Kampot and Bokor Mountain

Vietnam Cambodia solidarity friendship (thanks for getting rid of the Khmer Rouge from power but then leading to 11 years of civil war) statue - Kampot

The scarf is for dust, stones, bugs and sun

We have ridden on the Malcolm the Moto (Kerr's Cur) the twenty five klicks from Kep.  A horrible fuel starvation problem at three quarter throttle, find a fix by wringing it back and forth to pump fuel through the injector. Malcolm.


Kampot is a much bigger town than the City of Kep - which really is a misnomer as it is so sparse. Everything is getting spruced up, there are Cambodian flags every fifteen metres on the roadsides.

Park at the riverfront ex-Foreign Correspondents Club building and we get a drink - iced coffee and a smoothie. Then go for a walk through town, find this quirky 'Tiny Pillow' shop and spend a few dollars with a percentage helping local groups.

Tiny Pillow Place, Kampot

Random street photo of Kampot

Kampot was Cambodia's second port after Phnom Penh then usurped by the establishment of Sihanoukville. Many lovely three storey buildings all looking after trade and ancillary services, nowadays it is a large and lively regional centre.  Maybe we should have stayed here for our wanderings, though Kep is more relaxed. The town is getting ready for a carnival and we eventually work out it is a two-day Sea Festival.

Keep the noise down

Bridge out Truman Show

Throw darts at balloons and win shit, but I like balloons

Riding up Bokor

Kampot

Happy motorcyclist has bugs in his teeth, so many twisties!

Bokor Mountain is definitely cooler than the coastal plain, we are 1000m above sea level, so of course the powers during colonial times needed a bolthole to escape the seasonal inferno of Cambodia in April May.  This grand old hotel is in remarkable structural integrity for something 90 years old. I may have taken too many photos here but we were enjoying the exploration.  The hotel overlooks a very precipitous cliff hundreds of metres high, but the weather conditions we also perfect for cloud formation and the views were lost.  Apparently the site has been used for film locations and I imagine when the mist is in and the wind is howling that there could be many "The Shining" moments.  A bride and groom were there with their entourage to take the traditional pre-wedding photoshoot.  I love her shoes.

In their day this house would have been very stylish, flat roof, open pavilions, internal ponds and water features, terrazzo etc.

All over the top plateau a large resort company Sokha has been creating a huge resort I think around the old casino (lotus flower roof?) So much construction going on and far removed from the low scale of the previous buildings.

More Truman Show buildings abound, 8 in a row, all empty yet fitted out, not content with a few ghost buildings one kilometre away, they are building another new one.

Park your car for you Mister?

We don't hang around and we commence our run down the mountain, one corner and the bike feels very washy, stop and check the rear tyre is going flat very quickly, dammit. Struggle to the local shop and ask for a pump, but the tube in the tyre is terminally punctured. What to do? I try and cobble a plug for the hole but to no avail. After an hour of miscommunication with the helpful people at the top of the mountain a truck comes past with six blokes a crane and two large sandstone boulders. For $5 they will take us down the mountain, bike gets thrown up on the tray and we jump in the cab for the 27km drive down the hill. It takes an hour but there was no other way to get moving.

cur

Two bikes, two flats, $10 bucks each

carnival

carnival

As the sun sets and the tube replaced by an expert with many more tools than we could muster (one swiss army knife) we headed the twelve kays back into Kampot and a nice refreshing draft beer and a pizza. It was good knowledge looking at the process to replace the tube, muffler comes off, then the bolts connecting the right side swingarm, then the axle, then the tyre is removed, a bit more complex than changing my road bike tube by the side of the road. We wander the carnival after dinner and lots of families and people of all ages are enjoying the cool weather and atmosphere of the show.




Now the ride back, with only one light working and that is the high beam lamp we hit the highway at 40kmh, I shield my eyes from the dazzle from oncoming traffic, scanning for dogs, chickens, people on bikes with no lights, potholes, 'repaired' potholes. It takes a lot of concentration. The lightning to the west is impressive large forks of yellow smashing the ground or is it the other way around? The midrange fuel thing shits me but we make it back and I force a beer through my teeth, gratefully handing the keys back and no thankyou we wont be needing the bike tomorrow.


I spend the evening as a slave to upload bar in blogger as each photo chugs its bits to the cloud. The bourbon helped as did the Rolling Stones greatest hits - "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste".
Exploring Kep on Friday.