The Kep Revival

Do you have a Cambodian trip report you want to share? Post it here, and feel free to link to your blog if it's a travel blog for Cambodia, South East Asia, or anywhere really. You can ask and answer questions about travel advice in Cambodia or just share your pictures and videos with us. Most people who live in or visit Cambodia have also checked out nearby countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, and you can get to most of these countries by traveling overland, so put any travel plans, reviews or questions here. Discussions about dirt bike trails in here as well.
User avatar
CEOCambodiaNews
Expatriate
Posts: 62322
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2014 5:13 am
Reputation: 4033
Location: CEO Newsroom in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Contact:
Cambodia

The Kep Revival

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Kep in Cambodia: beach retreat favoured by country’s kings and French colonial elite is undergoing a revival
29 May 2018

Skip the popular Sihanoukville – the beachside town has become a construction site of luxury condos, hotels and casinos catering to the Chinese market – and head instead for the coastal town of Kep in southern Cambodia.

Overlooking the Gulf of Thailand, yet sitting at the base of rolling hills covered with thick jungle, the compact town was established in 1908 as a “station climatique” – or coastal escape – and quickly became a refreshing retreat for the French colonial elite.

After Cambodia gained independence in 1953, the late King Norodom Sihanouk kept the town’s prestige alive by hiring a team of architects to design a royal summer palace and swathe of villas that embodied the New Khmer Architecture movement. The team included revered Cambodian architect Vann Molyvann, also known as the father of New Khmer Architecture, and a group of Le Corbusier-influenced architects which included another prominent Khmer architect, Lu Ban Hap.

Cambodia’s rich and famous followed hot on the King’s heels, building a smattering of stylish minimalist villas that dotted the landscape and built Kep’s reputation as the place to be seen throughout the country’s cultural golden age of the 1950s and ’60s.

The lavish lifestyle Kep embodied was short-lived, with the town’s proximity to Vietnam making it a Khmer Rouge stronghold. It was abandoned, with Kep and its modernist buildings left to decay.

However, the last decade has seen Kep slowly make a comeback, with care being taken to ensure the rustic charm that makes the town so special is retained. Don’t expect late-night parties, bustling bars or rowdy hostels – up until a few years ago, it didn’t even have an ATM. Trying to find transport after 10pm can still be tricky...
http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-le ... -kings-and
Join the Cambodia Expats Online Telegram Channel: https://t.me/CambodiaExpatsOnline

Cambodia Expats Online: Bringing you breaking news from Cambodia before you read it anywhere else!

Have a story or an anonymous news tip for CEO? Need advertising? CONTACT US

Cambodia Expats Online is the most popular community in the country. JOIN TODAY

Follow CEO on social media:

Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
kptic
Expatriate
Posts: 229
Joined: Fri May 22, 2015 2:33 pm
Reputation: 56
Greece

Re: The Kep Revival

Post by kptic »

Wonderful. Popularize Kep so that it can be ruined too. :facepalm:
logos
Expatriate
Posts: 607
Joined: Fri May 16, 2014 4:43 pm
Reputation: 148
Location: PP
Kiribati

Re: The Kep Revival

Post by logos »

Kep is boring as fuck.
Only good for a night or so. Except for boring old farts like phuket Richard who're overwhelmed when there's more than 5 people in sight.
User avatar
phuketrichard
Expatriate
Posts: 16790
Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 5:17 pm
Reputation: 5733
Location: Atlantis
Aruba

Re: The Kep Revival

Post by phuketrichard »

logos wrote: Wed May 30, 2018 6:00 am Kep is boring as fuck.
Only good for a night or so. Except for boring old farts like phuket Richard who're overwhelmed when there's more than 5 people in sight.
u got it...
all depends on what u want out of life, Family, good friends and good food....
siting in a bar all night talking shit with drunks and clueless bar girls is not it :beer3:
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
User avatar
Borum-Ex frm TOForum
Expatriate
Posts: 851
Joined: Fri Nov 17, 2017 8:00 pm
Reputation: 232
Cambodia

Re: The Kep Revival

Post by Borum-Ex frm TOForum »

logos wrote: Wed May 30, 2018 6:00 am Kep is boring as fuck.
Only good for a night or so. Except for boring old farts like phuket Richard who're overwhelmed when there's more than 5 people in sight.
Went there (had to go there) on KNY, the few streets it has were more busy than any working day in PP...
I actually don't give a flying fuck, furthermore nice to meet you all here! :thumb:
Anchor Moy
Expatriate
Posts: 13458
Joined: Wed May 28, 2014 11:37 pm
Reputation: 3974
Tokelau

Re: The Kep Revival

Post by Anchor Moy »

Borum-Ex frm TOForum wrote: Wed May 30, 2018 8:03 am
logos wrote: Wed May 30, 2018 6:00 am Kep is boring as fuck.
Only good for a night or so. Except for boring old farts like phuket Richard who're overwhelmed when there's more than 5 people in sight.
Went there (had to go there) on KNY, the few streets it has were more busy than any working day in PP...
Always busy on weekends and holidays.
User avatar
Felgerkarb
Expatriate
Posts: 800
Joined: Sun May 18, 2014 7:28 pm
Reputation: 612

Re: The Kep Revival

Post by Felgerkarb »

Hugely overpriced for what you get there. The Cambodian beach side vendors of food the worst case. The usual 5 star prices with 0 star service, met with a half smile and shrug. No.
===============
We are all puppets in the hands of an insane puppeteer...
--Brother Theodore
User avatar
bolueeleh
Expatriate
Posts: 4448
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:39 am
Reputation: 842
Location: anywhere with cheap bonks

Re: The Kep Revival

Post by bolueeleh »

this is what i am talking about, country with balance, one seaside town with hustle and bustle, another laid back and rustic, there is always something for everyone, just need to look for it
Money is not the problem, the problem is no money
bangkokhooker
Expatriate
Posts: 1094
Joined: Mon Sep 04, 2017 3:14 pm
Reputation: 108
United States of America

Re: The Kep Revival

Post by bangkokhooker »

Felgerkarb wrote: Wed May 30, 2018 1:18 pm Hugely overpriced for what you get there. The Cambodian beach side vendors of food the worst case. The usual 5 star prices with 0 star service, met with a half smile and shrug. No.
land in kep has always been high and the only reason it seems cheap now compared to shv is because of the invasion

kep - nice but dull,a bit like people called kevin or tim.
Barang chgout
Expatriate
Posts: 3065
Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2014 11:36 am
Reputation: 677

Re: The Kep Revival

Post by Barang chgout »

bolueeleh wrote:this is what i am talking about, country with balance, one seaside town with hustle and bustle, another laid back and rustic, there is always something for everyone, just need to look for it
Ahhh Yes! Sihanoukvillle and Koh Kong.....
The past and the future....

Sent from my SM-G570Y using Tapatalk

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bongmab69, Jimbean, Ot Mean Loi, ThiagoA and 158 guests