Archive for KEP Province

Background of KEP Province

Kep is a seaside tourist city located 173 kilometers southwest of Phnom Penh. Visitors from Phnom Penh take the National Road 3 via Kampot Province or National Road 2 via Takoa Province. In addition, the train form Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville stops at the Damnak Canng Eur Station, about 7 kilometers from the city, foreigners coming from Vietname or Sihanoukville to the Kep City Port.

Kep is a small city. The beach, which is suitable for swimming, is only 1,000 meters long, and the sand is not white as in Sihanoukville. However, Kep is a big seafood market.

The city was founded in 1908 during the friend colonial times. It was renovate into a beautiful seaside resort in 1960s during the King Norodom Sihanouk’s Sangkum Reastr Niyum regime. The name Kep is derived from the French words Le cap, or cape in English. A cape a point of land juts into water, especially a headland significant for navigation.

Khmer legend offers another explanation for the name. there once was a prince name Sakor Reach who possessed great magical powers. One day, Sakor Reach used his magic to hypnotize a commander of Angkor Thom before stealing the commander’s horse and escaping to the south west part of the country. While Sakor Reach was relaxed the seaside, the commander’s troops caught up him. Nervous, the prince suddenly hopped on the back of the commander’s horse. The horse reared back, however, and fell on the prince, losing its saddle1 in the process. The prince got back on the horse and rode off, leaving the saddle there. Hence, the area was called Kep She. Later it was shortened to Kep.

Kep Accommodations

Veranda Resort, Kep City, CambodiaVeranda Bungalows and Resort Range: $20-$60 (including breakfast) BRF Stylish bungalows with veranda on the hillside. Restaurant: The unique Jungle Bar serves wide variety of Cambodian and international cuisine, has a full bar and a terrace with comfortable seating and a spectacular sunset view of the ocean and islands.

Tel: 012-888619, 092-948093

E-mail: verandaresort@mobitel.com.kh

Website: www.veranda-resort.com

The Beach House, Kep City,CambodiaThe Beach House Range: 30$-45$ New Hotel on the hillside overlooking Kep Beach. Nicely decorated rooms with a/c, satellite TV, hot water, fridge, en suite bathroom and balconies with picturesque ocean views, Swimming pool, spa, Good restaurant serving asian and western food, Full bar, Metting room. 24 hours electricity.

Tel: 012-240090

E-mail: info@thebeachhousekep.com

Website: www.thebeachhousekep.com

Champey Inn, Kep CityChampey Inn Range: $30 B/FRF 16 bungalows. The finest accommodations in kep. Fan bungalows with stylish decor in a garden setting overlooking the ocean. Swimming pool. Tours. Restaurant: French fare with and emphasis on seafood. Pleasant open air seating a stone’s throw from the ocean, and stylish indoor seating at the Inn. Wine.

Tel: 012-501742

E-mail: champeyinn@mobitel.com.kh

Kep Lodge Brand new fan and sea breeze cooled thatched bungalows with big terrace, bordering the National Park, offering a spectacular view of mountains and islands. Six nicely decorated, spacious wooden or concrete bungalows surrounded by a garden with many fruit trees. Rooms equipped with comfortable 1.6m mattresses, bathroom has hot water, some with bathtub. Restaurant serving outstanding Khmer and Western food (some Swiss specialties). The comfortable bar with pool table is a great place for a cocktail or a glass of wine. Western-managed, very friendly staff.

Rooms from US 15 including breakfast…

Tel: +(855) (0)92-435330

Email: info@keplodge.com

Website: www.keplodge.com

Star Inn Range: $20 – $50 FRF Set on the hill overlooking Kep Beach, Clean fan or a/c rooms with cable TV and hot water. Each room has a private balcony with ocean views. A rooftop restaurant bar overlook Kep Beach.

Tel: 011-765999, 012-765777, 016-765999

Le Bout du Monde Range: $5 – $15 BRF Traditional Khmer wooden house with rooms and bungalows to offer. Set back on the mountain with a nice view of the ocean and sunsets. Restaurant and Full bar.

Tel: 012-242166, 011-996980

Phnom Sar Sear

Phnom Sar Sear is a nature and cultural site located about 14 Kilometers southwest of Kep city. this mountain is called Phnom Sar Sear because, according to Khmer legend mentioned above, when Prince Sakor Reach led the troops to this place, he got off his horse and moved furtively2 ahead of his pursuers along the mountainside, where at that time there was an island to which he fled. Thus, the mountain was called Phnom Sar Sear.

Phnom Sar Sear is composed of three small mountains about 1.5 square kilometers. It is about 40 meters high. The site features two natural caves-Phnom Dorei Sar and Phnom Ach Prochiev-which tourists can explore. In Phnom Damrei Sar cave, there is a beautiful mountain well called Viel Sre Muoy Roy. In the past, this site was also popular with filmmakers.

At the foot of the mountain are a number of small halls where clergymen and nuns meditate. Along the way to the mountaintop, there is a Buddhist pagoda where monks live. On the mountaintop sits a colorful, finely sculpted stupa built in 1964 by Prince Rasmei Sophoan. A place of worship, it also houses a Buddha relic.

The fresh air and beautiful natural scenery make Phnom Sar Sear popular with tourists throughout the year. From the mountaintop, visitors have an excellent view of rice pad-dies, the islands and the sea below, as well as the distant mountains. Buddhists go there to pray for good fortune.

Koh Tonsay (Rabbit Island)

Koh Tonsay is located about 4.5 Kilometers southwest of Kep. Tourists are drawn to the two beautiful white sand beaches. The sea here is shallow and has a long slope, making Koh Tonsay excellent for swimming. At the sea bottom area a variety of corals, sea animals and plants which attract researchers and ecologists.

The name Koh Tosay is derived from the word Rumsay3. While trying to avoid the commander’s troops, Prince Sakor Reach grew hopeless because his own troops began to tire. He led his remaining troops across the sea to an island in front of Kep city, where the troops spread out. Accordingly, the island was called Koh Rumsay, the Koh Ormsay or Koh Ornsay, and the Koh Tonsay, as it is known today.

Koh Tonsay is 2 square Kilometers. During then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk’s Sangku Reastr Niyum regime, it was used as a place to rehabilitate criminals, who were also used to defend the island. Horse cart paths and wooden, thatch roofed motels were also constructed during this time. Most of this infrastructure has been destroyed by weather and decades of war. Today, seven families live on the island. They earn their living by fishing and growing coconut trees.

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.