We set off from our Kampot hotel early and headed Off to Mt Bokor National park where we saw a massive Buddha under construction. The views were amazing and it was enjoyable to just relax, sit and observe the landscape out in front of us. We could see Vietnam in the distance across the ocean. We saw this as a great opportunity to take some photographs while we inhaled the sea air.Mount Bokor’s temperature was much cooler because of its high altitude. We all embraced the opportunity to cool down after experiencing one of our hottest mornings to date.
We then checked out an old and empty Catholic Church. The church was built in stone and was covered in a rich moss, which had turned a bronze colour. We followed a mildly steep and winding path that led us to cliff face with amazing views. We sat and pondered for a while as we admired the magnificent views.
We then boarded our bus and travelled to the deserted Grand Black Palace. We were in awe of this massive construction that had been built by the French and unfortunately was never completed structurally or inhabited. This was where we had a take away vegie fried rice lunch, followed by some fruit. We all explored this mansion and climbed the stairs and imagined what would have been if it was ever finished. There were many balconies, bathrooms, bedrooms and many stairwells, which created a platform for us to further refine our photography skills.
We headed back down the mountain and headed off to the to the pepper farm. There we learned about the making of Kampot pepper and its quality taste from the high levels of quartz in the soil. We also walked around the farm and even tried some pepper straight off the tree. It was interesting to note that the workers at the farm were all volunteers. They farm used all natural, organic methods to grow their pepper
From there we had a relatively short drive to seaside town of Kep. Soon after arrival we headed down to the pool and cooled off after the hot day and had some down time.Then we hopped back on the bus, and headed to ‘Crab Kitchen’ in the village. We wandered around the town after eating some scrumptious food before heading back to the hotel. We split up into groups of 10 and reflected on the highlights and lowlights of the trip.
Then we headed to bed after a long day.
Blogged By
Tom Galloway and Josh Cherubino
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