ARRIVING IN KAMPOT AND VISITING A SALT FARM

The town of Kampot was recommended to us prior to our travels. It is a mid-size city about 3 hours from the ferry port of Sihanoukville. In advance of our travel day, we hired a driver to meet us at the ferry. After a quick grocery shop (at a 7-11) we made our way out of town towards our destination. We were warned the road would be VERY bumpy – despite the warning, we were unprepared for the length and bounce! There seemed to be a road widening project underway so for an hour we bounced along on the shoulder of the road, avoiding soft spots and navigating dips while sharing the road with other vehicles, tuk tuks, transports and motorcycles – it was a relief to get back on a surface again as we got closer to Kampot!

Kampot was the original seaport for international trade in the 1840s on the Koh Sla River. The city of almost 50,000 people is connected to Sihanoukville and Phenom Phen by major roads (about 3 hours from each). Famous aspects of the city include durian, bananas, fish sauce and peppers. In fact, there is a big durian statue in the town centre which we visited when we checked out the local night market. Fun fact: durian's are very popular here, they are known as the 'king of fruits' and are very nutritious but they have a strong smell and many hotels ask you not to eat them in your room!

Other attractions in the area include learning about salt farming and visiting a pepper farm. On our first day at the Komsan hotel we took bikes and went out for a 10km ride to see the salt farms. It was a hot ride but very interesting as we wove through winding dirt roads past local homes. A highlight was seeing the many children grouped on bicycles heading home for lunch and later, back to school. Their white uniform tops and blue bottoms making them easily recognizable as they waved, and we exchanged greetings of “Sawasdee” (hello in Khmer).

The salt farms are large shallow basins where salt water is drained from the sea and left to evaporate so the salt can be harvested. There is a lot of manual labour involved in tending to the salt. You can see a video about salt farming here:

SALT FARMING VIDEO

Our hotel was an interesting place, it is a large complex with lots of buildings in various stages of completion and pathways. It is owned by a wealthy Cambodian man who is quite connected to the government and wanted to have his own rural property. A notable difference of this hotel from others we stayed at was the focus on activities for children – there were playground pieces, a small pond to explore with boats/water bikes, a riverfront property and a splash play area.

What was interesting was that despite meeting another family (from Australia but who are living in China) on the first night, for most of the time, we were the only guests on the whole property! We took full advantage of the amenities offered and even got some school work done!!! That was quite an experience to have the entire resort to ourselves… it reminded us a bit of being at home in backyard in the summers and we realize how lucky we are!!!!

What a lovely way to spend a few days as we make our way closer to Phnom Phen and the airplane ride home!