A weekend in Cambodia's coast!

I had a lot of first’s this past weekend! An obvious being the first time in these two breathtaking coastal towns, and more excitingly were the first time renting/driving my own moto, sleeping in a bungalow over water, staying the night on a secluded island and my first goose bumps (yes, I was cold!) in Cambodge!

I heard great things about Kampot province in the southern part of Cambodia. Kampot is a sleepy little town set on the Kampot River, perfect for a relaxing getaway with amazing views of Bokor Mountain. Unfortunately, Bokor National Park is closed this time of year, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying our time.

Since we’ve been told to always purchase one more seat than we actually need in a shared taxi, Golli and I purchased 3 seats from Phnom Penh to Kampot. We shared the back seat of a small car with one Cambodian woman, and if we had only purchased two, one other person would have joined us. However, the front consisted of four! Two people in the driver’s seat (the driver was sitting on someone’s lap) and two in the passenger seat! The driver had his right hand on the dash and driving with his left the whole time. Who knows what foot he was using!?

When we first arrived we headed straight to our guest house Bodhi Villa to decide how we were going to spend the day. The surrounding area was flourishing with all types of vegetation leading right up to the river. We stayed in a floating bungalow set just over the river, which is a MUST if you ever go to Kampot. The bungalow was open with curtains blowing in the breeze. We decided renting moto’s was the best way to see the town efficiently as we only had about 24 hours. As we negotiated, the rain started so we waited for it to pass while relaxing in papasan chairs having lunch and sipping coffee. We met some other travelers that just arrived to the villa, Mikkel, Adam and Janine who all randomly met while traveling alone so we decided to join on an adventure together.

We set out in search of the Wat on Fish Island but instead found ourselves roaming many dirt roads which didn’t make for the easiest moto ride, but very fun nonetheless. We ran into a group of kids that wouldn’t mind if we spent hours taking pictures of them and then showing them the photos. I’ve never seen children get such a kick out of it before! We continued to do this for close to an hour before it started to rain again so we headed back. Of course on our way, we found the Wat and had to go in. We were greeted by very kind monks who showed us around and explained the history of the Buddha and what its like to be a monk. They invited us to come back the following day to teach English to children but unfortunately Golli and I already had plans to go to Koh Tonsai (Rabbit Island). Mikkel, Adam and Janine decided to join them and I am cant wait to hear how it went.

That evening we stopped a local market to pick up some wine and snacks to hold us over until dinner. We sat for about 2 hours sharing stories and thoroughly enjoying ourselves. We headed back in to town motopooling (same idea as carpoolingJ) to grab some dinner. This restaurant had an abundance of options from burgers, blue cheese steak, pasta and of course Khmer food. I went with a fish curry and it was so delicious! After that, we rode home, which was when I got my first real goose bumps in Cambodia (this excludes goose bumps caused by my everyday showers because of no hot water)! The cool breeze off the river was very refreshing for about 30 seconds, and then I was so cold!

The next morning was by far one of the best I’ve ever had my entire life! I awoke to the sunrise facing our bungalow right over the river. I was literally lying in bed reading “First They Killed My Father” (a must read about the Khmer Rouge) and taking pictures every 5 minutes. I think I was in my swimsuit by 7am, lying on the bungalow just simply relaxing and soaking it all in. I couldn’t get over how peaceful it was and wish I could have stayed there for a long time.

That day Golli and I planned to visit Phnom Chhnok, 7th century ruins with amazing caves. We were greeted by very eager kids with flashlights wanting to take us through for a small tip. They were so friendly, helpful and entertaining. They had us climbing up gigantic rocks and through caves, and at some points even lifting us! I will admit that I was pretty scared at certain parts. We were in the complete dark, just Golli and me with about 6 boys (and some bats!) who knows what could have happened! We never made it to the very top before we had to take our moto’s back and catch our tuk tuk for the 2nd part to our weekend!

After a hour long tuk tuk ride in the rain, a scenic 25 minute boat ride, we arrived to Koh Tonsai, a beautiful island, covered in Palm Trees off the coast of Kep and fairly small as you could walk the perimeter in about an hour and a half. There is only electricity on this island from 6pm-10pm, which is quite helpful when wondering what time it is and then hear the start of a generator! We met up with friends Drew and Katie who are with Kiva, another volunteer organization, and were staying on the island as well. We had lunch (I had fresh fish which they literally brought in from the ocean) and then headed in the water for about an hour. The beach had bamboo beds that we laid on soaking up the sun. That evening we walked up the side of the mountain for the sunset (and many photo shootsJ) had another glorious dinner followed by chocolate and banana crepes! Oh I was in heaven! Katie and I decided we wanted to lie on the bamboo beds again just staring up at the stars. I don’t even know how much later, but a staff member woke us up making us aware that we completely fell asleep!

The next morning was Sunday L I didn’t want to leave this quaint little island and wish I had just a few more days. After breakfast and soaking up some rays, we got back on the boat to the mainland and headed home. It was nice to get home at a decent hour (about 7pm) to unwind and get good rest before another busy and productive week at PSP.