Rikitikitavi Guesthouse, Restaurant and Bar Kampot

Well the trip to the Cardoman Hills never came off as I was the only person wanting to book so I decided to head off to Kampot on Friday. All though I didn't do much in Koh Kong, I enjoyed my time there as it was chance to potter around the town and draw breath. Plus I met some nice guys there who I spent the evening hanging out with from Wales, England, New Zealand and Australia. They were all middle aged (predictablly with young Cambodian girls on ...

... slither through on our stomachs. Although the caves were considerably cooler than the rice paddies, the humidity was the same, so by the time we finished spelunking we were covered in sweat and cave sludge (read: bat poop). We decided a trip to Kep beach was in order to wash off and dine on some freshly caught crab.

We made the 25 kilometer trek to the beach, parked the bike, and were greeted by ladies selling boiled crab by the bag. Sweet! We grabbed a ...

... aquamarine water and copious amounts of coconut trees to shade under. Our resort was slap bang in the middle of Long Beach which as it's name suggests was quite big. There were loads of other resorts and hotels both ways up the beach and so we spent our time visiting them to eat when we didn't fancy our own restaurtant. Cesca's favourite was a place called Cassia Cottage which did a really fantastic fried noodles and vegtables. When we weren't eating we hung out on the ...

... as a town has such great potential if not only for the buildings which are very Eureopean in style. Unfortunately people just can't afford to repair them which gives the town a run down feel. The people were so accommodating and I had an amazing breakfast of fruit,muesli and a cafetiere of coffee at the Epic arts cafe. I think I would come back here as I want to visit the national park.

Tomorrow I am heading up to Phnom Penh before going up to Siem Reap.

... and we had left corrupt police behind us!
In the end we had to get a motorcycle as there were no taxi's and there are no tuk tuk's in Vietnam, so I clung on to the driver who spoke no English as he drove us to Ha Tien, this was after negotiating the price down from $8 each to $2 - they will try anything!!! (the ride wasn't too bad, after I had got used to the balance!)
They took us to the Tourist information (as they got commission) and found a cheapish hotel, its $10 a night ...

... mud, and once disturbed, made the ordinary sea water dramatically cloudy. No place for taking dips.
'I see what you mean. Not nice at all.'
We hurriedly got dressed, fetched the bikes, and sped off back down the highway. We didn't want to neglect exploring or finding a way to another beach or peninsula.
At some crossroads, we turned right and motored down some dusty-brown 'roads,' trying to find some other beach or ...

... meandered and revved the models over the difficult bits. It wasn't too long before we reached the lake; remarkably scenic: quiet with a domineering hill or two in the distance. The thoroughfares to the lakeside got increasingly difficult, but we managed it over the rough untidy sections. Throttling the motor worked wonders!
The noise and our commotion suddenly disturbed a quiet, humble and solitary fisherman. I'm not sure if his surly ...

... with rabbits, but the Kep beach area was quite a distance away and wouldn't be possible to get to unless we hired a motorbike. More about this shortly.
We sauntered around the town; a few streets that led down to the Mekong. As well as the ATM, we looked in at a Western bookshop and then noticed peculiar receptacles made out of tyre rubber, and which were used for holding garbage:
'A novel idea for recycling, that is' Johannes mused, and took a picture ...

... some multi or triple million pound mansion house - said on the box a couple of nights ago that if they were allowed in, they'd walk into jobs that British nationals don't want to do. Is that so? How revelatory! What would they expect to really find here? The streets paved with gold; money growing on trees? They may, if they're lucky, get a few scraps in the way of coins and in the way of food from a 'People's Kitchen,' but that is about all ...

... The road ends at a modern wat, where a small fee is collected, and a hoard of small children latches on. These kids come in handy later, as you explore the darker/deeper reaches of the cave. Just inside the entrance to the cave (a short walk through a rice field from the monastery) there are several natural rock formations that resemble animals. One of your gaggle of guides will explain these to you in surprisingly good English. Within the large ...