After Phnom Penh we headed southwest to Chi Phat, a small village with a new eco-tourism program aimed to protect the surrounding wilderness. We continued on to some serious beach time in Sihanoukville and on to Kampot where we met Nathan and Jen. We followed them home to Kampong Trach, where they generously housed us and we cooked epic dinners, relaxed, and got to know their market ladies. We spent the holiday weekend on Rabbit Island and Kep, another relaxing retreat where we didn't feel like tourists. Our lazy southern schlep was a vacation from a vacation, we got to sweep the floors and do dishes like normal people, and best of all spend some time with friends from home. We also discovered baby powder for freshies, that Khmer curry is eaten with bread and the wrath of the oncoming monsoon season.
Colin and Jen giddily awaiting the rainstorm on the roof of Nathan and Jen's house. Their house, on the second story is a pretty sweet set up with a balcony attached to their room and lots of open space. Once the rain comes, it sounds like you're inside a steel drum since the roof is corrugated metal. It makes for a pretty exciting time, especially when you're making Massaman curry from scratch and screaming directions over the noise.
Amanda cycling around Kampong Trach's famous Phnom (hill/mountain) which has several caves and a pagoda. Kampong Trach is where Jen and Nathan live and teach English in the Peace Corps. We spent over a week with them in their village and visiting Rabbit Island and Kep. The surrounding countryside in their province is the most beautiful we saw in Cambodia.
Colin had a baby! And then we chopped it up. We asked for a fresh jackfruit which we saw growing at our guesthouse and were given three, but were only able to take back one. Unfortunatly, it needs 2 days to ripen after being cut from the tree, whoops.
The view from Tree Top Guesthouse in Kep, Cambodia. Bokor Hill is in the background with the ocean in the middle. We stumbled upon this guesthouse when Nathan and Jen's go-to was booked. It was a beautiful place with comfortable huts set in a durian farm (it wasn't smelly, only Colin was).
Can you name this tree? We can't, but it's beautiful and lines the streets of Kep, Cambodia.
Our last afternoon on Rabbit Island, we hide in the shade under the Cambodian flag waiting for our boat.
Being true Seattelites in the tropics, we spend a morning hiking around the island to explore. This photo was taken by a seaweed farm on the western side of the island. We're not sure what they use it for, but they had a lot of it.
Chilling on the beach with Nathan and Jen, viewing mainland Cambodia from afar. We spent two nights on Rabbit Island and each night went out for some amazing night swimming where we could see phosfouressence, glowing like an orb around us.
Two bugs on a boat to Rabbit Island, although one is looking a bit like a babushka.
French colonial shop houses line the streets of Kampot, Cambodia. Kampot is a pretty small river-side town with beautiful views of Bokor Hill in the background. We met Nathan and Jen here for a night out to fajita's at an expat joint.
A spectacular rainbow sunset viewed from our happy hour spot on Otres Beach. They had $.50 draft beer with the most ingenious way of cooling it, ask Colin for more details.
The best way to eat on the beach is from the roaming seafood ladies hawking "lobster" aka languistines and BBQ'd squid. Pretty, pretty, pretty......pretty good!
Two boat shaped bungalows on Otres Beach, Sihanoukville, Cambodia. We spent a few days on this beach, swimming, relaxing and doing a lot of nothing.
Amanda on an afternoon stroll through Chi Phat and the surrounding villages. There were some beautiful, brightly colored houses dotted throughout the forest. As villagers were becoming accustomed to tourists they would shout "hello" from under their stilted houses.
Kayaking upriver in the heat of the afternoon around Chi Phat and towards the foothills of the Cardmom Mountains. The town of Chi Phat is set up as an eco-tourism cooperative to combat illegal logging and poaching in the forest, inviting tourists to explore the natural environment with local guides, bringing money to the community.
Attempting to view sunset from a "mountain" (small hill) in Chi Phat, we find a Frenchman cycling through the countryside. The menacing clouds seen in the background would unleash a horrible monsoon in about 5 minutes. We tried to hide, but there was no way out and we found ourselves wading through knee deep shit water in 30 minutes. Amanda fretted about the future of her camera's life as Colin dragged two bikes through the deluge.
A waterfall we biked to in Chi Phat. Further down the river we swam with some water buffalo in a large water hole, not exactly hygenic.
This boat wouldn't have passed emmissions, but it floated us along with a ton of supplies 2 hours up river to Chi Phat. The boat captian and his friend invited us to drink a beer with them which lead to drinking our ginseng infused rice whiskey and communicating nonverbally for the rest of the trip. Throughout the trip Colin learned one Khmer word, pleung, which means rain, a word that would come in handy soon. Cambodian men love to invite Colin to drink with them, and sometimes they will let Amanda drink too, but not always.
Under the bridge waiting for the cargo boat to take us to Chi Phat, we lent our camera to a group of kids that took about 1 billion photos. This is one of them.
Boats lined up in Anduong Tuek, Cambodia. We stopped at this village (amazingly enough as our bus driver cruised past it even though we told him 3 times thatwe wanted to stop there) to explore the Koh Kong Nature Corridor, a protected area that streches from mangrove coast to the Cardomom Mts. in the north. We stayed in this sleepy village for one night with a third roommate, a rat.
Colin and Jen giddily awaiting the rainstorm on the roof of Nathan and Jen's house. Their house, on the second story is a pretty sweet set up with a balcony attached to their room and lots of open space. Once the rain comes, it sounds like you're inside a steel drum since the roof is corrugated metal. It makes for a pretty exciting time, especially when you're making Massaman curry from scratch and screaming directions over the noise. 
Amanda cycling around Kampong Trach's famous Phnom (hill/mountain) which has several caves and a pagoda. Kampong Trach is where Jen and Nathan live and teach English in the Peace Corps. We spent over a week with them in their village and visiting Rabbit Island and Kep. The surrounding countryside in their province is the most beautiful we saw in Cambodia.
Colin had a baby! And then we chopped it up. We asked for a fresh jackfruit which we saw growing at our guesthouse and were given three, but were only able to take back one. Unfortunatly, it needs 2 days to ripen after being cut from the tree, whoops.
The view from Tree Top Guesthouse in Kep, Cambodia. Bokor Hill is in the background with the ocean in the middle. We stumbled upon this guesthouse when Nathan and Jen's go-to was booked. It was a beautiful place with comfortable huts set in a durian farm (it wasn't smelly, only Colin was).
Can you name this tree? We can't, but it's beautiful and lines the streets of Kep, Cambodia.
Our last afternoon on Rabbit Island, we hide in the shade under the Cambodian flag waiting for our boat.
Being true Seattelites in the tropics, we spend a morning hiking around the island to explore. This photo was taken by a seaweed farm on the western side of the island. We're not sure what they use it for, but they had a lot of it.
Chilling on the beach with Nathan and Jen, viewing mainland Cambodia from afar. We spent two nights on Rabbit Island and each night went out for some amazing night swimming where we could see phosfouressence, glowing like an orb around us.
Two bugs on a boat to Rabbit Island, although one is looking a bit like a babushka.
A spectacular rainbow sunset viewed from our happy hour spot on Otres Beach. They had $.50 draft beer with the most ingenious way of cooling it, ask Colin for more details.
The best way to eat on the beach is from the roaming seafood ladies hawking "lobster" aka languistines and BBQ'd squid. Pretty, pretty, pretty......pretty good!
Two boat shaped bungalows on Otres Beach, Sihanoukville, Cambodia. We spent a few days on this beach, swimming, relaxing and doing a lot of nothing.
Amanda on an afternoon stroll through Chi Phat and the surrounding villages. There were some beautiful, brightly colored houses dotted throughout the forest. As villagers were becoming accustomed to tourists they would shout "hello" from under their stilted houses.
Kayaking upriver in the heat of the afternoon around Chi Phat and towards the foothills of the Cardmom Mountains. The town of Chi Phat is set up as an eco-tourism cooperative to combat illegal logging and poaching in the forest, inviting tourists to explore the natural environment with local guides, bringing money to the community.
Attempting to view sunset from a "mountain" (small hill) in Chi Phat, we find a Frenchman cycling through the countryside. The menacing clouds seen in the background would unleash a horrible monsoon in about 5 minutes. We tried to hide, but there was no way out and we found ourselves wading through knee deep shit water in 30 minutes. Amanda fretted about the future of her camera's life as Colin dragged two bikes through the deluge.
A waterfall we biked to in Chi Phat. Further down the river we swam with some water buffalo in a large water hole, not exactly hygenic.
This boat wouldn't have passed emmissions, but it floated us along with a ton of supplies 2 hours up river to Chi Phat. The boat captian and his friend invited us to drink a beer with them which lead to drinking our ginseng infused rice whiskey and communicating nonverbally for the rest of the trip. Throughout the trip Colin learned one Khmer word, pleung, which means rain, a word that would come in handy soon. Cambodian men love to invite Colin to drink with them, and sometimes they will let Amanda drink too, but not always.
Under the bridge waiting for the cargo boat to take us to Chi Phat, we lent our camera to a group of kids that took about 1 billion photos. This is one of them.
Boats lined up in Anduong Tuek, Cambodia. We stopped at this village (amazingly enough as our bus driver cruised past it even though we told him 3 times thatwe wanted to stop there) to explore the Koh Kong Nature Corridor, a protected area that streches from mangrove coast to the Cardomom Mts. in the north. We stayed in this sleepy village for one night with a third roommate, a rat.
Such cool pictures! That frenchman looks familiar - that picture is definitely frameable. :) A humble request for some more food pictures!
ReplyDeleteGlad you got to meet up with friends. What a sunset! The Jackfruit looks a bit suspicious to me. Did you taste any that was ripe? And the eternal question: How DO they keep beer cool on Otres beach???
ReplyDeleteBAAAAAHAHAHAHA colin, nice stache and hair man! i'm sort of surprised this didn't happen sooner but i haven't been reading this as much as i should and that first pic took me by surprise. i want some serious beach time, no fair!!!!
ReplyDelete