So, it's off to Psar Daemkor to get a taxi. This the place exactly:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Can ... 04.9023747

We get mobbed as we exit our tuktuk, one driver grabs our main bag and it goes into the back of a Highlander (now the car of choice for these taxis). Another driver asks if we want share or private We say private and we wander with him to be shown our bag in a car that has four pax in it already. The share car driver regards our bag as his trophy and he does not want to release it. I say no, no, no share taxi but he stands his ground. We let the drivers sort it out amongst themselves and after a minute or two the share car driver concedes. I examine the tyres of the private Highlander and ask how much (making it clear I don't want a lot of detouts off the route for package delivery). He wants $50. I say $40, he says $45. I say $40. He says OK but then he looks thoughtful and says his brother will take me and he gets on his phone. After ten minutes another Highlander arrives, I check the tyres (on all three cars they were the same, far from new but well within limits). We confirm the $40 price, the lack of detours and off we go. BTW, one seat in a share taxi is $7.50.

The first hour is slow, then we get on the new divided highway and that continues until Road 31 branches off to Kep. Then it is undivided but still quite quick. We went to the Two Moons because we wanted a large room and a pool and that combo is hard to find in Kampot. The place looks OK, the room is very basic but huge (in fact it’s two rooms combined). I ask how much. The Italian guy says $47 , less if taken for a week. I look on booking.com and it shows as $27. We confirm it is the same room and he agrees I should book it that way. Most things in the hotel could do with updating or replacement and we get small black insects on our skin after using the pool. It takes about 15 minutes to walk into town, a nice walk along the riverfront.

No bars for two months in PP so a solo trip to the ones in Kampot is necessary. After several evenings of diligent research, I can say this. Any serious bar monger would not be happy with Kampot. The quality of the bars and the staff is nowhere near PP. But if you just want a bit of chat and thigh-rubbing, it hits the spot nicely. I had some excellent chats with good English speakers, some great life stories. I only found two bars that were properly aircon places, Cool Girl and Sweethearts. They were both good but got very smokey at times. Many of the others were capable of aircon but kept their doors wide open, usually with no customers inside. My favourite bars became Good Times and 722. Tiger bottle in the former was $2.50 and Draught Guinness in the latter was $3. Good company in both. In 722, the Khmer lady boss insisted I let one of her girls ride me back to my hotel and insisted it was free and I must not pay. Good service. BTW, I make it clear from the outset that I have a wife in my room so that we don’t have any misunderstandings!

I recognised some familiar monger faces from PP and we exchanged polite nods. There are some young barang customers and some of them spend well. They play crap music of course. Occasionally you run into Chinese in the arcon bars and they buy a lot of drinks and smoke a lot and quite a few of the staff also smoke with them. I heard that there were a lot of Chinese customers until two months ago but then it stopped.

There are good eating options in Kampot. The best place by a country mile is the Three Little Pigs. Very good English breakfasts at very fair prices. Other good places were Jetzt hamburgers (take away only) and Petra’s Schnitzelhaus (Wed-Sun only) and Rikitiki, if only for the lovely ambience and river view. Rusty Keyhole 2 is OK. The Fish Market, again for ambience and views.

We decided to upgrade to Villa Vedici. This is a little ways up the bumpy road that runs north along the riverside beyond the new bridge. $40 buys a cramped room with two small-size double beds. The grounds are magnificent and they have two nice swimming pools. The suite by the riverside would probably be great ($80). My room had bad soundproofing and sloping floors, so my head was a fair bit below my feet. Fortunately I can summon PassApps to collect me in the evening (fare 7000 KHR) so my bar research continues.

We had enough of the pools so relocate to the White Pigeon in town, next to RK2. This is clean and the first place I would call good value (at $15 with AC badly in need of regassing). No kettle in the room.

Then off for a side trip to Kep. Delighted to find you can use PassApp to get a remorque ($8.50). Wanted to stay at the Reaksmey near Psar Kdam but it was closed. So off to the Saravoan ($40 with twin doubles and a great sea view). Buying crab, prawns, squid and scallops ($7.50 in their shells) at the market. Then pay for them to be cooked (3000 for boiling prawns, 5000 for BBQ the rest). Take it all back to the Saravoan and eat it on the balcony. Leftovers for breakfast. Thought about going to Rabbit Island but too much rain, wind and roughish seas.

Back to Kampot for one more night in the bars. Have to pay $12.50 for the remorque.

In the morning, we go to the taxi departure point.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/CTT ... 04.1832215

Quick tyre check, agree $40, no haggling, including a stop to buy seafood at the big Kampot market. They pack it all beautifully with loads of crushed ice into an insulated lidded box ($2.50). No scallops this time.

Kampot is not suffering economically like PP and SR. It doesn’t seem to matter too much that the tourists have gone and there are few Chinese. There are plenty of barang around. Many look a bit desperate but many look good, many young ones that have some OK income by the looks of them, a lot of man buns and messily tied up hair, dreads out of fashion now. The only noticeable closures are the guest houses. The streets flanking the Old Market are flourishing and the other back streets are doing well on the whole, a lot better than I remember from 2017. Only the riverfront languishes. The buildings are mostly rotting away and few of them are open with any signs of success. Rikitiki and the Fish Market are looking great and open but not doing well. O Neil’s is still there, and the only bar I saw with premium Scotch whiskies. I understand that the riverfront owners are content to sit on their hands, valuations are sky high and they expect them to go higher, they don’t care if they get rent or not, but equally they don’t want to spend money to renovate. There is one nice building getting renovated and of course the Chinese have demolished an entire block nearer to the Old Bridge, and work is ongoing there.

I'll post some photos later. Thanks for reading.

armchairlawyer wrote: ↑Fri May 28, 2021 12:40 pm So, it's off to Psar Daemkor to get a taxi. This the place exactly:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Can ... 04.9023747


In the morning, we go to the taxi departure point.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/CTT ... 04.1832215

So do you save a fair bit going to these taxi pick up points rather than organise one to pick you up at your residence? Or is it more a case this is the pick up point for Kampot/Kep only taxis?

clutchcargo wrote: ↑Fri May 28, 2021 2:24 pm

armchairlawyer wrote: ↑Fri May 28, 2021 12:40 pm So, it's off to Psar Daemkor to get a taxi. This the place exactly:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Can ... 04.9023747


In the morning, we go to the taxi departure point.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/CTT ... 04.1832215

So do you save a fair bit going to these taxi pick up points rather than organise one to pick you up at your residence? Or is it more a case this is the pick up point for Kampot/Kep only taxis?

I like going to these points because there your can give the car and the driver the once over before committing. If I'm alone, I can easily get the front seat in a share car. It should also be cheaper than booking one to collect you from home but that depends if course.

Chuck Borris wrote: ↑Fri May 28, 2021 3:23 pm Do you write down every penny you spend?

No, I've just got a better memory than you. Probably because I don't drink so much!

ItWasntMe wrote: ↑Fri May 28, 2021 2:40 pm "Kampot is not suffering economically like PP and SR. It doesn’t seem to matter too much that the tourists have gone.."

Seriously? The town is suffocating.

Maybe you're right. Please give some details to back it up.