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| Brad & Ruairi relax on the porch of our bungalow on Koh Rung. |
The day after Ruairi’s arrival, we hopped onto a bus and headed south to Sihanoukville. The town has several beaches to choose from, and we stayed in a hotel that was only a 2 minute walk from Victory Beach. Free beach chairs, crooked palm trees, and white sand made me a very happy beach-goer. The town was full of tourists, and we were seeking out a true getaway. So, we booked a boat to Koh Rung, an island located about 2 ½ hours offshore. We arrived to find peaceful bungalows lining an empty beach. Perfect!
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| The view from our bungalow's porch. |
The bungalows were extremely simple, but we did have our own toilet as well as mosquito nets, which was all we needed. We enjoyed a few days of sand and sun before saying good-bye to Ruairi. Brad and I opted to stay an extra day because it was such an amazing place. We then headed back to Sihanoukville the following afternoon.
We knew we had to get our visas for Vietnam while in Sihanoukville, so we had to spend another night there. The visa process took less than five minutes (for both visas), so we were pleasantly surprised. We spent the remainder of our day lounging on the beach and reading our books. The following morning, we headed to Kampot.
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| Children wave to us as we ride through the surrounding countryside of Kampot in a tuk tuk. |
Kampot is a quiet town, located on the Teuk Chhou River. We spent our first day in town on the back of a tuk tuk exploring the countryside. We went first to Phnom Chhnork, a cave that contains a brick temple inside that dates back to the 7th century. It was pretty cool, and we got very muddy following our young guides through the cave. We then stopped off at a small fishing village to see the locals’ boats and take a few photos. After this we rode out to a pepper farm, where you could actually smell the peppercorns in the trees. We then headed to Kep to enjoy some seafood at a restaurant perched over the water before heading back to our guesthouse. It was a beautiful day with perfect weather and amazing scenery.
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| The backside of Bokor Hill Resort & Casino. |
The following day we woke up early and headed out to Bokor National Park. Bokor Hill is home to several abandoned buildings erected by the French in the mid 1920s. These days, a Chinese company has the rights to the land and a new resort is expected to be completed in five years. We felt lucky to visit when we did because we were still able to see the abandoned buildings before the restoration had started. We rode for about 15 minutes to a trailhead, where we then climbed for an hour and a half before getting back into our truck and riding the remainder of the way. At the top of the hill you find the Bokor Hill Resort and Casino, perched on the edge. Our guide told us that years ago, when the casino was still open, many rich tourists would come to gamble. Some of the unlucky ones that lost all of their money would then proceed to the edge of the cliff and jump. After seeing the edge, we knew that anyone who jumped wouldn’t have survived the fall.
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| The church at Bokor Hill. |
The hilltop was a functioning town in its heyday with a church, post office, police station, school, and several houses. Our guide told us that you can find bullet holes in both the hotel and the church as the Vietnamese fought the Khmer Rouge from the church, about 200-300 meters away from the hotel. Imagining what the hilltop looked like in the 1920s was quite fun, but seeing the destruction brought by the Khmer Rouge was frightening.
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| A beautiful sunset in Kep. |
As of today (August 30, 2010) we find ourselves in Kep. This town is the quietest one we’ve stopped in while in Cambodia. Tomorrow we plan to rent bicycles and wander aimlessly on the back roads. We will go from here directly to Vietnam on September 2nd. We are really looking forward to our next country, but Cambodia has been very good to us.
-Renee
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