The Kep Bus.
On the bus to Kep, where ever the heck that is. Shamefully ignorant of the geography of Cambodia, I admit I didn’t even know it had a coastline, but it does and that is where I am bound. The bus is ok, a double decker with luggage and baggage on the lower, passengers on the upper. Eleven rows set in a two and one configuration, I am in a one that is slightly raised up above the rest, feels a bit throne like, but at least I can see out the front from six rows back. The seats are tolerably comfortable though an easy comparison with cattle class on BA, that goes for the legroom as well, there basically isn’t any. Fellow passengers appear to be two thirds Cambodian and one third Westerners. A French family with two young children, a couple from the boat down from Siem Reap, German I think, can’t ignore the cutest little Cambodian newborn you ever did see, not uttered a sound in over an hour. The terrain is flat, very very flat. The ground is dry, the rice paddies all shrivel led and stalks, dead and grey. There are occasional orchards with oranges growing and of course palms with coconuts. It will get hotter and hotter until the end of April and then the monsoon will break, much to the relief of all. The road is a good road, two lanes with a well kept surface, pleasantly smooth. The Highway code/rules of the road are completely non existent however. Small town markets spill onto the highway reducing it to one lane, down the middle. There is a bike, motor scooter lane but it seems to be not much used and the bus driver leans on the horn constantly. ……We paused for refreshments etc and have turned off the main road to Kompot onto a narrow jungle road , just about as wide as the bus. Passing pull outs, dusty, acres and acres of dried up paddies, random roadside stalls, locals dig trench across road in villages to slow the traffic, white cattle seek shade. There are hills ahead, the Coastal Range ?
We came to Kep, a dusty crossroads with maybe half a dozen tuk tuks, a cafe, tourist information office and that was about it for Kep downtown. A ten minute ride to the base of a low hill and here I am, all checked into my room, sitting in the thatch roofed restaurant of the Lodge. A small pool in front, a small pool table behind, a well stocked bar, piles of books and games, a beer (thank you) ,lunch on its way, spiced beef with ginger and rice, learning about Kampot pepper. Grown locally it seems to be the pride of the district, “Highly prized by gourmets worldwide”. (Nat, you heard of this stuff ?)
Lunch was great, best food I have had in Cambodia, and then I succumbed to the pressures of the day and fell fast asleep for an hour. I think I may have finally found my spot. First thing I notice sitting poolside is the lack of noise, there is no traffic, the nearest road is a half mile away, no motor scooters, no beeping. There is no pollution, no people in my immediate vicinity wearing smog masks. I may finally completely throw off the lingering cold I caught in Hanoi. We are a matter of yards from the entrance to a nature reserve, the air is full of the sound of birdsong, in fact the jungle threatens to encroach on the whole property. There will be some strange and unfamiliar sounds tonight I am sure. The hotel posts warnings about geckos, bats and frogs in the rooms, also that the spiders are not poisonous and are rather shy, good to hear.
The Hotel reception, lobby, dining room, lounge, bar, business center and activities room.
I may have finally worked out how to add photos and captions to a post using just my tablet and the WordPress blogging App. Finally. Goodbye Business Centers.
Let’s see what the evening brings.
notreallytravelling 