Kampot is famous for its pepper, internationally recognised for its quality and available by the half-kilo for a couple of dollars. But for us, it was the city of roundabouts.
The streets have no names, no numbers — but every few metres there's a junction forming a roundabout. And every single roundabout has its own particular decoration!
We navigated by roundabout, and whenever we decided where to go for a drink or a bite, the roundabouts were our reference points.
Hey, let's go for a smoothie at that stall on the street between the durian roundabout and the river! What do you reckon — sandwiches by the salt roundabout?
The salt roundabout in Kampot
Roundabouts aside, we didn't do very much during our days in Kampot. It was TOO HOT to want to do anything. We spent half the afternoons drinking 50-cent beers, playing minigolf (free after your 50-cent beer) and writing or sorting photos — with the free WiFi at the beer place.
Kampot is a former French colony, and it shows. The buildings follow the characteristic architectural patterns, and there's a sizeable French population living in the city, many of them with small businesses in the tourist area.
French colonial buildings
In this Cambodian city we enjoyed good food at fair prices, excellent smoothies at even better prices (2,000 riel, about 50 cents), and dirt-cheap beers at the Sponge Bar.
On one of our more energetic days we decided to explore the area — walk along the riverside, visit the market, wander the streets. We lasted a couple of hours before retreating to the market to buy a few kilos of mangoes (3,000 riel a kilo, about $0.75) and find some shade to recover in.
Walking the outskirts of Kampot
A macro shot of one of the water flowers we came across in the garden
From Kampot we headed to Sihanoukville by bus for a couple of dollars, where we found a city with plenty of fine-sand beaches but far too touristy for our taste. If you want something quieter nearby, Kep and Rabbit Island are a much better bet.
