Wednesday 26th March
The night had been punctuated by the shouts, screams and bumps coming from our Russian neighbours in the room next door (for the third night in a row), and I woke up feeling in need of a lie-in. Maria said she was also tired and could have done with more sleep. This wasn't possible, as we were due to be picked up by the taxi at 09.00. We had breakfast, settled up our bill and said goodbye to the restaurant staff with whom we had had fun chatting to during our time there.
As we got into the taxi, there were a few other people hanging out around the car. Maria and I took our places in the back as agreed, and we were joined by a Cambodian guy, as two other people sat rather uncomfortably in the passengers seat. This arrangement was just as we had expected. The driver climbed in and then, to our astonishment (and maybe a little bit of horror), a Cambodian lady shifted in alongside the driver! We really couldn't believe this: the driver sat at an angle to the left of the steering wheel, his body contorted and his feet must have reached the peddles from the side! It was a very funny sight, a first for both Maria and me, but everything seemed to function as normal. We just hoped that the drivers limbs didn't fall asleep after a few hours of being crushed between two people!
The drive turned out to be an enjoyable one of about an hour and a half, and the countryside was a lot more interesting than that through which we had passed on previous journeys. We arrived in Kampot at 10.30 and the taxi dropped us off at 'The Little Garden Guesthouse', where we took a comfortable room for $16. We went out for a walk about the town and found it to be a nice, quiet place with some old colonial buidings and a lot of newer restaurants and bars that catered to a smaller contingent of tourists than we had seen in other towns. As with many of these provincial towns, Kampot was a bit on the dirty side and it could do with a proper clean up, but both Maria and I both took a shine to the place straight away and were able to see beyond the filth.
We booked ourselves onto a tour of the local area for the next day, had some lunch at our guesthouse and took it easy for the rest of the day. We had dinner in a very good restaurant called 'Jasmine' (named after the owner and chef), a lovely local girl who, along with her American husband, had done a very good job of creating a very chilled out place. The food was also excellent and great value. Maria loved the beef noodles and I got down and dirty with a full crab – messy work but worth it. It had been a good day and we had a good feeling that we had made the right decision to come to Kampot.
