In the last 4 days, I’ve been on a tropical island, wandered through the rain forest, explored a ghost town, climbed through a cave, and hurled through a pepper plantation.
On the train from Sihanouk Ville, we met up again in the minibus with a French couple from Paris. They had spontaneously decided to accompany us to the island of Koh Thonsay, which we sailed to on a small boat from Kep. A gorgeous tropical island with a jungle in the center, surrounded by beautiful sandy beaches and rocks.
We passed rows of bamboo huts, each operated by a different family. For $7 a night, you get a bamboo hut with a small bathroom-the whole shed all to yourself. Obviously, no light, but with a large barrel and trowel to serve as a rinse.
Unfortunately, our stay wasn’t as long as I would have liked. The first reason was purely pragmatic: we didn’t have enough money. The second reason is that Imke did not like it as much as I did. My hope for the traditional bamboo hut experience, combined with a cool place to sleep, was quickly disillusioned. Sweat lodge would maybe be a good term to describe it. I also had an unpleasant encounter with a cockroach under my pillow. What do you expect when through the floor boards, you see chickens running everywhere.
Nevertheless, it was a wonderful trip, exploring the island together with the French couple, sitting on the beach at sunset, drinking out of a freshly opened coconut and reading in the hammock to cool down.
The return trip proved to be much more difficult than the trip there. As the high waves from the sea struck the day, we had to ecape to a small beaach on teh other side ofthe island, where a boat would then take us to the mainland.
The trip was, to say the least, an adventure - getting soaked to the bone, but we made it to Kep. You just have to convince yourself that the captain knows what he’s doing in this weather on this little rocking boat.
From Kep, we went directly to Kampot, where I am now, in an cyber cafe. Yesterday, we had one of the highlights of our trip. In a multicultural group of 16, including the 2 French, we road on the back of a truck in the Bokor National Park. After about a half hour going over the switchbacks, we continued on foot through the rainforest.
The continuous rain was more authentic, whose strength could not be stopped by the dense thicket of leaves. The second day, we got soaked to the bone. But this time, it was an unforgettable adventure that tied our group together. The armed rangers’ fast pace and the wild mountainous terrain unfortunately left us with little time to enjoy the wildlife. The park is home to tigers, wild elephants and many other animals, but nearly half the group only noticed the leeches. Imke got some on her thigh despite wearing long pants, and I got some myself on my calf.
After two hours in the rainforest, we were back at the road, and picked up by the truck. The destination was the remote ghost town of Bokor Hill, built in the 1920s by the French as a retreat for the wealthy. The casino and the church, the two main buildings, were given up by the French in the first Indo-Chinese war, and used as a strategic base from the 70s to the 90s by the Red Khmer. Located in the clouds, it was truly an eerie experience to wander around the premises of the strip of abandoned casinos. The way back to the loading area and throuhg the jungle turned out rain free, although bumpy and difficult. Covered in mud and drenched in a mixture of rain and sweat, the day ended with a boad ride on the river into the sunset.
This morning, Imke and I, as well as the French couple, were picked up by a Tuk Tuk which we rode around the villages until the early afternoon. We stopped in a cave, and Matthias and I climbed through the dark and mysterious tunnels. With the soothing feeling of the sweaty conquest of a cave that surely no man had entered before, we ended on a pepper plantation, home of the shrubs of the famous Kampot pepper. As a side note: Fresh, still green pepper straight off the bush, has a pleasant and not too hot taste. The dried Kampot pepper has a very peculiar taste, quote: “The aroma of black pepper is intense, with a slight eucalyptus note, with an after taste of thyme and mint, and a pleasant characteristic pungency” - The incomparable cuisine of Kornstrasse 9 in Sulingen will be happy with the return of their lost son with half a pound of fresh pepper straight from the plantation.
Now, I will go back to the streets of Kampot and test the feeling of traveling alone. Imke will fly back next Friday from Phnom Penh to Dubai. Tomorrow, we will either go to Takeo, between Kampot and the capital, or directly to Phnom Penh.
On the train from Sihanouk Ville, we met up again in the minibus with a French couple from Paris. They had spontaneously decided to accompany us to the island of Koh Thonsay, which we sailed to on a small boat from Kep. A gorgeous tropical island with a jungle in the center, surrounded by beautiful sandy beaches and rocks.
We passed rows of bamboo huts, each operated by a different family. For $7 a night, you get a bamboo hut with a small bathroom-the whole shed all to yourself. Obviously, no light, but with a large barrel and trowel to serve as a rinse.
Unfortunately, our stay wasn’t as long as I would have liked. The first reason was purely pragmatic: we didn’t have enough money. The second reason is that Imke did not like it as much as I did. My hope for the traditional bamboo hut experience, combined with a cool place to sleep, was quickly disillusioned. Sweat lodge would maybe be a good term to describe it. I also had an unpleasant encounter with a cockroach under my pillow. What do you expect when through the floor boards, you see chickens running everywhere.
Nevertheless, it was a wonderful trip, exploring the island together with the French couple, sitting on the beach at sunset, drinking out of a freshly opened coconut and reading in the hammock to cool down.
The return trip proved to be much more difficult than the trip there. As the high waves from the sea struck the day, we had to ecape to a small beaach on teh other side ofthe island, where a boat would then take us to the mainland.
The trip was, to say the least, an adventure - getting soaked to the bone, but we made it to Kep. You just have to convince yourself that the captain knows what he’s doing in this weather on this little rocking boat.
From Kep, we went directly to Kampot, where I am now, in an cyber cafe. Yesterday, we had one of the highlights of our trip. In a multicultural group of 16, including the 2 French, we road on the back of a truck in the Bokor National Park. After about a half hour going over the switchbacks, we continued on foot through the rainforest.
The continuous rain was more authentic, whose strength could not be stopped by the dense thicket of leaves. The second day, we got soaked to the bone. But this time, it was an unforgettable adventure that tied our group together. The armed rangers’ fast pace and the wild mountainous terrain unfortunately left us with little time to enjoy the wildlife. The park is home to tigers, wild elephants and many other animals, but nearly half the group only noticed the leeches. Imke got some on her thigh despite wearing long pants, and I got some myself on my calf.
After two hours in the rainforest, we were back at the road, and picked up by the truck. The destination was the remote ghost town of Bokor Hill, built in the 1920s by the French as a retreat for the wealthy. The casino and the church, the two main buildings, were given up by the French in the first Indo-Chinese war, and used as a strategic base from the 70s to the 90s by the Red Khmer. Located in the clouds, it was truly an eerie experience to wander around the premises of the strip of abandoned casinos. The way back to the loading area and throuhg the jungle turned out rain free, although bumpy and difficult. Covered in mud and drenched in a mixture of rain and sweat, the day ended with a boad ride on the river into the sunset.
This morning, Imke and I, as well as the French couple, were picked up by a Tuk Tuk which we rode around the villages until the early afternoon. We stopped in a cave, and Matthias and I climbed through the dark and mysterious tunnels. With the soothing feeling of the sweaty conquest of a cave that surely no man had entered before, we ended on a pepper plantation, home of the shrubs of the famous Kampot pepper. As a side note: Fresh, still green pepper straight off the bush, has a pleasant and not too hot taste. The dried Kampot pepper has a very peculiar taste, quote: “The aroma of black pepper is intense, with a slight eucalyptus note, with an after taste of thyme and mint, and a pleasant characteristic pungency” - The incomparable cuisine of Kornstrasse 9 in Sulingen will be happy with the return of their lost son with half a pound of fresh pepper straight from the plantation.
Now, I will go back to the streets of Kampot and test the feeling of traveling alone. Imke will fly back next Friday from Phnom Penh to Dubai. Tomorrow, we will either go to Takeo, between Kampot and the capital, or directly to Phnom Penh.
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