Intent to visit the town Kampot in the province of Cambodia of the same name appeared long before the trip to the “Kingdom of Wonders” for two main reasons: the original name and the monument to Durian, against which I wanted to take a photo,

and in general, I felt a desire to wander the streets of the town with a “delicious” name and see with my own eyes this culinary and geographical miracle (meaning the city and the monument, and not the fruit itself - there is a lot of it in Thailand. Those who have tasted Durian , I believe, will agree with me that only those who have ever eaten it can discuss or evaluate this very taste).

All the attractions of this place are big mountain with many caves, manholes, passages, etc., in one word “caverns,” through which curious travelers pass with flashlights on their heads (those who are prepared, of course) - and come out somewhere far away in other places. Apparently, it’s funny - Europeans are running around like that. I didn’t go into the cavern, therefore, after examining the cave, which is more than ….. years old, I returned back to the entrance and we set off on the way back to Kampot. By the time we returned, the clock showed 12 hours and minutes, that is, before the departure (or at least arrival) of the bus, something had to be done. But there was nothing to do. Within another hour, the supermarket on Durian Square (I didn’t bother to find out the real name of the square) was visited by me 2 more times, several types of Cambodian and Vietnamese beer were drunk, and time still passed slowly. After wandering around the center of Kampot for some more time, I landed at a certain catering establishment that offered French pastries, ice cream and, of course, all types of alcoholic drinks.

Since Kampot has a river, but no sea, the air temperature seems higher than in Sihanoukville (maybe I shouldn’t have gone to Cap - it’s still on the seashore - they would have fed me crabs, again). Having patiently sat in the cafe until 15-20, I decided to walk towards the bass station, fortunately, the map with a bold arrow was confirmed by the data from the map of the guidebook that I found in the counter near the table at which I was sitting. Of course, the maps differed somewhat in scale and degree of linearity of the roads, but both gave approximate information about where I needed to go to arrive at the meeting point with the bus.

In general, at 15-25 I left the cafe and, having asked the owner of the cafe which way to go in order to arrive at my destination as quickly as possible, I set off. It must be said that Kampot is built on a parallel-perpendicular plan, so a normal tourist will have absolutely no problems finding his way around. However, after a 10-minute voyage, I discovered that I was quite far from the place to which, in fact, I was heading. And, it seems, with the method of travel on foot, I just can’t make it to the bass station I need by 4 p.m. It is worth noting that Kampot is not Siem Reap or Sihanoukville; there are no tuk-tuks or motorbikes crowded here at every step. Therefore, when I decided to use (urgently) the services of at least one of the indicated vehicles, they simply were not in the foreseeable vicinity. Another 500-600 meters on foot - and I finally came across a kind of street cafe, in which several men of Cambodian (more precisely, Khmer) nationality were sitting and doing nothing. There were no motorcycles or tuk-tuks seen near them or nearby. Nevertheless, I decided to ask where I could quickly find some kind of transport. Immediately there was a motorcyclist on the opposite corner of the intersection, who promised to take me to the place marked on the map as the bus departure point for $3. Although the situation was noticeably reminiscent of delivering a guest of the Russian capital by taxi from Yaroslavsky to the Kazansky station in Moscow, there was no time left to think, we had to move - and we moved forward, to the bus that promised to arrive and leave at 16-00. We arrived quickly. Time – 15-49. In my opinion, the bus should arrive any minute and in a few minutes, having safely loaded me into it, head off to Sihanoukville.

The picture is as follows. As soon as I got off the motorcycle, a tuk-tuk pulled up with two Norwegians, whose kayak backpack haunted my neighbor and me on the way to Kampot. The Norwegians invite me to take a taxi with them to Sihanoukville and leave Kampot. Allegedly, today there will be no more buses in the direction I and they need. I quickly (despite my very average knowledge of the English language) find out that they (Norwegians) do not have the opposite ticket and they count on random seats on buses going to in the right direction, with a royal gesture I take it out of my pocket ticket to Sihanoukville (at 4-00 PM) and declare that for me, guys, unlike you, everything is OK and I don’t need a taxi to Sihanoukville at all. “The guys,” without saying another word, depart in an unknown direction, and I remain waiting for “Four o” clock (there are still 7-8 minutes left). These same 7-8 minutes pass quite quickly, no bus appears, nowhere and in no direction. Well, I'm waiting - you never know what happens on the wild roads of Cambodia! Another 10 minutes pass - nothing changes, NO bus.

I turn to the boy at the bass station (luckily for me, he speaks some English, it seems even better than me). He says that if I have ticket, then everything is OK and the bus will arrive sooner or later. Okay, I'm waiting. After about 15 minutes I repeat the question on the topic “where could my bus be now?” The boy babbles something about how the bus is going somewhere from Phnom Penh somewhere and could now be anywhere. The information is not reassuring. I really want to get to Sihanoukville and really don’t want to stay overnight in Kampot. The boy suggests going to the nearby bass station and getting information there. We're getting there. It's very close, just around the corner. There are some people sitting there who speak only Khmer, so the amount of information does not increase.

But, after about 10 minutes, a Toyota Camry arrives, packed with passengers beyond belief. A boy speaking English suggests that I join the “herrings in a barrel”, that is, the passengers of this car, and move together towards Sihanoukville. I, of course, am interested in where exactly to load – on the laps of those sitting or in the trunk? I don’t receive an answer and the Toyota driver quickly engages reverse gear and drives away. Probably to Sihanoukville. I'm staying in Kampot.

Time passes, it will definitely get dark soon, after all, the equator is not that far away. A few more minutes pass and the boy, who speaks English, politely makes it clear that he is tired of my stupid questions regarding my not arriving bus. He tells me that he can recommend good options for overnight accommodation in Kampot, but it’s still impossible to leave today. I already realized that trying to find a passing bus is useless, I ask about where to look for a taxi here - the answers follow in the style of “nowere” & “nothing”. In short, fuck off and do what you want.

I head towards the well-known Durian monument, believing that this is where the center of this city and the province as a whole is located. On the way, I ask the locals where I can find a taxi, or at least a police post or station. The answers are negative, there is nothing here, especially at such an evening time (and the time is only 17-20).
On the way to Durian I meet one of the many ticket offices. I come in and ask if there is an opportunity to leave Kampot for Sihanoukville now. A young man sitting in a huge office says that his dad, the owner of the office, will come up now and will probably help me with something. Dad comes 10 minutes after his son’s call, very cheerful and sociable. He tells me that getting to Sihanoukville by taxi is easy and right now! It even indicates prices. In Cambodia, apparently, riding in the back seat is not cool, but riding in the front seat is great. According to dad, the cost of a taxi with a ride in the back seat is $15, and in the front seat – $25. I agree with the latter. Dad, in a good mood, leaves for some mysterious station, warning that he will arrive back in 3 minutes.

He returns 15 minutes later in a different mood than he was in. He tells me that there will be no buses until the morning, but there are also no taxis that would be from Sihanoukville. There seem to be local, Kampot taxi drivers, but you have to pay a double tariff for their services (they have nothing to do in Sihanoukville, and they can’t find passengers back to Kampot at night). In short, the price of the trip will be 60 dollars, and if you haggle a lot, then 50. I answer that I agree to pay no more than 30. He takes out a pack of business cards and starts calling potential taxi drivers who want to go to the sea and come back.
It takes about 15 minutes for calls and conversations, after which he offers me a trip to Sihanoukville in a car without companions, in the front seat for $35. I agree. He says the car will arrive in 3 minutes. Knowing how long their minutes last, we go with him to the supermarket, talking on the way about flights from Russia to Cambodia, I buy beer for the road, and - oh, miracle! A taxi in the form of an old Camry is already standing near the office and waiting for me. To the surprise of those present, I loaded myself into the back seat (not cool!) and departed from hospitable Kampot.

After 1 hour 40 minutes we arrived in Sihanoukville. Before going to the hotel, I asked the taxi driver to stop at the office that sold me the ticket from Kampot. As one would expect, the employee present there said that “I’m not me and the horse is not mine either.” That is, the ticket, of course, is his, but the transport company that owns the bus is a completely different matter and the one who sells the tickets is completely unaware of what the one who directly transports passengers is doing. For clarity, I even pulled the taxi driver out of the car and asked him to inform the ticket magnate about the cost of transporting me from Kampot. The taxi driver said no problem. The question “Where did the bus go?” and why I didn’t find him at the appointed place at 4-00 PM were discussed briefly and decided to leave it until tomorrow. While they were arguing, the taxi driver drove away, but my Golden Sand hotel was just a stone’s throw away, and I safely reached it on foot.

The next morning, before going to the beach, I again visited the mentioned ticket office and made a claim on the merits of the complete absence of the promised time indicated on the ticket. vehicle for a trip to Sihanoukville. My main question was the following: The ticket says departure time: 4-00. Where was(if there was one at all) bus at this time? The ticket magnate argued with me for quite a long time, then finally called the owners of the bus and supposedly found out everything. He spoke to them, of course, in Khmer, so it was impossible to understand the essence of the conversation. After that, in English, he told me something like this:

If your ticket indicates the departure time is 4:00, then you should definitely be at the station and wait for the bus to arrive not at 3:50, but at least at 3:30. Well, that is, the bus supposedly arrived at the appointed place at 15-30, did not find passengers with tickets, picked up passengers without tickets and safely departed to its destination. I, of course, objected that if you had such rules here, you would have written on the ticket, for example, 2:00. I would have arrived, no problem at all. As I expected, as a result of a 50-minute argument, I managed to get the cost of the ticket back ($5), and, of course, I had to forget about compensation for taxi expenses. As an argument, the ticket agent expressed the idea that if the passenger (that is, me) is such a slob, he could stay in Kampot for another couple of days, but the office that sold a good, valid ticket is not obliged to pay for a taxi, nor the accommodation of such a passenger in a guesthouse in Kampot, as well as any services provided to him, examples of which he also gave quite colorfully.

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A quiet resort town in the southwest of the Phnom Damrei mountain range attracts tourists with its simplicity and closeness to nature. It is located in the center of Cambodia, near the Gulf of Thailand on the Kampong Bai River. It is the capital of the province of the same name. You can get here from the city by bus for a couple of dollars, and from the capital of Cambodia there is a taxi for 40 dollars and special services tourist buses twice a day, the ticket price is about 4 dollars.

This town attracts tourists with its quiet streets with many French-style houses and mansions built on the basis of Chinese architecture. There are several buildings built according to special designs in the European style, such as the governor's house.
The entire city is permeated with a flavor unique to provincial towns. There is almost no sense of modernity here; it seems that nothing has changed in Kampot since its foundation. Despite the fact that the town can be called sleepy and leisurely, tourists from all over the world are eager to get here, so Kampot has a very developed network of hotels and inns for every taste and budget. In the very center of the city there are many different cafes and restaurants. You can get around Kampot itself on a moped or auto-rickshaw for less than a dollar.

Kampot Zoo.

One of the attractions of Kampot, which not all visiting tourists know about, is the zoo. It is located five kilometers from the city itself. It was founded in 2000 and has become popular among local population. The correct name of the zoo is Teuk Chhou, which is the name of the river next to which it is located. It is also called Kampot Zoo or Kep Zoo.
Visitors are greeted at the entrance by statues of huge yellow tigers. Ticket price is about 50 cents for a child (1500 Cambodian riel), 4 dollars for foreign tourist, but a wedding photograph will cost $20.



It must be said that Kampot Zoo cannot be compared with zoos in large cities, but there is something to see here. The territory of the zoo is landscaped only in some places, but the plants in some places impress with their beauty. In general, on the territory of the zoo there is a lot of bright, lush greenery, palm trees and shrubs. Along with the real inhabitants of the zoo, there are various sculptures of wild animals, people, birds and even fruits.



The first tourists are greeted by crocodiles living in a pond among water lilies and other green plants, but the whole view is spoiled by garbage, which is rarely removed from this reservoir. Then you can see elephants, tigers, bears, gibbons and macaques. There is also a family of lions, consisting of adults and their cubs. Multi-colored peacocks, the Asian golden cat and fat guinea fowl attract people with their beauty. Here you can also see a fluffy animal with thick black fur and a long tail. It is called a binturong and is a predatory mammal from the civet family.



The sad fact is that the animals' enclosures are in poor condition, and the animals are not properly cared for by the zoo staff.
Kampot has recently become popular among eco-tourism enthusiasts as the area is home to many natural caves, grottoes and mountains that bring tourists closer to the secrets of nature. For example, you should definitely see the caves of Phnom Chnork, Phnom Sorcia and Rung Damrei Saa - the largest cave of these.

Bokor National Park.

Another attraction of the city is called. This is very big park wildlife throughout Southeast Asia. A herd of wild elephants lives here, and the extent of virgin forests and jungles will impress even the most seasoned tourist. In addition to elephants, snakes, monkeys, tigers and foxes live here. There are many abandoned buildings in this park, such as an abandoned casino, a church and a pagoda. There is an entire abandoned city from the 16th century, it looks very impressive and exciting, because it is a real ghost town! The flora and fauna of these places amazes with their diversity and exoticism.
Many people come to relax on seaside resort Kep, which is only 25 kilometers from Kampot. Tourists do their shopping at the lively Central Market, where you can buy everything from food to jewelry, and then stroll along the embankment. As in any city, there are a large number of temples where you can see real monks.


Of course, many will not like such a town, because there are no noisy entertainment venues, clubs and nightlife, and there is nowhere to go during the day, especially for young couples with children. But Kampot has its own charm, unique to it, and it is worthy of attention no less than other large and famous resorts peace.

Curious travelers who are interested in Cambodia and the life of Cambodians will like it here. Fans of passive recreation, once in Kampot, may be disappointed: all the most interesting things are located outside the city, within a radius of 40 km from it, so you need to bargain with tuk-tukers for trips or rent a moped to go to the sights along dusty rural roads.

Those who are not intimidated by the hassle of independent tourism will undoubtedly enjoy Kampot. There are amazing landscapes around the city: colorful villages with friendly peasants, allspice plantations and bright green rice fields, karst rocks and rivers with fishing boats. Kampot does not spoil its guests with cleanliness and comfort; it charms with its atmosphere - calm and leisurely, like the river along which it is built.

Flights to Kampot

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How to get to Kampot

You can only get to Kampot by road or two-wheeled vehicles, because... There is no airport in the city, and the railway station has long been abandoned.

From Phnom Penh

Buses from Phnom Penh go to Kampot either through the city of Kep or directly. In the first case, the journey takes 5 hours, in the second - 3.5. Transport companies There are several in Phnom Penh; tickets can be bought at the hotel reception. Buses from Paramount Angkor Express ($6) or Giant Ibis ($10) are preferred, as... they go to Kampot directly.

It takes 2.5 hours by taxi from Phnom Penh. The car will cost from $35 to $50, depending on your bargaining ability. Popular in Cambodia minibus when they pay not for a car, but for a seat in it. Traveling from Phnom Penh in such a taxi will cost $5, but a passenger car is usually packed with 7 passengers, so this option is not recommended.

From Sihanoukville

There are no buses from Sihanoukville to Kampot. There is a company - Stray Asia Bus, whose buses run on the route Sihanoukville - Hare Island (near the city of Kep) with a stop in Kampot. You can ask hotel or travel agency staff to get a ticket for this bus.

There are minibuses to Kampot with tickets for $5. This is not the most comfortable form of transport in Cambodia, because... Usually there are more passengers on these buses than seats, but most tourists are forced to get to Kampot this way.

A taxi will cost $30-35 per car. On the road - 2 hours.

Hotels in Kampot

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Kampot is a rather large city, but the tourist part of it fits into a few blocks. Foreigners live, eat and buy everything they need in a square of streets, in the corners of which: Old Bridge, Post Office, Monument to Salt Miners and Monument to Durian. In this area there is a market, an embankment, ATMs, souvenir shops, bus station, supermarkets and three dozen restaurants with different cuisines. It is better to settle in this part of Kampot or closer to it, so that everything you need is within walking distance.

Inexpensive (under $20) guesthouses in tourist area Kampot:

Shopping in Kampot

In the center of the tourist part of Kampot is the Old Market (Phsar Kronat or Old Market), where they sell food. After sunset, an evening market opens near the durian monument. They sell simple consumer goods here.

There are several souvenir shops around the Old Market and along the embankment. The most interesting of them are: Indochina Gecko Shop Souvenirs, Kampot River Souvenir and Kampot Souvenirs and Handicraft. The handmade store Tiny Kampot Pillows near the monument to the year 2000 is very popular among female tourists.

Kampot is famous for allspice. It is exported in tons to many countries around the world. It is not surprising that in stores aimed at tourists, the number one product is pepper in all its varieties: black, red and white. Its prices are serious - from $35 per kilogram, but gourmets are willing to pay three times as much for the confidence that they are buying original pepper from Kampot, and not from Vietnam. Vietnamese pepper is also good, but the one grown in Kampot is considered almost the best in the world. When purchasing, you need to pay attention to the presence of a logo with the inscription “Protected Geographical Indication”, which means that the pepper is grown in Kampot without the use of pesticides.

Other things to do in Kampot

Take a walk around the city. Kampot is interesting for its colonial architecture. The buildings, built during the era of French rule, are dilapidated, but that makes them look even more expressive. Unlike the neighboring city of Kep, where French villas have been preserved, the main architectural asset of Kampot is its shophouses. These are two-story residential buildings, the first floor of which is reserved for a family business - a store, a cafe, etc. Such buildings are built close to each other, so they have no side windows, and the facade is very narrow. This arrangement is common throughout Southeast Asia, but in Kampot and Battambang, colonial-era shophouses look much more impressive than in other cities in Cambodia.

Just like that: the best in the world. City. Cambodia. Because all these underdeveloped Sihanoukvilles with their breathtaking beaches, but terrible piles of garbage and vague Phnom Penh are also good. Also Kampuchea. And they contain a bunch of different attractions, not so much as interesting features for a pristine white-skinned foreigner.

But Kampot is a city-attraction in itself. Because the elusive spirit of those times remained here when there was sort of French oppression, but everyone rather liked it. Because he brought enlightenment and economic recovery. And then Pot Pol came - a liberator, damn it, from Western expropriators. And in return for all this croissant pastoral he brought rivers of blood, hunger and devastation.

Like everyone else that matters settlements, Kampot was almost completely destroyed . These events took place some 40 years ago! But today this quiet town on the bank of the river, as slowly as its waters flow, it is reborn to life. It also pleases the eyes and nervous system of those traveling through Indochina.

And if previously it was mainly English-speaking and similar infidel travelers who included it on their itineraries, now our Russian-speaking brother also comes here more and more often. Which is good. This means he doesn’t live on cheap beer and sea beaches alone. Russian tourist. Finally, give him some romance.

Let's now frantically consider what is so romantic and touching about this gingerbread town that we have to sing its praises.

A couple of days in Kampot - a tour with us on a motorbike

Let's start with narcissism. That is, I’ll briefly describe how we sometimes ride there. And then - about excursions, attractions, transport, hotels and other practical garbage.

We live in Sihanoukville and we're bored . It is a hundred kilometers from here to Kampot along a very good road by Cambodian standards. And we have a bike. By the standards of real motorcycles, he is a mere teenager, but last year puberty did not stop him from taking us for a ride of five thousand kilometers across the mountains and plains of Vietnam.

For such devotion and courage, the whole family has long loved him, and he has a name - Blaze. And so we get up at five in the morning, have breakfast, throw gadgets and hiking sandwiches into our bags, and wake up Viktoralekseich at seven in the morning. By 7.30, having refueled, I was leaving the city. Hurray, the neighboring province of Kampot is waiting for us for a couple of days.

Actually, we have been to her capital city more than once. Last year, before leaving for Vietnam, they even tried to tell and show us a little about it. But in reality there was no time for him then - he was too worried about the upcoming great feats.

In order not to bore you with kilometers of printed signs, I’ll just show you a video.

And I'll get down to business. Surely you, reading mine, are not going to miss the chance to visit the very cozy city of our Palm Kingdom. Especially for such cases, I am creating some instructions for use.

How to get there by taxi, buses, etc.

I started to write this section, but it turned out to be so many beechs and technical details that I will take it out as a separate material and publish it in a week. There will be a detailed manual about buses, taxis, ferries and planes from Sihanoukville, Ho Chi Minh City and Phu Quoc.

For a long time I tried to somehow photograph this guy with a fishing rod. but it turned out as usual))

What to see - attractions of Kampot

To put it mildly, there are few of them here. The town is tiny and barely restored after numerous military-political upheavals.

I offer my subjective to do list - what you can do there and where to go.

  1. A walk along the promenade.
    It is better to do this early in the morning or at about five in the evening, when the sun is still or no longer burning. The evening promenade, among other things, will be equipped with a wonderful sunset peeking shyly from behind Bokor. It should be completed with dinner at one of the float restaurants. Which are mainly geared towards seafood, however, so we, righteous vegetarians, have nothing special to do there. 🙂

    Restaurant on the embankment street

  2. Go to that same Bokor.
    It's such national park, which is located in the mountains. There are all kinds of picturesque views from there, there are old pagodas and museum buildings of ancient casinos.

    The only thing better than mountains are mountains covered in jungles.

  3. Look at the pepper plantations.
    Kampot pepper is our everything. This pepper is supposedly grown only in this province of Kampuchea, and on it, as well as on local palm sugar, there are even special signs that, apart from the Kingdom, they are nowhere in the world.
    You can see with your own eyes how pepper grows and bears fruit. How it turns from green to white, red, black, etc. botanical details.
  4. See how Cambodian salt is mined.
    From sea water. They directly dry it in earthen baths, and then take it to stores. Yes, we eat sea salt here. And we don’t gurgle.

    From here Kampot salt is evaporated. Organic, of course.

  5. Go to neighboring Kep.
    I won’t start the hackneyed hurdy-gurdy about blue crabs. You just need to drive around and see what kind of settlement this is.
  6. Take a boat ride on the river.
    In the area of ​​the road bridge, there are usually organized excursion boats that offer bored tourists a ride. mangroves, there are all sorts of houses on stilts along the banks and all this exotic stuff.
  7. Go to yoga.
    In very clinical cases like mine you can go tie yourself in different knots at the local yoga studios. I know two. The first one is at the infamous restaurant for you and me . The second is at the joyfully famous Deva Cafe. I will explain the reasons for the joy immediately.

    On the second floor there is a yoga studio

  8. Go to the spa.
    At the same time, the Deva Cafe, although rather the opposite, is located Bantey Srey SPA. By the way, a non-profit organization where saints and martyrs like Somalia Mam are trying to ensure that other Cambodian girls avoid such a great martyrdom.
    Seriously, the atmosphere in this place is truly completely unique, non-Cambodian. There - oh, a miracle! - Cambodian girlswant to workb. Only a barang with a minimum of a couple of years of experience can understand me in this place.
    And the SPA is really good - manicure, pedicure, my favorite, oil massage.

Chinese cute little store a la 7-Eleven

And the most important thing. Rent a bike and explore this nice little town. Look furiously, to the point of stupefaction, at these remnants of former colonial luxury. Feel it - morning, afternoon and evening. He's so different. In these three streets you are sure to find interesting nooks and crannies. The main thing is to turn off the tourist and... And the difference between them is not at all in the package-independent tour. It’s just that the first one is a cautious, contemptuous bore, and the second one is ready to dissolve here and now. He doesn’t care about the difference in mentalities, and he has already forgotten about his stupid racial superiority and belonging to the supposedly enlightened West.

Travel, damn you! Walk, explore, roll your eyes, get into stupid situations and overcome yourself. Don't sit in a hotel with the sad look of a tired intellectual. You and I have already figured out everything about each other a long time ago - there’s no need to imagine...

Hopsies on a bike

What to eat in Kampot

Whatever you want. To be honest, I am always surprised to read such sections in guidebooks to cities and countries of Indochina. Because all Southeast Asia- a complete celebration of the belly.

If you want, go to the market and buy yourself some fruit led by, whose monument was erected in the center. Or you'll eat cheap fried rice with chicken, fish, or Buddha knows what else. Or noodles. From budget options There are also a lot of real Vietnamese eateries here with the most authentic Pho soup. As you understand from our video, a vegetarian can also calmly come there and, having said the magic “an chai,” get a bowl of hot soup with noodles and herbs, which can be seasoned with a bunch of sauces on the table. And I swear there won't even be any fish or oyster sauce in the soup, let alone chicken broth. Because the Vietnamese are perhaps the second nation after the Indians, the most enlightened in matters of vegetarianism. To be very precise, veganism - their herbivores don’t even drink milk.

Durian Monument

And if you don’t feel like adventure, then go and eat your falafel, pizza, lok lak, amok or curry on a porcelain plate at any of the dozens local restaurants and a cafe.

For the guardians of ahimsa, valuable instructions have already been distributed - see information about Deva Cafe and Simple Things.

Vietnamese soup - NeDoFo. True vegetarian pho is when you have tofu, mushrooms, seitan, asparagus, etc. sources of essential amino acids. But this is also quite edible for once or twice.

Hotels in Kampot and around

There are many of them, they are different. In general, and even compared to Sihanoukville, they are very inexpensive. I personally prefer to book through good old Booking.com - there are more than 130 options there today.

The most budget hostels can be found from 1-3 dollars per night. The most budget rooms are in guesthouses and bungalows - from $5-7.

I will pay special attention to hotels and guesthouses with swimming pools. Since there is no sea, but still sub-equator and hot, I personally would recommend choosing something like that. Especially if you are traveling with children, they will have something to do. Moreover, the prices are reasonable.


Excursions to Kampot, Kep and Bokor

If you don’t have enough time to relax in the Cambodian Kingdom, and you want to optimally distribute your two or three weeks of vacation, it is advisable to go on a tour.
Travel agencies in Sihanoukville are very boring. Those few Russian-speaking offices that work do it, to put it mildly, without a spark.

floating restaurants

If I missed something important for a traveler, please ask leading questions in the comments to this article. I will be glad to answer or add.

With wishes from the most smiling Southeast, sincerely yours, Asian Marta.
Kampong Saom, 2018

Immediately after breakfast, we took a minibus from beachside Sihanoukville to the city of Kampot in Cambodia. The road is not at all tiring and takes about two hours. It runs through small settlements, where life in which, from the minibus window, seems measured and leisurely.

Kampot- This Old city with preserved colonial architecture of the buildings. The bus dropped us off on the main street Old Market Street next to some hotel with a restaurant on the ground floor.

We decided to have lunch at this place and at the same time look at a map of the city to decide how to get to our hotel. We chose the hotel and paid in advance via the Internet (service booking.com ) more from Sihanoukville.

We knew that Kampot is a very small town - almost a village, so we decided not to use transport in the city itself. However, we noticed that some tourists were moving around the city on carts for two with roofs that protect from the sweltering sun.

After a delicious lunch we slowly trudged towards our 3-star hotel Borey Bokor Hotel outside Kampong Bay. Across the street from the hotel is city ​​Hospital Kampot Hospital. Room price for one night for two without breakfast was US$18. We deliberately chose this hotel because it has large swimming pool , the water in which warmed up during the day and by the evening became like fresh milk. In Kampot you can rent a room for $6 for two - the further from the embankment, the cheaper.

The location of our hotel was quite convenient - on a quiet street, not far from the central Old Market Street and the embankment Riverside Road, where there are many restaurants with very tasty food. On the first evening we visited one of them, sitting comfortably on armchairs with cushions. After the heat of the day, cool Angkor beer and refreshing cocktails like life-giving elixir, nourished our sun-weary bodies.

The beloved beef, cooked in traditional Khmer style and served with a bunch of Kampot pepper, was so great that we ate this dish. called Lok Lak, and in the following days that they lived in Kampot. In general, Kampot pepper is considered one of the best peppers in the world. Here it can be bought on the market in any form and quantity.

Walking around the city is interesting, despite sweltering heat. A combination of old dilapidated houses built by the French and cheerful colored rags, neatly hung after washing, evokes the sweetest feelings. P growth and spontaneity in everything – this is what captivates many in Asia.

In some places in the city you can find graffiti on the walls.

During the day, there is almost no local population on the spacious streets of the city. Occasionally there are tourists loitering around. Vehicles on the roads are also not a frequent occurrence, especially at noon.

In some gateway we found local women washing dishes after a big morning meal and immediately preparing lunch for the whole family.

It's nice to live in a warm climate - you can walk around all day pajamas or home clothes.

If, when you arrive in Kampot, you want refresh part of your wardrobe, this can be done in one of Laundry, there are enough of them in the city.

Somewhere after four o'clock, plastic tables appear on the sidewalks - restaurant owners begin to prepare for the evening stream of hungry guests.

Women prepare food.

Almost next to the Borey Bokor Hotel where we stayed is central square of Kampot, in the center of which is erected monument in honor of durian- the king of fruits.

They meet right there vacationing rickshaw pullers.

On the square there is supermarket, where locals come in expensive cars. There are not many shops in Kampot that can be called supermarkets. Most trade comes from small and private shops.

By sunset there are more people on the streets. A lot of locals gather along the embankment rivers with magical views of the sun setting behind the horizon.

Sunsets Here beautiful.

The current in the river is quite fast and, apparently, it’s not worth swimming in it. From the central part of Kampot to the other side leads old bridge.

Somewhere in the bridge breaches are visible, so it is only used by pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. When entering the bridge, a vehicle height limiter is installed. In the evening twilight, when there are almost no pedestrians or vehicles on the bridge, the creaking of a lonely green lantern above the holes in the road surface of the bridge evokes eerie feelings, forcing you to think again and quickly leave this place before the bridge collapses right under you.

Another part of the old bridge, apparently, has already collapsed, as it looks renovated. Fresh and strong metal flooring seems durable.

Some residents of Kampot, all in the same colorful pajamas, are doing race walking, walking along the embankment back and forth. At the same time, they wave their arms funny.

The next day, while walking around the city, we decided to visit market. Along the way we met many different interesting buildings.

One of them was surrounded by a high fence and looks like administrative. It was built in 1956.

The whole of Kampot, like many other cities in Cambodia, is studded with billboards with political advertising.

The garbage bins on the streets in Kampot are made of rubber. They look like this.

Approaching the city market, the streets are getting busier. There are people rushing to the market for provisions, and there are many motorcyclists.

The market is surrounded by parked motorcycles, and some construction works or they just sell sand.

The market itself is a labyrinth, protected from the sun by metal flooring and rags.

Trade is on smartly.

Fresh fish carefully laid out on the floor, right under the feet of passers-by.

Rows of jewelry look more civilized. Decorations are displayed on glass display cases. They are produced right there.

Here comes the famous one Kampot pepper. The freshest goods sell out quickly.

These cheerful locals laughing, probably because we just bought half a bucket of different things from them Kampot pepper.

Peppers are sold both fresh and dry. Dry pepper comes in green, red and black varieties. This is all one type of pepper, which is collected at different periods of its ripening. The climate in Kampot is favorable for this crop. In my opinion, Kampot pepper is a great souvenir from Cambodia!

If traders don’t have their own place at the bazaar, then it doesn’t matter - you can position yourself in any passable place so as to be closer to the main flow of people. Came for jewelry I also bought some vegetables and other related products. It's comfortable!

Tent near the house, on the opposite side of the road from the market, is wedding catering. In Asia, people have large families and many friends, but you can’t invite everyone to your house. And that’s why weddings are celebrated like this, right on the street – in a tent.

In this heat all the time thirsty. Chilled milk coconut– the most pleasant natural drink and costs up to 1 US dollar.

The atmosphere of Kampot is so relaxed that staying in the city seems like a vacation after running for many kilometers between the temples in the Angkor Valley. The city does not have any special attractions that you must visit or see.

Can be rented bike for $5 and roll to Kep to the sea and crabs. In Kep, it seemed to us, there was nothing to do at all except lounging in a hammock and contemplating the sea. On the way from Kampot to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, our minibus stopped in Kep to pick up two American teenagers. On this day it rained all day in the morning, the sky was busy and it seemed that it would never end. Probably in moments like this you plunge into melancholy and there is nothing left to do but play backgammon on the terrace and drink local beer while snacking on crabs.

In the evening in Kampot you can buy excursion for two by boat, for the same $5, and go watch fireflies.

I haven't seen these before huge fireflies, colonies sitting on the branches of huge bushes growing along the river. We caught them and laughed as they crawled all over us. If you don’t mind spending five dollars on such an excursion and don’t mind wandering at night, then you can take a walk along the river yourself. From the main street Old Market Street you need to go in the opposite direction from the old bridge along the embankment, after about 2-3 km you will find bushes completely dotted with luminous insects. Just remember to take repellent with you.

On the other side of the river, if you move towards the sea, you can visit famous salt fields Salt Fields. Sea water It enters these fields through canals; after evaporation, workers collect the salt with special sticks. People work here all day, manually collecting salt under the scorching sun. It is believed that this one of the lowest paid jobs in Cambodia.

What is also interesting about Kampot is that many residents here specifically swallows are bred. Note that there are no other birds visible in the city. Locals They are specially bred. Then they clean up swallow nests from garbage and sell it for money to companies that produce drinks and medicinal preparations based on swallow's nests. Have you ever tried it? Very tasty and refreshing drinks considered an excellent antioxidant, they can be bought in many Asian countries in regular stores. In the hotel where we lived, an entire wing was dedicated to these cute birds, chirping so loudly in the morning. Throughout our entire stay in Kampot, we observed how hotel employees, located in the lobby, wielded tweezers from morning to evening, fingering swallow's nests. Apparently this source of income is quite good.

In a couple of days you can see main attractions of Kampot. If you don't mind what's not happening around you absolutely nothing and you like it, then you can stay here longer.

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