Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Teuk Chhou Rapids
8km northeast of Kampot, on the west bank of the Teuk Chhou River • $2 for foreigners; 6000 riel to cross the bridge • Moto from
Kampot $3
A couple of hundred metres further upstream from Teuk Chhou Zoo, the river
becomes more scenic, racing down the valley and bubbling over the rocks in a series of
gurgling
rapids
(although a new Chinese-built hydroelectric dam 5km upstream has
tamed the flow somewhat).
5
Phnom Chhnork
12km east of Kampot • 4000 riel for foreigners • Hiring a moto/tuk-tuk from Kampot to take you here and to Phnom Sorsia (see below) will
cost $8/$10; you can also rent your own motorbike ($4-6) - turn left off the road to Kep about 6km from Kampot, signposted through a
portico, and then head out along a well-made but unsurfaced road to the hill (about another 6km)
Phnom Chhnork
is the closest cave system to Kampot. The entrance to the hill is
through a wat, where you can leave your motorbike with a local boy for a few hundred
riel. From here it's a walk of 1km or so through fields of well-tended vegetable plots to
the foot of the hill. Intrepid types can explore a couple of poky holes at the foot of the
hill before venturing up the rickety steps, passing a collection of pagoda buildings, to
the main caves. If you look carefully, through the gloom you will see a brick-built
pre-Angkor prasat
; the rock seems to be trying to claim the ruin, which is slowly being
coated with limestone as water drips from the roof. Child guides don't have much
information, but for a dollar they can help you negotiate the paths within the caves.
There are no facilities - wear stout shoes and take a torch.
Phnom Sorsia
16km southeast of Kampot • Hiring a moto/tuk-tuk from Kampot to take you here and to Phnom Chhnork (see above) will cost $8/$10;
you can also rent your own motorbike costs ($4-6) - take NR33 towards Kep for around 14km before turning left (signposted in blue and
white) through another grand portico onto a dirt track that leads after 1km to the foot of the hill
he
Phnom Sorsia
caves sit within a hillside Buddhist complex; from the summit of the
hill, panoramic views stretch across the province and the ocean towards the Vietnamese
island of Phu Quoc.
From the pagoda, take the staircase and at the top, turn left and follow the rocky path
for 50m to reach
Ruhng Dhumrey Saw
(White Elephant Cave). Just inside the entrance
is a seated Buddha statue, from where rickety steps head down into the cave proper;
here you can see the large cream-and-grey rock formation, vaguely resembling an
elephant's head, which gives the cave its name. Back at the main steps, take the path to
the right, which leads after about 150m to the far side of the hill and
Leahng Bpodjioh
(Bat Cave), filled with the ear-splitting sound of squeaking bats. The stench of
ammonia is overpowering, and watch you don't get guano in the eye if you look up.
The cave is smaller and darker than Ruhng Dhumrey Saw, although a few shafts of
light penetrate the gloom, highlighting the tree roots that poke down spookily from
the roof of the chamber. Back outside, you may be lucky enough to see the monkeys
that live in the woods on the hillside, while from the top of the hill there's a good view
over the rice paddies along the coast. Be sure to wear stout shoes and carry a torch.
Kep
Back in the 1960s, when Sihanoukville was just a fishing village,
KEP
,
25km from
Kampot, was already an a
uent seaside resort. Subsequent events were unkind to the
town, but today, though now eclipsed by Sihanoukville, it is making a spirited
comeback as a day-trip destination from Phnom Penh. It's not the beach (narrow, dark
brown) that brings people here, however. Cambodians largely come for the
food
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