Kampot

After a full day of driving, we arrived in Kampot, Cambodia on 11 January. The next day, I woke up in a panic because Jenna and I had forgotten to apply for our eVisas for India. We were supposed to do so 5 days before arriving. We quickly applied and struggled a bit to get photos of ourselves that were formatted the correct way and files that were small enough to attach. Luckily, within 24 hours we received our vistas and no longer had to worry.

The morning of 12 January, we headed to a salt field, where they pump salt water into these troughs and allow for the water to evaporate over the course of a couple of days. These fields are not owned by one person, but instead each rectangle is owned by a family within Kampot.

From the salt field, we headed to a temple known as Phnom Chgourk.

Here is Garuda, guarding the steps that lead to the entrance of the temple.

Monkeys were hanging out just outside the cave wherein the temple resides.

There are tunnels that lead from the inside of the cave to the base of the hill that floods with water during the rainy season, creating a miniature river that runs through the back of the cave. Unfortunately, we were not there for long enough to explore these tunnels.

Our next stop was a pepper farm! We learned how black, white and red pepper is made and got to walk around the fields. Dad, just wait until you try some ;)

Regardless of whether there is power or not, water can still be pumped to the pepper plants! Ben, this especially made me think of you. Efficient, clean energy plus you can exercise at the same time!

Black pepper drying in the sun.

Now this is really cool. It is a solar powered oven. When it is flipped there are a series of mirrors that angle sunlight to the center of the parabolic-like contraption. It gets hot enough, that you could actually cook a pizza on this!

We stopped for lunch along the coast, where we are some delicious seafood, relaxed for a few hours in hammocks and went for a swim. A remora started following me at some point, trying to attach itself to my leg and then to my torso. It was a little guy and it was a bit weird because other than him, we did not see any other fish.

We headed to a square where people were selling fish and all kids of seafood.

You cannot really tell from this photo, but blue crabs were abounding here. I was the most experienced crab eater, when we sat down for lunch a few hours earlier, showing everyone how it is done. This is all thanks to years of eating crabs with Grandad and Nana and the rest of the Scheil clan ;)

Fish on a skewer anyone?

Shrimp, or prawns as people here call them in English, and some other unidentified seafood.

Sadly this market also sells shells and coral skeletons. None of the people selling the coral could speak Englisn and when I tried to bring it up to our guide, he dismissed my concern saying there is a lot of coral all around the coast of Cambodia. I was so taken aback to see coral being sold that I didn't push my point any further plus trying to communicate the importance of protecting coral in a world that is soon to see a vast change due to global climate change, altering the physical conditions of the environment where coral reside, is too complex of a conversation to have with a non fluent English speaker.

Later that evening, we headed to the bay on a boat to watch the sunset and to see fireflies once it got dark. It was a great night :D

Our last morning in Kampot, I enjoyed a cup of coffee absorbing the scenery surrounding me.

From Kampot, we headed to Sihanoukville. I only took one photo while we were there of the Starfish Bakery and Cafe, where I had a delicious panini and iced coffee. This cafe works to provide affordable quality healthcare, a secure home environment, improving water and sanitation to the local community plus much more. Keep up the great work Starfish Bakery and Cafe!

We had a great time while we were in Cambodia and Jenna and I are both really glad we joined an Intrepid tour. We got to see a lot of the country and meet some awesome people along the way :D