KAMPOT

Kampot is a small town, although I see the local sign posts name it as Kampot City. I past through it on the way to the coastal town of Kep last year, but now I am enjoing a few days in Kampot.

Kampot is spread along both banks of the wide Kampot River, spanned by an old narrow bridge and a modern wide concrete structure, named obviously, the Old Bridge and the New Bridge. There is also a railway bridge but no trains to cross it. An Australian company, Toll, spend millions of somebody's money reconstructing the line which had been built originally by the French colonialists years ago. So the line looks smart and modern, and runs from Kamport to Sihanouk Ville, Cambodia's port But the reconstruction stopped just past Kamport and the old railway line continues on to the capital of Phnom Penh, but is in no condition to run trains on.

The local tourist guide book describes the town as 'an old provinical capital of quaint lanes and colonial period architecture. A bit worn down but radiating a quaint welcoming small town ambiance.'

That sorts of sums it up I suppose. Certainly, I enjoyed wandering around the streets in the late afternoon light viewing the old buidings, mostly the typical Asian house shop structures. They were in various states of repair but often well done up and attractive. The size of the house shop building results in most businesses being small enough to fit into the long narrow space of the buildings' ground floor. Cafes and bars were common in this setting.

Of course there also a number of 'modern' Cambodian styled buildings scattered around often standing several floors higher than than the more pictureque ajoining double story house shops.

Down a side street in one such building we found an Australian run Espresso cafe. Here the owner roasts his own beens, aoften a blend of Cambodoan, Laos and Vietnam beans. The brew was good enough to order a follow up double espresso. They also served such famous Cambodian dishes as eggs benedict, hot cakes and crapes. Having brunch there also enabled us to escape a drenching from a heavy monsoon downpour.

There are a lot of cafe and bar establishments which come in two levels. First are those serving local Cambodians and these are usually more in the back streets and around the market area. They tend to have plastic chairs and tables on the pavement.Some appear very popular and are crowded.

Secondly are the more up market tourist and expat aimed businesses. These tend to be located along , or close to, the river bank to take advantage of the view and any cool breeze. My observations was that most ran Happy Hours from 5pm to 8pm with the offer of two cocktails for the price of one or 75 cent draught beer.

We visited the Rusty Keyhole bar and resta urant one evening for what is claimed to be, their world famous BBQ pork spare ribs. Certainly I had read about them in the guide books but was somewhat underwhelmed by the result. The ribs, once located were small and I finally discovered tine strips of very tender juicy meat between them. However, they came accompanied by much more ajoining meat which was drier and tougher. I am sure that while these may be the best in Cambodia, it wouldn't take much to surpass them. I guess the real reason is that not many restaurants actually serve them here. I was warned by the staff that as this was the rainy season, the french fries would not be crisp and crunchy. They were correct as the chips were soggy and limp.

But it was fun to be at the Rusty Keyhole and the staff were friendly.

The town runs along the river bank. On the bank there is an attractive wide walkway and park strip and a retaining wall. Decrative 'French' lamp posts run along the river's edge. Across the road a line of house shops with bars, hotels and guest houses mix in with small businesses such as tour agents.

Lots of people were out walking in the late afternoon. Plenty of tourists, young and old, mixed in with the locals. The rush hour traffic was uncongested and unrushed. Generally there was a pleasant relaxed feel to the place.

I visited the market and made my way down narrow alleyways, some straight, others twisting around stalls and drains. The market stalls and alleyways were covered with blue plastic roofing causing a very humid hot and stuffy environment. Some alleyways had a theme, perhaps food, hardware or rows of women working treddle sewing machines making garments.

Markets are always interesting to wander around as the type of goods on sale can often be quite different to home. This is especially true in the hardware area where traditional hand made tools are often the main items for sale. I saw some interesting large baskets and local cicular clay BBQ's enclosed in a tin bucket for added strength and as they had a handle, for transport as well.

 

There is one large traffic roundabout in town and couple smaller versions, French style I suspect. Each has a statue on the central island and the one I spent time at this visit was the main or Central Traffic Circle. This had a statue of a large durian as its focus. Various smaller durians were stacked around the large main errect stone fruit. Durian is a controversial fruit. It has a strange odour which many consider offensive. Hotels often ban the fruit from their building. I have tasted it once and thought that it wasn't all that bad.

Seven busy roads radiated out from the Central Traffic Cicle. Well, busy by Kampot standards.

There were the usual varied use of motor scooters and it was common to see small children riding along with adults. Two adults and two children was common. There were a number of extended length tuktuks with and additional passenger or cargo compartment on the rear.

I visited the local tin box shop with my grandchildren who wanted a few extra containers for their treasures. The locally made boxes came in a variety of sizes and in two or three basic colour variations. Simply made with light tin and pop rivets they also had a latch on the front.

Our accommodation was around two kilometres up river at Les Manguiers (the Mango Trees). This pleasant family friendly resort was reached via a country road full of deep large potholes often water filled so that driving through them was somewhat like a trip into the unknown. The lodge is run by Franco Khmer family so that French is as commonly spoken as Khmer by the staff. There were many French speaking guests. Tall spreading mango trees provide a cool shade over the large grass areas between the guest bungalows raised up to enable cool breezes to pass nunderneath. The height also improves the river views.

There were several swimming spots along the river bank and a small jetty which made a great spot to jump into the river from. All lots of fun. Also kyaks to rent and launch trips to book on to.

A regular daily feature was the fishing boat procession. Each afternoon, just before susnset 20 or so small fishing boats would head down river in convy for a nights fishing at sea. They would return soon after sunrise with their catch. Their distinctive putput motor sounds would fill the air for a few minutes as they sailed past. In fact the sound of the morning return was more useful than an alarm clock.

There are numerous padi fields around the grunds and it was interesting to watch locals working transplanting rice during the early morning before the heat incresed too much. All very picturesque and very Asian looking. The lodge provided meals to order although it tended to be a 'meal of the day' The wine list was limited to about six choices in total. But it did aloow me to have a bottle of Baron de Roschild for $US17 which I thought was a pretty good bargin.

Dinning was in small enclosures built out over the river. They were roofed but open to the view and breezes. Very pleasant. Free wi-fi, free cold water, free old bicycles – you were charged for the newer ones. My large bedroom with large first floor deck cost $20 per night. While the room had a shower it was only cold water. So the system was for a large thermos flask of hot water to be delivered each day. This was them mixed with the clod water in a beaker and poured over the body. A system that worked well, providing the staff remembered to deliver the thermos.

He area is dominated by Mt Bokor which rises up across the river. The French colonialists build a hill station at the top to provide relief fom the lowland heat. Similar hill stations were developed by most colonial powers with tropical colonies. I remember staying at a similar place in the mountains of Fiji during my living there in the 1970's.

Well the French built a resort on Mt Bokor which opened in 1925. The road up the mountain wound up steeply. It was begun in 1917 and took six years to complete. It is claimed that 1000 workers died during its construction. At the top they built a hotel, church and a number of houses and other buildings.. And so it continued for 20 or so years, closed down for another 20 and then reopened around 1963 with the country's first casino built up at the top. It closed ten years later. Now there is a major development taking place with the building of very large casinos and hotels and it is claimed, a planned town for scores of thousands to live in. But why I don't know. There are still ruins of the original French buildings and on my visit during a time of cloud cover, they had a really sppoky and mysterious feel to them. Shapes that appeared out of the mist. On a clear day there are great views but I go those lower down are rather prefered the cloud cover.

On the way up below the cloud layer was a great new roadside statue of Ya Mao a respected Buddist figure. Lots of locals were stopping off to pose in front of the statue, some to burn inscence and others to photograph some hanging boulders.

The amazing thing about Mt Bokor is that the hi ghway up the hill is world class and without a doubt the best road in the country. It must be more than 25km long and even when it goes through jungle areas has street lighting along the curbside. Amazing. Sharp bends even with a graceful curve has mirrors installed. Extensive retaining work alsong the hillsides should resist subsidance. This is an impressive road by any standard. Yet on the day I went up it I saw less than 50 vehicles using it.

Someone had a lot of money to invest here. I wonder who?

Over all I think that Kampot would be well wort revisiting. I would even stay at Les Manguiers despite its 2 km from town.