Kampot, Cambodia

Kampot has become our little haven reset from city life. A tranquil river escape about three hours from Phnom Penh. We absolutely love the laid-back vibe, nature, and Cambodian countryside. 

Fast Five Favourites:

• La Plantation Kampot Pepper Farm- A bumpy and beautiful drive in the countryside and you have arrived. They have regular, free walking tours of the farm and we enjoyed a yummy banana shake and lunch in the restaurant.
• Chilling by the river- We stayed at Sabay Beach and it ticks all the boxes for our nature-loving fam. A gorgeous view, lots of places to relax, kind and friendly staff, zero city noise, greenery and paths for the kids to explore (with chickens!), plenty of organized activities if you feel like it, kayaks, a clean and functioning family room with AC, and fairy lights. The rooms are very reasonably priced from $24-$60 which we consider a bargain for what is on offer. If we were child-free, we would have loved to try one of their tree houses. 
• A morning or afternoon in Kep. We love driving in the countryside and this ride is about 35mins in a tuk-tuk. We enjoyed a play and swim at Kep Beach before heading to the crab and seafood market and checking out the restaurants along the water. Holy Crab impressed our whole family with yummy food and a stunner sunset.
• Kampot town-The town has a real charm to it and we like just wandering the roads and taking a look around. Take a break at the Kampot Pie and Ice Cream Palace for some treats.
• Sunset River Cruise- We took some dinner and hired a private boat to take us along the river for an hour at sunset. We loved people watching from this point of view. We could see children playing soccer, families cooking dinner around the fire, other boats on the river, and houses on stilts. There was so much to admire and talk about with our own kiddos.  

Tips:

• To be honest, we have limited tips for you as our trips have always been about chilling! But we did get excited by some of the tours on offer at Sabay Beach. They have a Countryside tour and a Bokor Hill station tour. Both look great. You can also take a boat directly to Nibi Spa for a day of pampering which we definitely plan to do next time. 
• Rabbit Island is about 30mins south of Kep by local boat. This is on our list for next time too!
• We have also stayed at Rikitikitavi in Kampot. Great place if you want to be right in the middle of town. It also has good food you can count on which can be hit-and-miss while traveling in Cambodia. 
• Nom Tom Bakery has delicious savoury and sweet treats and we also had a yummy lunch at Aroma House.
  
  

Five things the photos do not show:

• We had a family kayaking fail on our first trip to Kampot. Huds was trying to stand up and walk around mid-river and we had to abort mission. We haven't braved it as a family again since and Riki and I choose to take turns with Lilah instead. This day did have a happy ending as the kids loved playing in the water playground that was at the hotel of the place we were hiring kayaks from.
• We paid $5 per scoop of ice cream at Holy Crab for the kids.
• There are lots of mosquitos in the countryside so make sure you have your deet.
• The true beauty of driving through the countryside. We recommend a remorque if you want to take it all in. The cows, the joyful children, the red dirt roads. Truly stunning. 
• The kindness of Khmer people. We love Cambodia!!