Hi guys,
Last Tuesday we had a very interesting but quite somber day. We took a trip to The Killing Fields just outside Phnom Penh followed by the genocide museum. The Killing Fields were quiet and peaceful and as we wandered around our audio guide gave us a really thorough outline of the horror that occurred there and the thousands of people who lost their homes, families and lives during the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s. It's horrible to think that it was all so recent too, that this all occurred during our own parents lifetime, it really put into perspective just how lucky we are.
A lot of people were taking photos in The Killing Fields site and the museum, but we thought that this didn't really feel like the right thing to do, so no photos of this particular day trip I'm afraid... So here's a picture from Phnom Pehn instead...
And of the cool bar we found, it was once a grand mansion, that was prior to the Khmer Rouge.
The next day we took a short three hour bus journey to Kampot. A small, quiet and pretty town famed for its pepper production.
We stayed in a really relaxing resort along the river, a short tuk tuk ride from town.
While here we discovered a cafe with great food and for a great cause. It was set up to support deaf and disabled local Cambodians.
After a few days lounging around drinking beer and swimming in the river we decided we should probably get out and see some of the sights, so we booked a tuk tuk tour of the surrounding area.
The tour was, lets just say a bit of a whistle stop tour but all the same we got to see a but more of rural Cambodia. Our stop offs included a very wet salt field, a bat cave, small fishing village and the pepper plantation....
Fishing village
Pepper plantation
While in Kampot we found two great cafes, so mostly we just split our time between relaxing in front of the river and enjoying great coffee and food!
After four nights in Kampot, we took a short journey half an hour east to the small town of Kep, famous for its crabs!
Kep used to be a boutique seaside resort until the Khmer Rouge moved everyone out and looters saw that everything else was taken. It is steadily climbing to it's feet again and has a great community spirit... On the Sunday when we arrived all the locals and visitors from Phnom Penh were sat in hammocks having family picnics of noodles and fried fish.
The weeks highlights:
Best view:
This week has been all about relaxing and so the view which we've spent many a night watching the river go by is this one...
Lesson learnt:
Try and have a wet weather contingency in the rainy season...
Love Monday Funday: There is a small island half an hour from Kep known as Rabbit Island. Having been inland for a couple of weeks we decided that it would be nice to spend some time at the beach, so a day trip to Rabbit Island sounded great... However it being in the middle of rainy season, the weather can be a little unpredictable so our ideal day of sunning ourselves on a secluded island didn't quite go to plan....lets just say we didn't need to venture into the sea to get wet!
Still it was a pretty island and we spent most of the day eating noodle soup and chatting to travellers and locals so all was not lost! The boat journeys were also hilarious, seriously choppy water, boatmen steering in pants, jump starting the engine and a most ungraceful boat embarkment!
Colin has been enjoying a rest-bite from the sun...
Number of hours on a bus: 3.5
Number of hours on a tuk-tuk: 2-3
Hope you all have a great week,
Rach and Lisa xx
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