My Learning Jungle!: Kampot

Friday May 1st-

So after having spent time at the elephant sanctuary I have caught a bit of the adventurous bug so with the long weekend I decided to head to Kampot. I had booked my bus and hostel and was set to leave but then one of the girls whom I had met at the elephant sanctuary was in Phnom Penh and decided to come with me for a day. With the spontaneity of her coming along we could not get us both on a bus, seeing as they were all sold out for the long weekend, so instead we took the expensive route and hired a private taxi to take us. When we arrived in kampot we wanted to make the most of the day before Indy headed back that evening, so we had our taxi driver take us up to the national park mountain. The mountain is supposedly known for its views of the river and ocean as well as for its waterfall. Of course as we ascended it got cloudy and we couldn't see any of the views and the waterfall was bone dry since there hasn't been enough rain. Once back in town at my hostel we had lunch and then took a gander into the tiny town. We checked out the river front and the market and decided that kampot is much more quaint and inviting than Phnom Penh, a place I wouldn't mind living as it's still big enough not to be bored and yet closer to the surrounding countryside to be outdoorsy. Before heading back to the hostel we stopped in to some stores and got cool souvenirs as well as I booked a countryside tour for the following day since I'll be traveling alone. Indy spent another hour with me hanging by the pool before having our taxi driver bring her back to Phnom Penh. After she was gone I had dinner with an Italian girl who has been living in Indonesia for the past year and a half but then it was off to bed.

Saturday May 2nd-

Today I was up with the sun to get ready for my countryside tour. Luckily there was others on the tour, three Israeli's (Nora, Serene, and Teahl) and one British. The British girls name was Sophy, as though even during this hard time I had my nan close by to remind me she's everywhere I go since she's always in my heart. Our tour started with the salt fields but there were no workers there because it's rainy season so they cannot produce salt until it becomes dry again. Basically they have hoses, which transport seawater into the fields which in the dry season the water evaporates leaving only the salt behind to be collected, cleaned and then sold. Next we piled back in the van and drove trough the countryside villages where we saw sugar cane and rice fields being maintained and people fishing or just lounging in their hammocks at home. The people all seemed so lovely and happy despite the lack of the every day things we've grown accustomed to. While kids now a days sit and play video games these children were out learning the trades of the field or riding their bikes. Very serene and happy. We then stopped on the side of the road near a rocky cliff where we had to cross a bridge, which was not a bridge... Just a log but to them it's apparently a bridge. Then once at the rock face we climbed stairs before descending into a cave temple. It was cool to see but stifling hot as there was no airflow. We didn't stay long there and so we were off again. The next stop was another quick stop just to take pictures of what is known as the hidden lake, before continuing on to the pepper plantation. There are four types of pepper that all originate from the same pepper vine. As it grows they can pick the fresh green pepper, which is used in seafood and is not dried. If they dry the green pepper however it then becomes black pepper, which we are used to seeing and eating. However they can let the pepper ripen and change colours to red on the vine which when dried makes red pepper or they can soak the red pepper and peel the red skin off before drying it to make white pepper. The pepper is grown around brick stacks. It used to be done using wood stakes but the wood stakes only held one vine at a time whereas the big brick pillars have over ten vines wrapped around them, and each vine produces 1kg of pepper. Buying the pepper from the pepper plantation however was extremely expensive and so I refrained from buying the different varieties of pepper even though they said buying the pepper in town may not be as good of quality it is significantly cheaper. I did however buy pepper sauce, which consists of Palm sugar and pepper finely grinded and mixed together, and when you add lime to it it's absolutely delicious and can be put on basically any dish. As we were leaving the pepper plantation the guide informed us that the three isreali's had purchased an additional tour to go to rabbit island so he was going to take us all to Kep beach but then the three others would take a boat to the island and we would just stay in Kep until they came back. Well instead sophy and I also purchased this extra addition so that we too could see Rabbit Island. Before heading to Rabbit Island we had some time to visit Kep market, which is known for their seafood. They had whole fish on skewers and squid. I didn't try any but Teahl did. Instead we got pineapple and some kind of root fruit and these crackers that we think we're coconut and sea same but really they could have been made from rise, not too sure. The boat over to rabbit island was just a piece of curved wood basically but we made it across and while the three Israelis went a separate way sophy and I found a nice spot in the shade to relax and nap. At 4 it was time o catch out boat back to Kep and have our bus take us back to kampot. The boat however has a limit of 8 people but our driver decided 20 people was a much better idea so we had to go extremely slow so as not to capsize. Finally back to the hostel but not until we made a quick stop to see the fishing village on the side of the road. I was feeling less than social so I had dinner at the hostel than resorted to an early night. I also somehow got really burnt despite lying in the shade and being in the car most of the day.