Kep Kaves and Kampot

On Sunday Steve, Yen, Ed, Nancy, and I took a tuk tuk to Kampong Trach about an hour and a half away to see some caves. The first cave we went to was in a large rock outcrop that jutted up from the rice field plains. Once the tuk tuk pulled up near the cave area and we each paid our $1 entry fee, two children with flashlights followed the tuk tuk until it stopped at the cave mouth. When we got off the tuk tuk they immediately guided us into the cave with their flashlights chattering off the names of various rock formations such as "the turtle", "head of the eel", "eagle", and perhaps the most easily identifiable formation, "policeman's foot". It was quite odd and I felt very hurried being herded along by the now 12 other children who had joined them. The cave opened up to a large central area or "open sky cave" where there was a small temple with a reclining Buddha statue (a garish replacement because the original was destroyed by the Khmer Rouge). There was also a narrow staircase leading up into an opening in the cave wall that we couldn't go into because it was according to our little guides "too sticky and too many mosquitoes".


Open Sky Cave

When we were finished at the Open Sky Cave, we hopped back in the tuk tuk and drove a little ways while three of our little guides followed us on their bicycles. We got off the tuk tuk and had to walk about 1 km to reach the next cave, the swimming cave. The tuk tuk couldn't get there because there were too many big holes in the dirt road and it was a bit too muddy for all 5 of us to fit in the tuk tuk. On the way to the swimming cave, we passed a pond at the foot of a large outcropping of rocks. I asked our guide, Dap (?), if we could go closer to that mountain and he said, "no. too many bombs." I suppose he meant land mines because this area was one of the last Khmer Rouge hideouts and is still riddled with landmines. The eight of us continued on past some goats, a quarry, and children shouting out enthusiastic "hello"s to us. The swimming cave was indeed a sort of subterranean lake filled with clear and clean water. There wasn't too much trash in the lake and there were even little fishes swimming about.


The Swimming Cave

At first I was a little apprehensive about jumping in to a random lake, but after Dap (?) leapt in and was splashing about, I was put at ease and Ed, Steve, Nancy, and I all jumped in in our swimming suits. The water was nice and cool, way cooler than the ocean had been the day before on Rabbit Island and it was also fairly shaded so it wasn't hot at all. Ed and I decided to explore the deeper parts of the cave and headed towards the back where we thought the lake might continue further, but it got too dark and it didn't look like it went much further. The water must have come from somewhere underneath and beyond the walls of the little cave. Apparently when Ed and I were heading towards the back of the cave, Dap told Nancy that there were ghosts back there and we shouldn't go there. I didn't hear him, but I didn't see any ghosts, only some garbage gathered near the back, probably where the current of the water drained into the other parts of the cave. Some swimming and splashing later, we walked back to the tuk tuk and our driver took us to the Kampot pepper plantations.


Our Cave Guides

The pepper plantations were a bit of a ways off the main road and quite unobtrusive. Our driver showed us how the pepper grows on a vine and explained how they pick the pepper when it's green and after they dry it it becomes black. The white peppercorns come from peeling the pepper berries before drying them, but I don't think their flavor was as intense. We met a nice family that runs the pepper plantation and practiced our Khmei language skills with them. The plantation also grows sapodilla, durian, mango, and papayas too, but they weren't in season yet as the mango season is in May.


Legendary Kampot Pepper Plants

By the time we were done with the pepper plantation, it was about time for lunch so we headed back to Vanna Bungalows in Kep and ate at the nearby Veranda Resort restaurant. The food was really good there but fairly expensive as the Veranda is a really nice resort with moderately priced rooms. They really get you on the food, but it's worth it in my opinion. We were going to stay at the Veranda, but they were all booked up and I will definitely have to stay there the next time. The view there is also really amazing and the bungalows themselves are up in the trees and connected with elevated walkways. I had a delicious chicken club sandwich with fries on freshly baked bread.

After lunch we all had a food coma and took naps in the hammocks on our bungalows' lanais. Dinner was down at the crab shacks again, but in a different place this time. We ate in the shack all the way down at the end and the crabs were bigger than the ones from the shack from before. The crab was also really good and soft and came right out of the shell. We ordered two plates of crab (grilled and with spices) and it came with the excellent Kampot pepper sauce too, yum! Steve, Ed, and I were still hungry after sharing the crabs with the whole group, so we went to the Lonely Planet-recommended restaurant for round two. We ordered deep fried and battered prawns and crab with spices and some morning glory veggies. I'm sorry to say that I was pretty disappointed with the restaurant that LP recommended. LP said they gave a free dessert, but they didn't. There were termites in the table, at least two rats running around the dining area, and the crab was kind of tough and tasted a little overcooked. It seems that the restaurant got Lonely Planet syndrome and has slacked off since they got into the book because they get so much business that they don't even need to be up to the same standard that they used to.


A Kep Crab Dinner