own. We also took a tuk-tuk tour to some local farms including the famous Kampot pepper fields, cashew and mango farms, as well as the local salt flats. Our Vietnam visas became valid on the 3rd of April so we arranged for transportation to take us to the border. We weren’t really sure what to expect as this entry point was newly opened to foreigner crossings and we had been warned that the road becomes very rough and people often get ditched by their ride, basically we just had to hope for the best. Our driver picked us up in the morning and drove us the 30km towards the border by tuk-tuk. We were both very sad to say goodbye, not only to Kep but also to Cambodia. We experienced so much in our time here. The scenery we took in, knowledge we gained, and most of all the human interactions we had will remain with us forever. After a wonderful month here, we couldn’t have asked for a more sentiment-filled final morning. As we travelled towards the border, excited children popped up in every direction. They shouted “Hello” and “Goodbye” waving and running happily alongside, this was totally emotionally overwhelming. This was something we experienced here from day 1 to day 30 and it truly was the most suiting send off. Once the road became only a trail in the middle of nowhere, we transferred to 2 motorbikes for the rest of the journey. It was a little dodgy as we were quite vulnerable but the guys pulled through and delivered us safely. The extent of customs at the crossing was a stamp in the passport and then 2 more motos drove us about 10km to the town of Hatien. Not much to see or do in Hatien but we decided we would stay one night in order to break up the distance to Ho Chi Minh City. We sipped coffee along the river enjoying our afternoon and took a stroll through the night bizarre.