Kep. Kipe? ...Kipe Kep?

I told my students I was getting away to Kep for the weekend and I guess it’s pronounced more like “kipe.” I’m still not quite sure. Who knows? I think in Khmer you can say things however you like and it works… says someone who speaks very little! In any case, I escaped the city for a weekend with me, myself, and I to the seaside town of Kep!

WELCOME TO KEP!

Getting there turned into more than just a boring 3 hour bus ride.  About halfway into the trip, my bus came to a stop.  I peeked through the curtain of the bus to the roadside below and saw some policemen sitting around in the shade provided by their truck.  I concluded that we were at a “tollbooth” of the Cambodia variety.  However, our stop seemed to be lasting forever with some passengers even choosing to stretch their legs and get off the bus, some returning with food. I decided I needed to get off the bus, too. Once on the ground, the “tollbooth” turned out to be a small, peaceful and, I would argue even social, protest by the people whose village we were passing through. Protesting the government, incredibly low wages and a lack of jobs, the local Khmer of this village of which I still don’t know the name of had not had much interaction with foreigners judging by their curious smiles and the snapping away of photos. While wandering the village and blocked highway that was covered in food stalls and people, I met two new friends from Zimbabwe. When I asked where they were from I certainly wasn’t expecting to hear Zimbabwe. How cool. I told them that’s what I thought. They were really super friendly people. We talked about our countries, Cambodia included, as we stood in the sun snacking on peanuts that they were sharing with me. An hour or so of chat time, some peanuts, and one steamed pork bun later, we decided to ditch the bus that could be stuck for hours on the Phnom Penh side of the protest and head to the other side in hopes of finding some form of transportation willing to take us the rest of the way to our destination. Luckily, a Khmer man in a beat up, old, Mercedes taxi van with no AC offered to take us for $50. So all ten of us (several others ditched the bus, too) piled in and we were once again on our way!

Cambodians are some of the friendliest people on the planet! 

Nevermind the language barrier - smiles and laughter say it all. 

Also, yummy steamed pork bun for $.60!

Those chickens are alive...

A few hours later than planned, I finally arrived to my private bungalow overlooking the Kep National Park.  It was exactly what I was wanting for my weekend away.  Located away from the town center, in the Cambodian countryside, I had my own bed, bath, and balcony complete with pet geckos. That last part is a joke but I did see the two biggest geckos I have ever seen in my life on my balcony. I also had a hammock below my bungalow where I enjoyed a nice, long nap my first afternoon. I didn’t have AC but between the fan and opening my bright, blue shudders, I had a refreshing breeze. At night, I slept beneath my mosquito net and fell asleep to the sounds of singing insects (outside where they belong though!) and the calls of geckos.
 

Can't be beat for $10 a night! Loved it!

View from my balcony. Kep National Park is in the background.

My pet Gecko. Largest gecko I've ever seen in my life!

I rented a scooter to get around during my stay. There is just something about being all alone with your own set of wheels, riding along with the locals, in a foreign country that is so freeing. I think I said the same thing when I learned to drive one for the first time back in Thailand earlier this year. It may be crazy to think that after living and travelling so much on my own that I would still need to prove to myself that I can do it – that I can travel on my own and be just fine and content and survive – but I do and I did and that’s what my weekend in Kep was all about.

I caught an afternoon boat to nearby Koh Tonsay – Rabbit Island. I made friends with a couple of girls on the boat, both also on holiday from Phnom Penh.  We ate lunch together on the island, crab (what Kep is known for) and fried fish (the whole fish!), and I caught some sunshine and took a dip in the clear water before catching the boat back. I took my scooter for a spin around sunset – extra practice for the following morning…

Koh Tonsay was quiet (especially in this picture!) and peaceful.

This talkative kitty kept us company at lunch.

Crabs. They tasted good but what a pain to eat, super messy and a lot of work! ha!

The sunset back at Kep.

So my plan had always been to have a nice drive through Kep National Park on my scooter. But the night before the rainy season returned in full force and I was thankful to have a sturdy roof on my bungalow, which had a moat around it the following morning. I was thinking I really, probably shouldn’t go. The national park trail is 8 km and I wasn’t sure what it was like but I knew it wasn’t paved. I asked the owner of my bungalow and his advice was just go, should be fine. Well. I thought I could at least go and see. The thing is by the time I reached the park entrance I had already crossed a few ruts in the road that should probably have served as an indication of the road to come but onward I went. I arrived at the entrance and paid my $1 entrance fee. Inside the park I was met with terrain that included gravel, rocks, mud, and running water. It wasn’t steep so I had that in my favor. But about 2 km in I stopped to take a picture and realized I had no cell service so that wasn’t in my favor. Truth be told, it’s likely that I would have enjoyed the scenery around me a lot more if I had been on foot but I wasn’t and so the 8 km of gravel, rocks, mud, and running water turned into a pep talk to myself: “Just go slow…you got this…don’t give it gas while going through the mud…the people that told me this was an easy trail are crazy…I’m a beginner on a scooter I have absolutely business driving here…I need a freakin’ four wheeler not a moped…slow down Audrey…okay okay okay…you got this!” Obviously, I survived! I was very relieved to make it back to a paved road. But hey, I’m now an off roading scooter pro!

My wheels for the weekend!

(This is not an accurate picture of the terrain I covered on my 8km through the park).

View from within Kep National Park..one of the few pictures I got because I was a little bit nervous to stop my scooter. Once I was in I felt like I just needed to prove to myself that I could make it out! 

Just keep scooting..just keep scooting..just keep scootering! 

 

  One of the abandoned buildings from before the Khmer Rouge that are easy to spot when driving around Kep.

 

 

Survived! Had an amazing weekend solo trip! 

PS ~ this English teacher is sick of proof reading so if there are English mistakes in this post (or any other post) I ask that you kindly ignore them :)