Kep, Cambodia
- lorisolan
- Feb 25, 2017
- 4 min read
Day 1:
We made our way down to Kep after 2 nights in Kampot. Kep is a seaside town in the South of Cambodia. It is famous for it's seafood, especially crab. It only took an hour to get there by bus from Kampot, which was the shortest transit time we had the whole way around SEA. The bus brought us right in to the middle of the small town and as per usual there were a group of men waiting to harass us in to taking their tuk tuk to our guest house. I was used to it but this is something that Denver disliked very much about Cambodia. We got some lunch and then had no choice but to take a tuk tuk to our accommodation, Khmer House Hostel. It was a lovely secluded guesthouse, just 3km outside of the town and the owners were really friendly. They had a great space on the upper level with hammocks, a pool table, a book swap station and a bar. Their little dog was a big hit with all the guests.
Khmer House Hostel
Denver had been really sick over the last 5 days while we were in Sihanoukville & Kampot and he was still not feeling right. We weren't sure what could have caused his illness as we both ate the same things pretty much all of the time. He tried to get on with it so we hired a scooter from the hostel for our 3 days there, at $7 P/D. We drove back in to town to have a look around. We stopped at the big crab statue which can be seen from the road just outside the town towards south/east.
Welcome to Kep Crab Statue
They really enjoy their statues here as just another short distance from the crab is this one of a girl backward embracing a flying dolphin. I have no idea what this symbolizes and cannot find the information anywhere on the internet (shocking!) but it serves as a good photo.
The Independence Monument
We drove back in to town and went to get some dinner. We stopped at a couple of the local stalls by the sea that had hammocks for rent that you could relax in while having your food. Both stalls said that if we bought food the hammocks would only be $5USD each. We looked at the menu and couldn't believe they were charging almost $15USD for a serve of fried rice so for a plate of rice and rental charges we were expected to pay $25USD which was just crazy. Even in the capital Phnom Penh you would not find anywhere near these prices for local food. We had already sat down at the hammock at this stage and the lady came over and asked us what we wanted. After seeing the prices, we said no thank you and went to leave and she started shouting at us. We have absolutely no idea why, maybe with the extortionate prices, we should have paid something for our 2 minutes in the hammocks!
Day 2:
On our second day, it was Shrove Tuesday so we had pancakes for breakfast which was a nice treat. Denver still wasn't feeling well, note that he was also refusing to take any medication so that slowed up his recovery quite a bit. We drove up to Kep National Park, paid our entry fee then he took a really bad turn and was feeling nauseous. I told him to go back to the hostel and rest, he said he was fine to ride the bike back.
I decided to take on the 8 km hike of the national park myself and told him to message me if he needed me. He turned back and I set off. It was a little bit eerie on my own for the first hour as there was no one else on the trail other than monkeys running around and alot of shadows caused by overhanging trees however once it opened out a bit more, I really enjoyed the walk. There were some great viewpoints along the way. With stops for photos and water the whole journey back to our hostel was approx. 4 hours. It is definitely one of the highlights of Kep and also great exercise as there are some inclines en route.
Kep National Park
I got back to the hostel around 5pm. Denver was feeling much better so we drove down to The Sailing Club for sunset (Phum Thmey, Sangkat Prey Thom). We had a couple of happy hour cocktails and watched the sun go down. It was one of the prettiest sunsets I have ever seen. The setting of this bar/restaurant is right in front of a vast expanse of calm sea. The variation of colour as the sun went down were beautiful. As usual the pictures don't do it justice! I would highly recommend going here for sunset happy hour, if you have a GoPro get a time lapse going and it is wirth noting the food is really good too. It is a little pricey if you are on a budget but worth the splash out!
The Sailing Club (Knai Bang Chatt)
Day 3:
We had our breakfast and then left to go and check out the crab markets. There are a string of wooden restaurants lined up along the seafront and they all offer extensive menus to include crab and other seafood along with western and Khmer local dishes. You can find other stalls outside selling fresh fruit and vegetable and as this is quite a tourist spot, plenty of elephant pants can be found along the way.
Another place to visit when in Kep is Koh Tonsay (Rabbit Island). We did not make it over with Denver being so sick but it is meant to really pretty. They only run the electricity from 6-10pm so the island is in complete darkness from 10pm onwards. Also there is no wifi so be prepared for a day or two not knowing what is happening in the outside world. I would have liked to have experienced it for this reason as sometimes it is nice to switch off and live how life used to be. Boats leave every day from Kep pier at 9am and 1pm daily and the last one returning from Rabbit Island is at 3pm.
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