19/3/18 - Day 51

Traveled from PP to Kampot, we almost didn’t make the bus as our tuktuk driver didn’t seem to know where the address of the minibus company, so it got a bit hairy. Got there with minutes to spare. It then took about 3 hours which was nice having a relatively short journey for a change, the roads were still a bit crazy but maybe I’ve just got used to it now? Anyway, jumped off the bus or rather unfolded ourselves and then walked to our hotel which was about 1km away, you can tell the tuktuk drivers think we’re crazy but we wanted to stretch our legs. Arrived and our hotel (Rikitikitavi) is very nice, facing the river. Room not ready when we arrive so we go upstairs to their restaurant and have tea, can’t face food just yet. After we dumped our bags, spent some time chatting to the hotel manager, Andrea. Very friendly and helpful. Walked around Kampot, not a huge amount to see, it’s very laid back by comparison to where we’ve been and has that tired, hippy vibe about it. Decided to do a sunset river cruise on Kampong Bay River. Left at 5 and headed down the river, thought it might be a booze cruise full of 18-30’s but it wasn’t and was quite civilised. After sunset we could see the fireflies in the trees on the bank, amazing. Saw what we thought were some nice hotels by waters edge (more on this later). Once back at our hotel, quick shower and out for some food, actually went to an Italian restaurant which was ok but wished the food met the proprietor’s enthusiasm. Back at the hotel, it’s lovely and comfy but noisy (party boats moored opposite). We’re both so tired we managed to get to sleep despite this.

20/3/18 - Day 52

J goes and gets a moped so we can scooter around Kampot and see a bit more. If I’m honest it has a crumbling charm but I’m not in love with the place, think I’m a bit done with Cambodia now. We decide to stay another night but decide to move to a cheaper hotel (having checked our travelling fund account!). We waste quite a bit of time checking out a number of other hotels, some of the ones we spotted last night - awful, really dirty and grubby (I now feel qualified to write a small book on the subject if Roughguide happen to be interested!?). Back at our hotel for lunch and they show us two kittens that were born last night on the roof - they say it’s a lucky omen. Finally found somewhere and once we moved to our next overnight stop we decide to spend more time planning our next leg back into Thailand. We do a huge amount of searching, decide to avoid the Cambodian Islands and settle on staying on Koh Kut (Kood). J goes off to book the transfer journey ($22 by bus from Kampot to Trat first) dropping me at the yoga studio (Simple Things), it turns out that there’s no class but they let me use the yoga studio to practice. Nice session, but studio has a slightly grubby feel so wish I’d stayed and done it at the hotel, although I think that I’m seeing ‘grubbiness’ here generally. J comes back to meet me and we head out for a quick bite before heading back to our hotel to watch some stuff on Netflix, getting a reasonable early night.

21/3/18 - Day 53

Leaving Cambodia, mixed feelings if I’m honest... Travelling from Kampot to Trat, it’s a 7+ hour bus journey, so can’t say I’m over the moon but if we survive I’m sure we’ll be fine once we get there! Picked up on time and transferred without J to the bus rendezvous point, they’re totally confused as J not with me (he’s taking the moped back). As I’m waiting for him to arrive I spot the man who I’d seen peddling around on this bike who keeps his hair in a basket (see photo). This sums up the average barang (foreigner in local speak) who comes to Kampot but never gets around to leaving... he seems happy enough though (although did stick a middle finger up at J). J booking a place to stay in Trat for tonight whilst we travel the first leg and we’ll travel onto Koh Kut (Kood?) tomorrow, can’t wait to get in the sea again finally!

The journey was as horrific as I thought it might be, stopping at several really dismal, dirty places that you wouldn’t feed an animal in let alone a human, not nice. Fortunately we had brought some biscuits and bananas along for the journey so this had to suffice.

The Cambodian / Thai border was awful, someone tried to take our passports from us saying they could fast track us through but J took them back rapidly and we queued, figuring we wanted an official stamp out of Cambodia, we waited an age, convinced there’d be no bus on the Thai side. The Thai border crossing was smooth by comparison. We waited (in my case very impatiently) for the bus... it’s been a frustrating couple of days plus also v humid and as you know you’re travelling for 7+ hours on a bus you’re scared to eat and drink much... this is obviously the worst part of travelling, I just hope Koh Kood makes up for it! I think we’ll be flying out of Trat to the next destination after Kood...doubt we’ll come back to Cambodia if I’m honest. Amazing temples and people but the dirt, filfth, expensiveness and corruption have put me off a little.

Eventually get into our final bus (I hope) around 3.15 to get to Trat around 4.30. A final tuktuk to our hotel...Think I’ll burn the clothes I’m wearing when we arrive and take a very long shower.