The last stops of our Cambodian experience were Kampot & Kep; two amazing little tows just 40 kms away from the Vietnamese border on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. We visited Kampot first and spent 2 days there practicing the "dolce far niente" (sweetness of doing nothing). In our defense, there was no much to do there and that's what drew travelers there, searching for peace and quietness in this old French riverside village full of old colonial houses and water front villas. Yes, the French again…they seem to have nose for great places, settling there making them even more pleasant.

Obviously we couldn't resist and rented a moped for the day. We headed off to Bokor Mountain with our tiny 100 cc motorbike, which successfully covered the 40 Kms each way and the 1000 meter above sea level altitude to reach the peak. The journey was fascinating because the road was excellent, being brand new and well designed. The Cambodians covered the same original path build by the French and turned it into this amazing alpine road full of tournants and spectacular views. At the top of the mountain resided the remains of a small hill station that the French built to escape Kampot's heat and populated it with 200 regular residents and: a hotel, a school, a post office and a casino. Many Chinese gamblers at the beginning of the century used to get up the hill station and squander their fortunes in the casino and after being broke jump off the cliff to end their misery. The station closed in 1940 and only now there are revival plans for it as well as the construction of a massive tourist resort to host the local tourism mainly rich Cambodians and Vietnamese.

The next day we headed off to Kep, which back in the days was a real colonial seaside destination then further developed by the king Sihanouk in the 60's. When the Khmer Rouge came to power they stopped all development and stayed in the area also after their defeat, hiding in the mountain in the surroundings. Nowadays, Kep is gaining momentum again but still struggles with drawing large quantities of tourists, which played in our favor because the guesthouses and bungalows are new and cheap and the seafood was glorious and inexpensive. The local delicacy is the crab, and it is served at the crab market by several restaurants that fight to have the few tourists in town. Our favourite dish was fried crab with Kampot green pepper, a literal finger licking delicacy which rated top of all dishes we had in Cambodia. Talking of Kampot pepper, it is another local specialty. Apparently, it was the pepper of choice in Parisian top restaurants until the 70's when the Khmer Rouge eradicated the plantations following their agrarian belief of a rice self-sufficient country. Helped by NGOs, few local farmers recently started pepper farming again and just gained the GI (geographical indication) trademark. Apparently the peculiar geographical position, the environment and the vicinity to the sea make pepper farming ideal in Kampot. We visited a plantation one day and realized how much hard work there is behind it, hence the expensive price.

A last jewel of hour stay in Kep was the visits to the Cham Muslim communities. There are 500.000 Muslims in Cambodia and they all belong to a different ethnic group called Cham, the heirs of the glorious Cham empire that dominated the area before the Khmer empire. These guys have been exterminated by the Khmer Rouge that considered them different hence their worst enemy. After the Khmer Rouge time there were only 50.000 Cham left. The problem with them is that they are not allowed to marry any Khmer unless they convert to Islam; as a consequence they live in small enclaves supporting their families with agriculture or fishing mainly. We dared to enter a community in two occasions with great results. The Cham are a bit more introverted than the Khmer but after a warm up they are really friendly as well. We visited a Koranic school and a mosque and were greeted with warmth and interest by the males of the community, after a few suspicious looks at first. We took some pics of them, although we were not allowed to shoot the mosque, and promised them to email the shots later. We both left with a great sense of communion and understanding with the Chams and their problematic of living as minority in Cambodia. We definitely experienced the friendly side of Islam which is rarely reported on mainstream media.

That was it for our Cambodian trip, and we will head off to Vietnam next, leaving behind a great country still fighting the physical and psychological scars of genocide with a constant smile on their face.

And we wish you a Merry Xmas to all from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam!