Our first day in Kampot, we rented a motorbike and cruised to Kep - an old beach town that got hit pretty hard by the Khmer Rouge. There were tons of nice looking old villas that were now abandoned and derelict, with bullet holes in them. Squatters were living under what was left of the roofs, and even an old pool made for some dirty swimming for some of kids! There was an old King's residence there, and even a newer one that wasn't really fit for a king!
Next day, it was up the hill to Bokor Hill Station. Another abandoned resort area, and you could tell by the bumpy road which we travelled by 4WD truck. The good thing about Bokor was the temperature - cooler as we were 3000 ft higher!!! Bokor has a real 'ghost town' appeal. The old buildings used to be hotels, an electrical station, a post office, a water tower, a Catholic church and the very impressive Bokor Palace Hotel and Casino. Of course, these buildings were all skeletons of what they used to be, with a funky orange moss growing all over. The view was impressive from the Bokor Palace and you could imagine that it would be a pretty swanky place in it's day. Now, however, it is graffiti walls, broken staircases and all smashed windows. Very neat to walk around, if a bit spooky. Michelle and I were supposed to stay up at the hill station, but when we arrived at the guesthouse they had no more beds. They did offer to give us some rickety camping chairs (not camping beds!)..... for the same price of $5 each, so unfortunately, we headed back down the bumpy road home. We did finish the day with a boat ride back to town. The tour guide, Nat, stopped to do some clamming, but only Martin and another guy got in to help. Nat scooped out 57 clams, Martin 27 and Rob 8, which Nat proceeded to cook on the way home for us all on a makeshift BBQ on the wooden boat. A tasty treat while we enjoyed sunset! *Stub
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