Our first stop in Cambodia was the small town of Kampot. I wanted to go to Kampot because I had been hoping it would be like Luang Prabang (one of my favorite places, as you may recall). Kampot is described as a quaint riverside town, so it seemed reasonable to think it might be like Luang Prabang. Alas, it was not at all like what I was expecting. I didn’t think that Kampot was very pretty or quaint and actually found it to be a bit ugly with not a lot to do there. But we have met several people during our travels who just absolutely loved Kampot, once again reaffirming the very intuitive idea that people like different places.
Nonetheless, we did enjoy spending a few days in a place with not much to do after the whirlwind pace of our 3 weeks in Vietnam. The highlights of our time in Kampot were motorbiking to nearby caves and the oceanside town of Kep with our new German friends we met on the bus ride over from Vietnam, stumbling across a cafe serving the best Western food we had during our entire time in Asia, and riding bicycles to a nearby local swimming hole.
On our last day in Kampot, we braved the blazing hot sun by riding bicycles to a nearby swimming hole. It definitely appeared to be a locals place as there were a lot of Cambodian families swimming there and not another foreign soul in sight. There were little wooden structures set up that people could rent to hang out in and eat lunch or relax in a hammock, and a lot of local vendors walking around selling snacks.