A Kep Picnic

A Kep Picnic – Resort town not to be missed

Every weekend, hundreds of Khmers pour out of Phnom Penh in trucks, pick-ups and taxis to travel the four hours south to Cambodia’s forgotten beach resort of Kep. Their mission is simple – to enjoy a traditional pastime. To picnic.

For a taste of real Khmer Culture, a picnic is an experience not to be missed. By 9am the first taxis are already pulling up at the famous Crab Market, the first market at which travelers arrive once they reach the ring road that circles Kep.

“What do you mean, 5000 riel for a kilo of crabs?” a resident chides one of the krama-clad women weighing out the still-live blue swimmer crabs, each one carefully tied with rubber bands to stop them biting.

But the vendor only laughs. At just over $1 for these hand sized crustaceans, she isn’t about to lower her price, and soon steam is rising from the massive pots they use to cook the bounty while customers wait.

Another woman is turning bamboo sticks of squid and fish over a long charcoal grill. “If you don’t like fish, we have other things, “ She suggests, basting a plump chicken Maryland before replacing it, smoking, over the coals. Large, succulent banana prawns, too, lie on ice, waiting to be selected and prepared. But at around $3 per kilogram, these delicacies are strictly for the wealthier patrons who can afford to indulge their bellies as well as feasting their eyes.

A stick of baby squid, char grilled, is as little as 500 riel, depending on their size and the time of day –early in the morning, the vendors know they have a good chance of selling them and are not so keen to discount their wares. After all, at that time of the morning, these women can barely cook these strange kebabs fast enough to keep up with demand. Most of the women are relatives of the fisherman who return periodically in their colorfully painted boats to unload more bounty from the holds into the baskets of the waiting families. The crabs then sit in traps near the shore, alive and well, until a customer buys them.

“My husband fishes near the shore. If there is not enough there, he will go out among the island. Sometimes, prices change, depending on how much they catch,” one of the women explains. “If the fishing is good, we charge less and prices go down.” Some of the city folk pick up the jars of Kep’s famous pickled garlic, chili and other sundries on display, which the women prepare in their spare time. Mingling with the fishmongers, hawker girls peddle exotic snacks. Sticky rice and coconut wrapped in banana leaves is a perennial favorite, but others sell young coconut to drink, and others local souvenirs.

Customers can sit at tables in the market and watch life on the seashore unfold, dipping their food into bowls of lime juice thick with salt and pepper and sipping a cold drink.

But most choose to buy rice, crabs and sauces and continue around the corner, where woven mats under shady trees or tarps are laid out all along the beach for picnickers, some of whom take a swim between courses or simply enjoy the view across the ocean to the many island which lie just offshore.

Sometimes, the local troupe of monkeys will venture down into the trees near the beach to play among the branches in the cool sea breeze, amusing the picnickers with their antics in the process.

Khmer love a picnic, and they like to make sure others enjoy their day too. Foreigners who sit by the shore are likely to be taken under the wing of the nearest family or bus load of local tourists.

The usual questions of “Where are you from? What is your name?” are often interspersed with offers of fruit and other food foreigners may not have ventured to taste on their own.

For those needing a little more lubrication than the ubiquitous sugar cane or coconut juices, men on bicycles peddle by intermittently, hollowed bamboo poles and cups hung from the back and sides. This is the local wine-tik tanaout jiu, or palm wine. Sweet and mellow, many a new covert has realized belatedly that it has a deceptive kick to it after a few 200 riel glasses in the tropical sun.

After a swim, it is and easy walk to wander along the shore road, examining the ruins of French colonial holiday homes left from Kep’s glory days. and even a villa that King Norodom Siahnouk used on weekend. Be careful to take in these view from a polite distance, though. Most have been squatted by locals who may not always appreciate people stumbling into their homes unannounced.

By about three in the afternoon, the travelers are preparing to return to the city before dark.

More women carrying cooked crabs try to tempt the visitors into one last buy for the journey back, or even to take as gifts for friends at home. Kep crabs are famous in Cambodia for their quality and taste. Foreigners not in a hurry to rust back can spend the night. Kampot town is just half and hour’s drive away, and in Kep itself now has and astonishing range of accommodation for such a sleepy place. Enjoy air conditioned comfort and a picture window view of the ocean from the stylish Champey Inn, which is also know for its fine French cuisine. The emphasis, of course, is on seafood, and the wine list compliments the food superbly. Champey Inn Annex boasts a swimming pool, or for more basic accommodation, the friendly family at Seaside Bungalows just before the market offers rooms form $4 or possibly less, and Veranda Bungalows and Resort is in the same price range, high on the cools lush hillside.

Sunset brings a glowing orange luster to the place and peace as the last truck roars away. And then there are the stars to enjoy as you eat by lantern light ( many places here still do not have 24 hour electricity). With no large city for miles, the night sky is dazzling. Kep is an unspoiled corner of Cambodia that should not be missed.