Si-ville to Kampot to Kep

Practising all of my marketing skills
Converse in Khmer was a bargaining thrill
Then taxi to Kampot -- of discomfort a feat
This thread did unify: eat eat and eat

SIHANOUKVILLE, CAMBODIA to KAMPOT, CAMBODIA to KEP, CAMBODIA

July 15, 2008

We woke up early the next morning to get a nice early start since we were planning to catch a share taxi back to Kampot around 1 or 1:30 pm, and there was a lot to do. Peon 1 wanted to get a massage (they're SOOO cheap here), TH and I had to visit the Vietnamese Embassy to get visas to go to Vietnam, we HAD TO HAD TO visit the market, Psar Leu, and we thought it might be nice to check out a bakery.

We were out the door by 7 am, which was great, especially considering that the bathroom was shared between three people. Unfortunately, even though it was early morning, it was already hot. And Si-ville is built on a bit of an incline down from the Gulf...and since our guesthouse was right on the beach...you guessed it, it was quite an uphill walk. Plus, the places we were going were pretty far (about 5 km to the Embassy, with everything else on the way).


The market was stop number one, and we hit it up for breakfast, which consisted of congee with fish, partly because I like congee, and partly because "congee with fish" is the only thing I know how to order in Khmer. I actually would have liked pork, but it's hard to sign language "pork," so fish it was. And it was good, with the exception of Peon 1 finding a hair and a fly in her food (but hey, it's market food), and her freezing in disgust, so that I had to pick it out for her. I thought it was good anyways, but I have a GI tract of titanium (I've decided on an upgrade from steel) and that stuff doesn't really bother me.

Picked up a feast for lunch, too, while I was in the market: rice wrapped in a leaf (joong-like thing, but couldn't ask what was inside, so it was a bit of a point-and-crap-shoot), 6 sweet little bun things, and half a kilo of lychee. That was also a fun little expedition: try sign languaging half -- it's harder than you might think. I just held one finger up and then made the motion of cutting it in half, thoroughly confusing the market lady...then I just started saying half the price of a kilo over and over again in Khmer, and she eventually understood me. I've since asked someone how to say "half," and since forgotten.

It's a nice town though, fairly busy, and the market was quite dirty, all things considered. Apparently it's because the market burned down about a year ago, and while they rebuild it, stalls have popped up just on the roadsides in the area near the new market.


I finally got to a bank, which was great because I've been freaking out a little bit since my debit card doesn't seem to be working. Don't really understand it, because it worked in Peru last year, but it's telling me I have a zero balance in all my accounts (bet U of T would love to hear that). Fortunately, I found a bank that does cash advances on credit cards for no commission, so I was able to pick up some money that way...and luckily enough, since I paid it off via internet banking yesterday, I think it will end up consting me less than debiting money out of an ABM. Righteous.

TH and I headed to the embassy while Peon 1 got her 60 minute full body massage (for the high high price of $8!!!), which, unfortunately, was again an uphill away, but it was really quick getting our visas so that was a load off.

After that it was more more more walking and more more more sweating and by the time we got back to the guesthouse it was already almost noon, and I was so drenched in perspiration that I'm pretty sure I looked like I'd already gone for a swim. The guesthouse was nice enough to let us check out an hour later, so we went for a last minute quick dip in the ocean to cool off, and then headed out to grab a share taxi.

And here's the annoying part: everyone is always trying to rip you off.

RIP OFF STORY NUMBER ONE
We hired two motos to drive us to the share taxi stand and he insisted on us getting off the bikes and him negotiating to see if there were any taxis left (it was pretty late in the day to get one). From Si-ville to Kampot should be $6/head, and since it was late, we would probably have to wait a while for the taxis to fill up, since we didn't want to pay for the empty seats.

(The entire ride there, my driver was trying to convince me to hire a whole taxi for $35, and I kep saying, no I don't care, I want a share taxi. He changed tactics and then tried to get me to pay for any empty seats, and I kept saying, no I don't care, I'll wait, I don't mind.)

He came back to get us and explained that with us, there were only 6 passengers in the taxi and we'd have to pay for the last empty seat...a total of $8 each -- which doesn't make sense, because $6 per person...one seat empty...6 passengers...making it $7 each. Rip off, I smell.

So I told him that and said no, we're not paying extra. We made our way to the taxi stand and eventually it worked out, and we waited for a seventh person and it was all fine.

***

We did get to Kampot, and quite quickly, so it was definitely $6 well spent. And it was a little uncomfortable, but the ride only took about 1 hour (the guy was driving FAST).

We headed over to Heng Dy's the convenience store in town, and bought lots of groceries (and FRESH BREAD!). Then it was Epic Arts Cafe where I finally got to try one of the brownies. Unfortunately, it was a little stale, but at least my money went to support a good NGO. The people that work there are disabled, and the cafe provides jobs and training to them. They are mean little buggers...a few of the boys had written a note in English that said "Crazy" and stuck it to the back of one of the girls and then laughed at her. Poor girl. Anyways, I got a great picture of all of them.

Kunthy came to meet us at Epic Arts and advised that we not stick around Kampot for dinner. Even though it's only 20 km from Kep, it's difficult to get transport back. We had our moto helmets with us, so we were planning to watch the sunset over the Kampot River during dinner, and then catch motos back, but Kunthy said it would be difficult, and we'd certainly get gouged.

So instead, we grabbed street food for dinner, quite early. That was great. (I feel like all my stories are about food...) This little shop has crab, squid, prawn, fish, beef, and egg on sticks, and you choose which types of meat you want and they deep fry it, and serve it to you with chili sauce and pickled vegetables. Mmm...so good. I had squid, crab, and prawn. Crunchy outside, soft inside, mmm...


And yet another picture of me eating.

After the meal, we took motos home. The motos were negotiated by Kunthy, which brings me to:

RIP OFF STORY NUMBER TWO
Kunthy negotiated a moto for two people for $5 and a second moto for the third person for $4, for a total of $3 per person.

When we arrived a Seaside, we paid the first guy $5 in USD and the second guy $4 in a mixture of USD and local currency, riel. He demanded an extra 1000 riels ($0.25) from us, jibber jabbering in Khmer, to which we firmly said no, since the price had already been negotiated up front.

He was still jabbering when we called the Seaside manager Cassam over to translate. Apparently the guy wanted the extra 1000r because the exchange rate is not very good right now. Normally it's 4000r per USD, but it's currently at 4100r per USD. Everyone in the country accepts a mixture of USD and riels at 4000:1 -- it's just status quo. And even if the guy wants 4100:1, that's still not an extra 1000r, it's 400r. Anyways, we just walked away and said we weren't paying the extra.

But anyways, all in all, it was definitely a great getaway to Sihanoukville, and even though we didn't get to see what Kampot had to offer in terms of sunsets and dinners, it was still a successful meal.