After a long journey home, I decided to walk to the riverside to avoid being overcharged for the trip home. Though i was hassled AND followed by a persistent motorbike driver. On the way home I passed a place I had read about and been looking for. This is an amazing NGO-run cafe, not only boasting the best desserts of epic proportions, as well as an excellent looking menu, it is entirely run by deaf and blind students of Kampot, giving them the opportunity to word and support themselves. This makes it a little different ordering food. Around the cafe is art work that the employees have completed and I picked up some of here origami hangers. Whilst I was admiring a school group was upstairs having their very own signing lesson. There are some amazing things going on in Cambodia (sister ones of these are spread throughout the country).

From above and from the ground, the beach unfortunately does not do itself justice with all these storms, this golden sanded beauty has been churned up a little too much.

The oldest a best known restaurant in this area (according to lonley planet). Part of the reason for my journey to Kep was to indulge in their infamous crab. Seaside seating, and for $9 I got a mix plate of squid, prawns and a small crab cooked in chilli, lime and salt (seasoned with a generous amount of Kampot pepper) and a fresh pineapple juice (with complimentary pineapple as an appetiser…I was pineapple-ed out!). The crab was delicious and I was relatively impressed with my de-shelling this round. But I didn’t feel too good not long later and this whole thing was probably way too enthusiastic given my tummy. But I was definitely glad I came and checked out what all the fuss was about.

Translucent butterfly friends on the walk down

The absolute icing on the cake and a clear indication of how beautiful Cambodia is. You can’t see from the picture, but from the eye you could also see Koh Tonsay (a Cambodian island) as well as the large Pho Quc (a flash Vietnamese island) it was an absolutely beautiful panorama and well worth the horrifically steep climb. What a last way to spend my last day in Cambodia!

Well there were definite perks of this trail and hiking before 9am. Today was the most beautiful day I’ve had in a very long time.

And as the marked trail post indicates that was our route…(with promises of a look out point)

Kep is a beautiful, quiet seaside town which is surrounded by views of mountains and this national park or ocean no matter which way you look. I got a $1 tuk tuk to the bottom of the trail, and when he left me their he said “oh by the way don’t play with the snakes, some small, some big and sometimes tourist play with them and they die”… Well there are some words of encouragement….because I was planning on “playing with the snakes” in the first place! I immediately found myself a VERY large stick as my companion. Looking absolutely ridiculous (but hey at least I would be some what protected…maybe) I arrived at the entrance and as I was paying a Dutch guy walked up too. He paid as I was putting sunscreen on and asked if I wanted to walk he track with him. He had a map of the trails, so I agreed not aware he had planned not to walk around the park but climb up the mountain!!

I’ve seen a lot of sunrises in Cambodia, because my sleeping patterns have been so whacky. This morning however, was different. Since last night at about 7:30 I had been feeling extremely off in the stomach (and i, almost going to blame the ice in my delicious sugar cane juice,sadly). I had such a rough night sleep having to get up and down, and I just so happened to be getting up and caught this on my way to the bathroom. I rushed back, grabbed my camera, and snuck up the to roof finding an unoccupied bungalow and perched myself up their on the bed and snapped up what would be your view if this were your bedroom. A rare occurrence that there wasn’t a great deal of cloud cover. Asia belly is good for something, who’da thought?!

After farewelling everyone off to Phnom Penh or to start the journey to Vietnam, I decided to wander into town to save some pennies on the tuk tuk ride, besides the streets are so green and beautiful here with paths along the river front in town. Kampot isn’t much of a city, it’s a safe one, but it very much boasts a slow paced localised lifestyle. I bought some Kampot pepper (which it is famous for) and chilli sauce to take home and was thankful I went to the local markets because the tourist shops sell it for 4 times the price. It was a beautiful walk, but as I walked home I witnessed a horrific motorbike accident, on such a quiet stretch of rode where the man had obviously taken the corner way too hard. I’m not sure if the man will be okay, I didn’t want to stand and stare. It was definitely eye opening…