Welcome to Kampot

The Kampot pepper, once sought after by French chefs, disappeared from dining tables when production stopped during the Khmer Rouge years. Now, it is enjoying a renewed interest in culinary circles, with planting having restarted on the province’s rich manganese soil. That pretty much summarizes the state of the province itself.

After having been neglected for years, Kampot is now one of Cambodia’s most attractive destinations. It has miles of pristine countryside, an eerie abandoned mountain-top resort with stunning views, limestone caves with Buddhist shrines, and of course, Kampot pepper.

Kampot is one of Cambodia’s most productive agricultural regions. It produces durian, watermelons and coconuts and its salt from the coastal saltpans is almost as famous as its pepper.

French and Chinese Architecture

The capital city of Kampot is charming and compact and has an easygoing air to it. Situated on the banks of the Teuk Chhou River, it is easy to see the Bokor hill in the distance. While it is no longer a trading port, it still has a large Chinese presence and the town has French colonial buildings thrown into the mix with Chinese single storey houses. Kampot fell into decline after Sihanoukville’s port opened, and was a dangerous place under the Khmer Rouge. Now it is being slowly discovered by tourists.

Kampot has a relaxed and quaint small-town atmosphere, and is a base from which to visit the Bokor Hill station, the beaches and islands of Kep, and surrounding attractions. Its riverfront offers many options to arrange a boat excursion upstream or downstream in the evening when the fishing boats ail out to sea.

Riverfront Ambience

Its nicest bars and restaurants are on the riverfront and is a perfect place to enjoy a cold drink or glass of wine and watch the sun slowly set over the river and into the Elephant Mountains. Boutique hotels in refurbished colonial houses are found there as well and most restaurants specialize, naturally, in serving seafood.

The town shuts down fairly early, although a few bars, mainly foreign-owned, will keep their doors opened till late,

Kampot is being sought after by people escaping from Phnom Penh for the weekend. The surrounding countryside is certainly picturesque and the town itself nurtures a laid-back attitude. With good roads now in place, it is pretty easy to get to Sihanoukville but there are also attractions close to town including white water rapids and a chance to see tigers at the Teuk Chhou Zoo.

Cave Temple

There is a spectacular cave temple at Kampong Trach. The cave-riddled lime formation in Phnom Sor has more than 100 caverns and passageways which the locals believe to represent a dragon. Other caves have formations that look like heads or bodies of animals and the reclining Buddha is a replacement for the one destroyed by the Khmer Rouge. The best way to look out for the most interesting formations is to hire a local guide.

At Kampot's Phnom Chhnork, the caves are pre-Angkorian ruins with stalagmites and stalactites. Visible carvings indicate that the ruins date back to the 5th century when the Funla Kingdom was in power.