Kep

Kep is a little fishing village on the sea, buzzing with activity, yet still feels relaxed and calm. Along the sea front Cambodians gather in big groups and sit on the pavements dining on feasts of seafood. The whole sea front is lined with food carts and women come by on motorbikes with bags hanging over the bars, of crabs and fruits from the market to sell. The beach has plenty of activity too; locals swimming and playing in inflatables. Behind the activity the while stretch is lined with rows of hammocks in the shade. A couple of km along the seafront is a market known as the crab market, but it sells fruits, tatty souvenirs and all kinds of fish. Here there is constant activity of women bringing in crab baskets that are full of crabs. It is what Kep is famous for and it certainly seems to have a lot of them!

I spent two days in Keep, mainly exploring on foot. On the first day I took a long walk through the National Park that meets the village. It was a beautiful peaceful afternoon, I think I had more. encounters with monkeys than people (although one rather vicious monkey nearly bit my leg, but instead got my shoe). I walked 14km in jungle forest to see various viewpoints over the surrounding countryside.

Next day I walked around the village to see the activity everywhere and then I took a tuktuk to a pepper farm-the other thing this region is famous for. The journey was very scenic, passing through the countryside. At the pepper farm I and a tour and got to taste all the different peppers. The premium range pepper was noticeably stronger than the others and I could understand why some top chefs will only cook with Kampot pepper. There were women sorting peppercorns by hand, getting paid 5USD a day to send back to their families.

It's been a relaxing and refreshing couple of days, just what I need as my trip starts to come to an end.Read more