Kampot, a French Colonial Retreat on the Ocean

We’ve reluctantly left Koh Rong island and its beautiful white sand beaches off the southern tip of Cambodia. The Sok San Resort launch returned us form the island resort to their private dock near

Sok San Beach Resort private launch

Sihanoukville in one hour--with only one little hitch. A mere 10 minutes from the safety of the dock, we hear a loud bang that sends a shock through everyone on board. The twin 250-hp engines shut down and we drift in anxious silence. The captain pulls the engines up for inspection and we see a shredded bamboo log floating behind us. Now, I’ve always wondered what happens when a boat hits a log, but I was just curious. Drifting off the coast of Cambodia wasn’t the time I really wanted to find out. But no damage has been done and we continue on, albeit at a slower anxious pace.

But that’s not the end of our travel woes. Because we were unable to connect with a shuttle service on the internet or on the phone before our island departure, we have no pre-arranged pickup and have to negotiate with the solitary taxi that’s waiting at the dock. Several tuk tuk drivers offer to take us into town, but we want to go further than a tuk tuk would allow comfortably to the small town of Kampot two and a half hours away.

The lone taxi driver, who speaks only Khmer, refuses to budge on his price of $50 US for the drive because the road is so bad. At least that is what I assume he is explaining as he keeps saying “Wow” and excitedly waving his hands and arms up and down like a mogul skier about to take air. 

At last, when only he and we are left in the deserted parking lot, he finally agrees to $45. But once we’re on the road he starts saying “My friend, my friend, no me” and heads to downtown Sihanoukville not onto the highway to Kampot. We finally surmise that $45 was too little for him and he wants his friend to take his car and us instead. So for the $5 saving, we get a free “tour” of the rundown, dusty, ugly downtown core of Sihanoukville, which we later learn is being bought up, torn down and rebuilt with Chinese money to the great dismay of the locals. Many expats and businesses have left there because of the drastically higher rents and disruption. Many, it turns out, have moved to Kampot.

Kampot Shophouse covered in flowering vine

Anyway, we sit for five minutes at a parking area waiting for “My friend” who never shows up, so we head back out onto the road, which really is like a mogul run with bone-shattering potholes, loose gravel and lots of dust.

The free side trip “tour” actually costs us an extra half hour and turns our 2.5-hour trip into a 3-hour bumpy ride. To make matters worse, our driver who turns out to be pretty friendly actually, starts talking to me in Khmer because I had responded “Ot te, arkon” (No thank you) in Khmer when he offered us some of his cashews. Suddenly he can’t stop talking in Khmer! Blah, blah, blah, Khmer. Blah, blah, blah, Khmer. I nod sympathetically in the front seat while Carolann dozes in the back.

I’m sure he’s telling jokes because in between the “Wows” when we hit a huge pothole he blathers on and then laughs hysterically. I can’t even sleep because he’s talking so much. Not that I could sleep driving anywhere in Asia and certainly not while being thrown into the air by the moguls and potholes.

But he’s a cautious, safe driver and we arrive in time for lunch in Kampot, a small riverside former French retreat not far from the ocean. Remnants of the French colonial era abound in the architecture and the food. Rows of traditional shophouses line the streets and are filled with  restaurants, shops and boutiques. Our choices of restaurants and watering holes are numerous, with Khmer, French, Italian, even Hungarian options. And then, of course, there are the famous “Happy Pizza” joints with names like “Ecstatic”, “Kampot Haze” and “Happy Yummy Pizza” that are sadly no longer offering marijuana pizzas. Oh well, the names are dreamy!

Even without the “Happy Pizza”, however, the whole town has a nice relaxed feel to it and a decided French flavour that I love. Most of the tourists seem to be French as well although there are plenty of Brits and Germans and a sprinkling of Canadians. There are a lot of expats and many people come here for the entire winter to enjoy the warmth, the low prices and easy access to the ocean beaches and islands just off the coast.

The small Italian Osteria with homemade pasta 

Life is easy here, rent and food are cheap and traffic is minimal. A lot of tourists ride sedately around town on bicycles or rent motorbikes. Our hotel even has free bikes for our use, but we're not quite ready for cycling in Cambodia.

Kampot is not upscale, it's relaxed and just a bit trendy. There's even a small restaurant that has banned plastic straws, offers ones made out of bamboo, and supports a local woman's group.

Epic Arts Cafe offers bamboo straws

An artistic flair is evident in some of the shops and buildings. We even found what looks like an artist’s community and a writers club housed in an old colonial building now decorated in bright colours and stencils of Mandela and Bob Dylan.

Kama Cafe and art studio

The main river road is dotted with small restaurants and bars on one side and a wide promenade on the other. Small wooden river cruise boats are tied up the full length of the promenade.

Firefly river cruise boats tied up on the Kampot promenade

They offer evening “Firefly” cruises to see the fireflies along the river at night. The boats and promenade are lit up like fireflies themselves in bright coloured lights. It’s all quite attractive and the food choices are exciting. While it’s a far cry from the tranquility of Koh Rung, it’s quiet and peaceful. So no more boat rides, thank you very much, we’ll have a glass of wine and a pizza to help chill us out instead.

Enjoying our first glass of wine at the Happy Pizza in Kapot