So the first weekend in Phnom Penh, I decided, on impulse, to just take a bus out to Kampot and see where that left me.
I went to the bus station and took the very next bus...which promptly broke down 3 hours out of Phnom Penh in the middle of nowhere. Cambodian buses ftw! We sat by the roadside for hours and hours until the last tour bus came to pick us up (defeating the purpose of me having insisted on the very next bus so I could get an early start).
By the time we rolled into Kampot (literally rolled, our bus was tied to the back of the other with a rope--no I didn't take a picture stupidly enough) it was too late to book a tour of Bokor Mountain the next morning...which is pretty much the only reason anyone goes to Kampot. I woke up early the next morning and they told me there were no more bookings available. So, I was forced to just hack around the city all day.
I got my hair cut, or rather, evened out. I'd hacked it off within an inch of its life the day before due to overwhelming heat and humidity. (Putting pics tends to get me critizicized, so alas, you will not actually get to see this new haircut.) Rest assured that it now stands 1/2 inch shorter than before and I was charged for a boy cut.
Then I decided to book a tour for a river cruise. The guy behind the counter was taking so long that instead, I just walked across the street and paid a dollar to use a bicycle for the day.
Because I was hoping to see a pepper plantation (Kampot is famous for pepper, in addition to Bokor Mountain), I rode into the countryside a good 12km. Alas, I could not yet read any of the signs, and thus could not find a plantation, so I just gave up and took a nice Sunday afternoon drive. When I'd gone far enough, I stopped under a tree and ate some papaya-coated pancakes made by the same woman who'd rented me the bike.
When I got back to town, I was more readily able to book a boat cruise--which departed very shortly. Five dollars takes you up the river out of town, where you can watch the sun set behind the mountains. When it gets dark, you can watch fireflies, although they didn't seem to be terribly active (time of year? climate change?). Also they give you a free beer.
Anyway, I never did get to go see Bokor Mountain because my bus departed very early next morning. Nor did I see a pepper plantation. You know what I say to that?
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| This is the bus, all broken down. |
By the time we rolled into Kampot (literally rolled, our bus was tied to the back of the other with a rope--no I didn't take a picture stupidly enough) it was too late to book a tour of Bokor Mountain the next morning...which is pretty much the only reason anyone goes to Kampot. I woke up early the next morning and they told me there were no more bookings available. So, I was forced to just hack around the city all day.
I got my hair cut, or rather, evened out. I'd hacked it off within an inch of its life the day before due to overwhelming heat and humidity. (Putting pics tends to get me critizicized, so alas, you will not actually get to see this new haircut.) Rest assured that it now stands 1/2 inch shorter than before and I was charged for a boy cut.
Then I decided to book a tour for a river cruise. The guy behind the counter was taking so long that instead, I just walked across the street and paid a dollar to use a bicycle for the day.
Because I was hoping to see a pepper plantation (Kampot is famous for pepper, in addition to Bokor Mountain), I rode into the countryside a good 12km. Alas, I could not yet read any of the signs, and thus could not find a plantation, so I just gave up and took a nice Sunday afternoon drive. When I'd gone far enough, I stopped under a tree and ate some papaya-coated pancakes made by the same woman who'd rented me the bike.
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| It looks like this. |
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| You get this view. |
Anyway, I never did get to go see Bokor Mountain because my bus departed very early next morning. Nor did I see a pepper plantation. You know what I say to that?
~NEXT TIME~
