We were up early today for our trip around the Kampot countryside. Rather than the tourist trip I thought it would be we ended up with our own tuk tuk for the day!
We started by driving out to the salt fields, which we were a bit early for the harvest but it was still interesting to see how they prepare the land by hand ready for the season.
From here we took a dirt road track through a local farming village where we were joined by a younger boy on a moped. He followed us out to the elephant caves where he was our guide. We started by following him across some wooden poles that were supposed to be a bridge across a river and then up loads of stairs to reach the cave entrance stopping to look out at the views. Inside the first part of the cave there were loads of natural stone that had formed into the shape of animals such as elephants, Eagles and turtles. There was also an old Angkor style temple which had been overrun with stalactites and stalagmites. Then we headed into the main part of the cave, at which point I nearly turned around and said I would wait outside! The entrance to this bit was a rock face with few places to hold onto which you had to climb down. I braved it and made it down without any injuries! We climbed through the caves where I also faced my fears of small spaces, bats and spiders! Out the other side we made our way back across what was meant to be a bridge and headed off to the pepper plantation. Kampot is famous for its pepper and it was amazing to see the hundreds of structures built out of bricks to allow the pepper plants to grow as much as possible. After a cold drink we were off again to Kep, finally heading back onto normal roads, although the driver seemed to prefer the rough land either side!
We started out at the crab market which was interesting but didn't really encourage me to try the fish they had on sale to eat! Instead we were taken to a lovely restaurant overlooking the sea and the fishing boats. I went for a safe chicken fried rice while Shane tried the crab, which is what Kep is known for. I did try a bit of Shane's food and actually didn't dislike it.
From here we headed to the beach where we spent an hour wondering around taking in the beautiful sea and sand before heading back into Kampot.
We spent an hour killing time before we went on the sunset cruise down the river. It was a lovely boat and we sat on the top deck right at the front. We sailed for a while taking in the scenery until the river opened up giving us incredible views of the sunset over the mountains. We stopped for a while for people to swim before turning back where we got to watch all the fireflies in the grass and trees. They were amazing and looked like fairy lights.
Once back on land we headed straight home to grab a shower and some food at the bar before heading off to bed, ready to travel to Battambang in the morning!