Nice room, real shame about the curtains.

The beds at the Montagne Residence were very comfortable and I slept like a log until I was woken up by the sun coming up. As mentioned, the curtains were way too short, and I could have read a newspaper in the room. The owners obviously put some thought, and lots of money, into the project; I do not understand how they could screw up something so essential. Anyway, I left Thao asleep and went for a little morning stroll. The whole area is obviously slated for development. Google Maps is still showing fish farms and lotus ponds when in reality, none are left. There was also lots of garbage everywhere. Nothing new in Cambodia and I am sure that Kampot also has a sign with “Clean City Award 2023 – 2027) somewhere.


The bane of Cambodia.

Walk done, Thao was up, and we kicked out the kids, who had probably been watching TV all night anyway, and headed for breakfast. We were informed that there would not be any buffet as there were no other guests (exactly why we arrived on a Sunday). The Vietnamese part of the gang ordered soup, which they said was decent if not as good as Pho, and I asked for the English breakfast. What I got was an omelet with the weirdest-tasting sausages ever, some rubbery bacon, untoasted toast, and raw vegetables. Look, it was not the worst breakfast I have ever had, but we decided there and then that future breakfasts in Kampot would be outside the hotel.




Full, if not entirely satisfied, we headed to Champa Lodge, about 5 kilometers north of Kampot, to do some Kayaking. We booked a couple of Kayaks ($5.00 per boat and hour, if memory serves me right) and headed off to the “green cathedral”, a small canal where the vegetation grows right across the top, creating a green roof. I had taken Thao’s son, who quickly got the hang of it (none of them had ever been in a Kayak), but her daughter in the other boat was a disaster. To get to the canal, we had to paddle a couple of hundred meters up the Preaek Tuek Chhu river. This river is a good 50 meters wide here, but they still managed to bounce from one riverbank to the other. We did eventually make the canal, not without them hitting the bridge, and went up a few hundred meters. However, between the brutal heat and the poor boating skills, we decided to call it quits and head back to Champa Lodge.




Thao's daughter was a disaster on the oars.




The place actually looked very nice, with a very generous garden and cute little bungalows. I probably couldn’t stay there as they do not have A/C, but it certainly was a great spot to have a beer (me) and fresh coconut juice (everyone else). The one beer turned into a few, as a massive thunderstorm rolled in and forced us to stay put. That is my excuse, and I am sticking to it.



The rain eventually stopped, and we headed back to the Kampot Fish Market for lunch.

Kampot Fish Market
Riverside. Not sure about the address, but it is the near the old bridge.
Open every day from 07:00 to 23:00



I had been to the Fish Market many years ago and I remember not having been impressed. However, the location is great, the restaurant itself is actually quite nice, and things can change.



When we arrived, the restaurant was empty. We wanted to sit on the terrace, but the staff told us that the tables were wet from the rain. My suggestion to just dry the bloody things was ignored, so we settled inside. We ended up ordering the Snapper in Honey-Ginger sauce ($12.50), the fish sandwich ($7.00), and stir-fried squid ($7.50). Prices are exclusive of 10% VAT. The food was OK, but nothing more than that. The snapper was good, but the veggies lacked all taste, the fish sandwich bun was outright awful, and the stir-fried squid was a little thin on squid. I can live with the $2.75 Angkor beer, but $3.75 for an apple juice is a bit steep.



Overall, we left feeling that the value for money left a little to be desired. I’d probably go there to have a beer on the terrace, if they actually let me sit there, but there are better food options in town (though we did not know it at the time).




Some serious puddles.

We headed back to the hotel for a swim and to relax, dodging some puddles, before venturing out to town again for a little river cruise. We purchased tickets at the tourist information center near the old bridge. If I recall correctly, they were $5.00 a pop and included 2 beers or soft drinks per person. Departure was supposed to be at 17:00, but we left around 17:30. I found out later that the boats always leave 30 minutes late. The boat was a fairly basic affair, but hey, it was the “Love Kampot Boat”.


HMS Love Kampot




We headed upriver, passing underneath all three bridges along the way. There weren’t all that many boats doing the cruise, and our boat was far from full; I’d hate to do the trip during high season as the boats all follow the same itinerary: up the river a little bit, look for fireflies (there were a few) and back. The cruise was pleasant enough until we were on the way back when the crew decided to put on some Khmer techno; loud enough to make my ears bleed.



Thao and the kids had food and proclaimed it quite decent. Thao was really happy to see fried chicken feet on the menu; it is a big thing with Vietnamese ladies. All menu items were $4.00 net and Anchor cans were 4,000 Riels, fair enough prices even if the portions were more snack sized.







I was peckish and we looked for somewhere to eat. I wanted to try one of the Indian restaurants but both restaurants we walked to were closed, permanently by the looks of it. We ended up at another restaurant that came recommended, Vanna Restaurant and Bar.

Vanna Restaurant and Bar
Street Number 375
Open every day from 11:00 to 23:00

Vanna has 5 stars on TripAdvisor and 4.8 stars on Google, so expectations were high. These expectations were dented a little bit when the first 2 items we tried to order were not available. We ordered Tom Yum soup, Beef Lok Lak and deep-fried prawns. I completely forgot to take note of the prices, but I do remember that it was pretty cheap. But to be honest, I do not quite get where all the rave reviews are coming from. The Tom Yum tasted bizarre, there was some flavor that I could not figure out, but which put me off. The beef in the Lok Lak was cut into thin slices. Whilst tasty, it meant that the meat was too dry to be really good. No comment on the deep-fried prawns, I think that is the worst way to prepare prawns, but the kids loved them.





A great day with some really nice activities, but still waiting for an amazingly good feed.

Always enjoy your reviews and reports.
I don't know how many parts there are in this 'Kep or Kampot' series to come, but I'm looking forward to you eventually finding a meal to write home about!
Fingers crossed.

willyhilly wrote: ↑Fri Jul 14, 2023 12:55 am Great review Hanno. What is in the ugly high rise building? Is it apartments?
How much development has there been in Kampot. Here in Qld myself and my 10 year old shared a kayak a couple of years ago and did a few ks paddling around Double Island. We began before dawn, the sun rise was incredible, the sea calm and there were many turtles.
Those food prices converted to Australian prices are pretty expensive for poor quality meals. Kampot always was a bit shit.

Yes, it is a condo building. I drove past it, and it seemed pretty empty. Development in Kampot is nowhere near what has happened in PP. The town is not too bad and (spoiler alert) I did find some good food eventually. Food prices in Cambodia are generally ridiculous, much higher than in Vietnam or Thailand.

My sister and her family stayed the same hotel and had a family room that looked great. Nobody there either a couple of months ago. Everything excellent except they asked for a taxi to a booked cooking class on their last day that after 40min never turned up - she told me that she asked the hotel to arrange but I told her there were no taxis per se in Kampot - they got a tuktuk but too late for the class.

Sorry to see that to date you got trapped by the tourist places that are underwhelming - a shame as there are some stellar food choices available.

Thanks for the writeup