South Coast - Cambodia - page 408

hind Veranda Natural Resort. Fuel up and grab a map of the park at the Led Zep Cafe
OFFLINE MAP ( 9.30am-6pm) , which is on the trail 300m into the walk. The map is also re-
printed in the Coastal guide to Kep and Kampot.
Led Zep Cafe has also created quirky yellow signs that point the way from the main
trail to walking paths leading into the interior of the park. One such path, dubbed Stairway
to Heaven, starts directly behind the Beach House guesthouse overlooking Kep Beach. It
leads 800m up the hill to a pagoda, a nunnery and - 400m further on - Sunset Rock, with
superb views.

Villas
From the Northern Roundabout, NH33A heads north past the mildewed shells of hand-
some mid-20th-century villas that speak of happier, carefree times, and of the terrible
years of Khmer Rouge rule and civil war. Built according to the precepts of the modernist
style, with clean lines, lots of horizontals and little adornment, they once played host to
glittering jet-set parties and may do so again someday, though for the time being many
shelter squatters (and, some say, ghosts). Don't get your hopes up about buying one, as
they were all snapped up for a song in the mid-1990s by well-connected speculators.

HISTORIC BUILDINGS

Beaches
Most of Kep's beaches are too shallow and rocky for good swimming. It's possible to
swim off the beach or the jetty at the Sailing Club, but the water is particularly shallow.

Kep Beach
OFFLINE MAP

BEACH

Centrally located, this is the best beach in town, but it's still somewhat pebbly and tends
to fill up with locals on weekends. Back in the pre-war period, powder-white sand was
trucked in from other beaches and this practice began again in 2013, ensuring the beach is
in better shape than it has been for many years. The eastern end of the shaded promenade
along the beach is marked by Sela Cham P'dey , a statue that depicts a nude fisher's wife
waiting expectantly for her husband to return.

Coconut Beach
OFFLINE MAP

BEACH