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Kampot, Cambodia
Sunday, May 21, 2006

Bikes and Caves

David Murray
2007-03-04 09:48:31

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We bought a bus ticket to Kampot, an old French town, which is meant to be a big producer of salt. And before you ask, yes I had been here before. Just a fleeting visit for food, and then back again the next day for petrol. We had been on an overnight trip to Bokor hill station, and as I had talked a fair bit about it, Lucy wanted to go there, hence the bus bit going to Kampot.

In fact, when we bought it, we were told that it would get there in three hours. Six hours later, we arrived !!!

We looked at a hotel called Bliss, where all the tourists who travel with a backpack stay, but there were no locks on the windows, and he couldn't believe it when I told him that his guesthouse was not safe !!! We had a look at another, took a room, went for a walk to another and found cheaper - Jewboy again - and better. As we picked up our bags, Shan arrived on a pushie. She came with us whilst we checked in, then we went for lunch.

It's amazing how much has changed. Yes, the town is still very sleepy, but instead of two guesthouses, there are now loads, and the place has internet cafes and motorbike rentals !!! Into the rental shop we went, and we did a deal where we could have a 100cc bike the first day, and an Honda XR250 the next, as a little one would have trouble getting up the hill station.

Shan grabbed a moto guide, and we were off to look at Phnom Sorsia Caves. They have built a Wat at the top where they are located as the monks believe that they are blessed. Inside the first is a stalactite that is meant to resemble the head of a white elephant. Obviously the tabs of acid that I had that day, were not kicking in properly as I could only just make it out. Imagine if it had worked correctly, I would have seen a whole herd !!! We walked into the next two and they had loads of bats. Shan wanted to get a closer look at the bats, and they were not happy with this, so they decided ...