Kep

This is a charming spa town established in 1908 as a retreat for the ruling French officers. Much was destroyed during the civil war leaving eerie colonial ruins with scattered durian trees (the fruit of which are unfeasibly large, testicular shaped and so stinky they are one of three banned items in many hotels along with firearms and explosives). Kep is also ‘chilli crab central’ which allowed me to indulge in several hours of crustacean cracking with scant but delicious reward for my labours. We spent two days in the ‘Beach House Hotel’ in what EM Forster may have described as ‘a room without a view’. Still there was a pool complete with jacuzzi, waterboatmen and large snake. We also met Moira and Joost who had just been to the Sihanoukville casino (our next stop but one) and scooped the $10,000 jackpot (30 years salary for the average Cambodian). They then spent the next week fearing for their safety desperately trying to get the money transferred back to native Holland. They were now celebrating the completion of the transfer and generously offered to lend us some cash that we could refund to their Dutch account at our leisure. All because the hotel didn’t accept visa and it was a 2 hour roundtrip to the nearest cashpoint. We politely declined and walked up to the plush La Veranda Resort that offered cashback on Visa and ended up staying there for the remaining two nights. This beautiful hotel was on the borders of a national park with raised wooden walkways and stunning views over the Gulf of Thailand. The rooms were basic but comfortable in harmony with the surroundings and even included a semi-open air shower and balcony for sunset. A wedding party had taken over the place the day before and we only got a room as one of the party had fallen ill and been airlifted to Bangkok for blood transfusions. It would be a bit harsh to call that serendipitous but we did enjoy our stay. The next day we went for a long coastal walk followed by 3 random Cambodian children aged no more than 5 or 6 who must have been at least 3 miles from home at some point. This was an example of the ‘laisser faire’ attitude of many Cambodian families that may have something to do with the chilling increase in child abuse in the country.