Kicking back in Kep.

We wanted some quiet nature time after our Phnom Penh Habitat build. We looked around a bit and as is the case with many of our destinations, we were drawn to Kep because of a photo.

This time it wasn't a photo of an amazing gorge, or a beautiful sandstone valley, or gorgeous ancient ruins.

It was a photo of a ginormous blue crab.

this crab, to be exact

Of course this Maryland girl had to go here, and after experiencing the great Maryland crab feast of October 2012, Patrick was down too. So off we went.

Back in the '60s Kep was a hopping seaside resort town. French colonialism is quite obvious in the architecture around the village and in Kep's heyday the French flocked here for the views and the wonderful seafood. Then a few decades of war hit and the town suffered along with the rest of the country.

Nowadays Kep is coming back as a tourist spot, heavy on western influence (in the form of French-run seafood restaurants and guesthouses). Ghostly shells of old vacation rentals intermix with new construction of even more vacation rentals. Everything is more expensive and a lot of the surrounding attractions require guided tours.

All that said, we liked Kep. Three nights was just right and it's one of those towns we will probably be glad we visited now instead of 10 years from now. Here are five reasons why, in no particular order... except the first one.

1. Obviously, the crabs! How odd to find blue crab on the other side of the world. (Okay, maybe not "odd" but definitely a welcome sight.) Our guesthouse was a short walk from the crab market so we ate there three times.

that's what I'm talking about

come here, my pretties

just as messy -

that's part of the fun

They were delicious.

2. The statues. Cambodia does love its statutes and this is definitely true in Kep.

crazy dolphin sea turtle lady

warrior man

lots of Hindu statues...

... even near the national park

(which contains a few Buddha statues)

look out - he's right behind you!

Western art in a modest country -

probably not the best idea

again with the monkeys

There are many more around town. For example, to get to our guesthouse we just turned right at the Vishnu statue...

3. Kep National Park. The smallest national park in Cambodia is well-maintained by Led Zep Cafe and the Squirrel Association (can't make this stuff up).

Borrat, Squirrel Association Chairperson

excellent squirrel signage, Borrat

how to say "steep" in squirrel

The park features some beautiful vista points and several serene meditative spots.

the main trail is more like a road

that goes in a "circle line" around the park

no kidding about the "steeply"

to the north

Buddha Tree, day one

Arch Tree, day two

to the south

prepping for Nepal

(haha)

"living in the forest" signs everywhere

(note: bottom left picture is foreshadowing)

We spent two mornings meandering around the trails before the heat and/or rain got to be too much.

4. Well-placed benches. Sounds dumb, but for a part of the world that spends a lot of time sitting in the shade to avoid overheating, it's surprising how many villages, towns, parks, and riverfronts across SE Asia don't get the bench thing. Too often they don't exist, or they're directly in the sun, or they face walls or other unpleasant scenery.

Kep's waterfront is lined with benches, many of which are under trees, and the national park's benches are mostly shaded and feature lovely views.

taken from one of the many benches

5. The indifferent (in a good way) tuk-tuk drivers. We got a ride to our guesthouse from the bus stop and the driver didn't try to sell us a tour. We rode past a tuk-tuk on our bikes one day and the driver, clearly not even trying, asked us if we needed a tuk-tuk. He went back to his nap when we smiled and pointed to our bikes. Later we parked the bikes by the waterfront and Patrick's bike somehow fell into the sea (I still blame that Italian guy who walked by). While he retrieved it a bunch of tuk-tuk drivers sat in the shade watching the whole scene and laughing at us. It was priceless.

Those are five reasons we liked it. There are a few other things to do in Kep if one so chooses. We skipped Rabbit Island but we did admire Phu Quoc, Vietnam from afar.

"hey, remember when we were in Vietnam...?"

Also, the village of Kampot is nearby. They grow amazing peppercorn in Kampot and plantation tours are available. We were not up for another rushed guided tour ending with ample time at the gift shop, but we did enjoy Kampot peppercorn sauce with several dishes at the crab market (including a wonderful dipping sauce with our whole grilled crab).

sorry, Old Bay, there's a new kid in town

On that note...

Food notes: see above.

Lodging notes: we splurged a bit on our guesthouse (if you consider $15/night splurging). Le Coco de Mer was really nice - we had a huge bungalow and squeaky clean ensuite bathroom, lovely gardens, free bicycle rentals, and good breakfasts. An added bonus: it was a five minute walk to the beach, national park entrance, and crab market.

*slightly* nicer than Banana Bungalow in Vang Vieng

garden view

"living in our bathroom"

(those tiles are 2" x 2")

Our only complaint was the time the owner talked late into the night with some friends - our bungalow was right next to the common/dining area and we were kept up until midnight. (Midnight! The humanity.)

Our time in Cambodia is getting short. Time for a day-long bus ride to the second largest city before heading back to Bangkok... Battambang, here we come!

On being tourists in Phnom Penh.

Phnom Penh is not as crazy as the map suggests. (You know, the map that's sixty times more complicated than any map we have seen in months.)

it's two whole pages in the book!

But it's definitely a little crazy. Dusty streets buzz with traffic; this plus the heat/humidity combo give the air a kind of electricity. We walked to our Habitat-sponsored hotel from the central market bus station dodging motorbikes, wiping sweat, taking in the sights and sounds... and grinning the whole way. The vibe was a surprisingly welcome change of pace.

It's a big city but the perfectly parallel and perpendicular streets are named by number and the buildings have signs with their street address so it's (nearly) impossible to get lost. Large French-inspired boulevards make it easy to reassess your location if you do lose your way, and of course there's always a tuk-tuk if you need one. However, a $1 ride back to your guesthouse also costs you lots of patience as you negotiate out of an unneeded full-day guided tour from your driver.

Speaking of patience... Traffic is insane here - worse than we've seen anywhere in SE Asia. Not just the sheer number of vehicles and all the weaving and honking, which is all bad enough. But also the sitting. We spent hours sitting in traffic going to and from the Habitat site. Still, it's better than LA, NYC, or the DC area - and the roadside attractions are much more interesting!

after a five minute pinwheel impasse,

someone eventually backed up

and Buddha/Brahma help you if it rains

Phnom Penh has plenty to keep visitors occupied for a few days. Two places were particularly memorable: Choeung Ek (the Killing Fields, toured with the Habitat group) and the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum (visited on our own).

Choeung Ek is 15km outside of town. About 9000 bodies were exhumed in 1980 and bones and clothing scraps continue to surface today during heavy rains. The audio tour included personal narratives of survivor stories as well as one account from a former Khmer Rouge officer. Certain images described are forever burned into our memory.

a peaceful memory of Choeung Ek

Toul Sleng Genocide Museum (also known as Security Prison 21, or S-21) is located downtown in a former school. It was a torture and execution center as well as a prison. An estimated 20,000 Khmers were detained there before being sent to Choeung Ek or other killing fields; only a handful survived.

barbed wire is still there

signs of life inside

Over the past sixteen months of our trip we have been to many sites that tested our emotional strength - Native American memorials, the camps at Auschwitz/Birkenau, Saigon's War Remnants Museum, Hanoi's Hoa Lo Prison, Vientiane's COPE Center - all heartbreaking in their own ways.

The Killing Fields (in Phnom Penh and Kampong Cham) and Phnom Penh's Genocide Museum were moving on a whole different level though. The horrific acts by the Khmer Rouge were internally targeted and mercilessly carried out. We stood at mass grave sites. We viewed mounds of human skulls with visible hammer and gunshot wounds. We walked through cells where innocent citizens were imprisoned, tortured and eventually massacred for being religious, or for wearing glasses, or for not confessing to crimes they did not commit. Massacred by their own countrymen... There are no words.

As we were leaving the Genocide Museum we passed tables where a few survivors were selling memoirs and talking to visitors. We nodded hello but kept walking... What does one even say to someone who endured something like that? (In hindsight "I'm so sorry" probably would have been appreciated and I wish we hadn't been too shy - or too humbled? - to approach them and say as much. What would you have said to these gentlemen?)

We spent the next few hours wondering how former educators would turn so severely against the educated in their own communities; how this could have happened in our lifetime; why no one externally stepped in to stop it; and in how many other places (besides the ones we know about) it's happening now. The more we learn on this trip, the more we realize how little we know.

That was then, this is now. The country is slowly recovering from this brutal storm. This was particularly evident in Habitat's work, in the eighty bazillion NGOs around the city, and in the numerous investment projects by Japan, Korea and other nearby countries. It was also evident from the countless universities and ESL schools that lined the main streets along our daily route to the construction site. Education - punished 40 years ago - is a priority again.

And now the city is lively, busy, even shiny in parts. A few of the shinier tourist attractions included...

The Royal Palace

the National Museum

incense at Wat Phnom

Independence Monument

the Russian market

the Foreign Correspondent's Club

We visited these with our Habitat team. We skipped the Central and Night Markets (all "marketed" out at this point) but we hear those are fun too.

Visits to museums and monuments were rewarding; interactions with locals were even moreso. There was all that fun with the Habitat construction crew. There was the time when those awesome ladies bought us lunch. And then there was the time we got to our post-Habitat guesthouse and the little boy drew us pictures. He counted the stick figures in English; we counted them in Khmer and impressed the guesthouse staff with our preschool knowledge of their language.

moi bpee bai...

So many more thoughts, questions, emotions on past/present here in Cambodia. But we'll save some of these for future posts and just transition awkwardly to...

Food notes:

• with our Habitat crew we tried some of the local specialties...

fish amok at Romdeng (an offshoot of Friends)

tarantula at Romdeng

yes he did...

and no she didn't

banana blossom salad
(deeee-licious)

• ... and some of the not-so-local food

Vietnamese food in Cambodia -

just not the same

chef salad - after 6 months in SE Asia it just had to be done

• we did go to Friends - and we really recommend the food as well as the banana cashew shake (no photo, just trust us)
  
  
• we also found the local supermarket for our yogurt-and-corn-flakes breakfasts (or sometimes dinners) and other western atrocities that we did not indulge in

half the country doesn't make $9.20 in a week -

BUY LOCAL, PEOPLE!!

• and on our own we ate at Vitking House twice because it was close and it was that good

fried rice with apple and raisins - so interesting!

Lodging notes:

• with Habitat we stayed at the Golden Gate - the room was nicer than our usual spots and the amenities (buffet breakfast? free laundry? an actual bathtub? air conditioning?) spoiled us to death!

we're never leaving

• after our Habitat gig we stayed at Homeland Guesthouse - friendly owners, interesting neighborhood, great price

(see above photo of hand-drawn stick figures,

what other photos do you need?)

Granted, we only saw a tiny corner of Phnom Penh but we liked that corner a lot. We're glad we stayed a few extra days and hung out in a less-farang-heavy part of town. We already have tons of great memories from Cambodia and we're only halfway through our month.

And now it's time to make more memories in quiet, kitschy, seaside Kep!