Kramped in Kampot

Inside the old French hotel.
see all photos »

We got to the bus station well early (ie. before 7am) to go to Kampot. This was a former French colonial hill station town and retains a little of its former charm.  We wandered about for a while, visited the market where I amused the locals by buying some needles and thread. Don't know what foreigners normally buy there but this lady was not expecting me. But my sewing kit was in the bag that got nicked. After amusing the stall holders we went for the most gorgeous coffee and brownies at a lovely cafe and then for a massage. We found somewhere that did massages by the blind which is a bit of a SE Asia thing. Well I was expecting a nice gentle time of it, mostly I don't even like massages but decided to give it a go. This lady was small but she could pack a punch. For an hour she pummelled me into submission. No kidding, I actually have bruises, but feel a bit better weirdly. That's the kind of masochist I am. Cathal was floating on a sort of zen-like cloud after his but guess he's not as uptight so he didn't have as much pain.

On the way to Kampot, these guys were packed in..
see all photos »

The next day we went on a tour of Bokor National park to see the French hill station and do a small bit of trekking. Our driver/guide was lovely but unfortunately he was driving a Toyota Camry. Not a problem except there were five of us plus him. So I didn't have a seat for the very bumpy 2 hour drive there. After my pummelling the previous day I could barely walk when we got out of the car. Unbeliveably cramped sitting on Cathal's knee and repeatedly getting my head banged on the ceiling. We visited the Black Palace which was the residence of the King and his concubines. It's a bit of a ruin now but was covered in black bamboo and paved with black marble.

This lady was small but she could pack a punch

Kampot street
see all photos »

We then went off to the old hill station and hotel/casino. It was a very misty day and the whole deserted place has a very eerie feeling. Lots of people were killed by the Khmer Rouge there and some say it's haunted. I don't know about that but it could do with a good clean!  Check out the pics for the full eerieness.

We then went on a bit of a wander to see the waterfall and off then to an abandoned Catholic Church. Complete with Khmer Rouge extension of living quarters and machine gun post.

Detail of lichen covered carving at the Black Palace
see all photos »

When we got back to the guesthouse we had a little word about the fact that there wasn't actually anywhere to sit for me. First Cathal and then I spoke to them and they weren't bothered so we said we were checking out now, not paying for that night since the room wasn't what we'd agreed either (we'd already mentioned that to them and no joy). They got all aggravated, locked the gates and the woman started grabbing and shoving Cathal. Honestly these Cambodians just don't know how to settle a dispute without resorting to violence. The guide came back and said they were refusing to pay him, I went mental. We'd paid them already and it wasn't his fault they have overbooked the tour. I demanded the police, they looked a bit worried and kept yelling. Eventually in the row he paid for our room. We saved face and paid him back outside the gates and he took us to a lovely guesthouse.

Another view of the Black Palace Facade
see all photos »

The next day we'd booked a tour with a local guy. It was chucking it down with rain but we got some raingear and trundled over to meet him. He'd changed the plan and wanted us to go with someone else in a car. Not what we'd agreed.  Not happy so we cancelled the tour. Getting a bit bored with people promising and failing to deliver we did the only sensible thing in the circumstance. Repaired to the Epic cafe for some coffee and cake. Feeling recharged we decided to get out of Kampot and packed up, checked out and got the 1pm bus back to Phnom Penh. The plan being to go from there to Battambang.