Day 50: Ha Tien - Kampot (back in CAMBODIA) - Frankie goes to.....Indochina

February 23, 2018

Day 50: Ha Tien - Kampot (back in CAMBODIA)

Routing: #QL 80, 1332, 33, 33A, 33

As I already said yesterday I didn´t have the best of times in Ha Tien but put that almost entirely down to the Tet festive season. Vietnamese people are travelling at that time of year and with Ha Tien being the major ferry hub for Phu Quoc Island there are obviously heaps of holiday makers in town staying overnight. On the other hand half of the shop owners seem to be away themselves, locking up their premises with these iron curtains that do not necessarily add to the atmosphere in town. My own fault - I had made very little enquiries before arriving in Vietnam and now paid the price. Never mind, overall I did enjoy my time in Vietnam but will not have any extra rest days as originally planned.

So after a coffee and some pork with rice in the nice cafe right opposite the guesthouse I was off to the border. Only 5 km but even that short ride did indicate it will be much, much quieter from now on. And my mood quickly increased as I left the guesthouse at 8.15 am and rolled onto Cambodian soil at 9 am. Stamping me out of Vietnam took 2 minutes, getting the visa on arrival and the entry stamp for Cambodia less than 20 minutes. Delightful, I read so many stories about border harrassment between those particular two countries but I certainly would disagree after my experiences over the last few weeks. Saying that I realized this was the last time I had to pay for visiting a country as Malaysia and New Zealand will not charge for being there up to 3 months. So let me add up my visa costs so far, I am actually curious myself to see how much it will be as I am only doing it while typing this:

Thailand (1): 60 days TR visa, issued in Germany - 30 € / 37 US$

Laos: VoA, 30 days - 30 US$ and 2 US$ stamping fee on exit

Cambodia (1): VoA, 30 days - 35 US$ and 1 US$ health check

Vietnam: Online VoA, 30 days - 25 US$

Cambodia (2): VoA, 30 days - 35 US$

Thailand (2): 60 days TR visa, issued in Phnom Penh - 50 US$ (incl. agent fee)

Total: 215 US$. Considerable amount, isn´t it?

Back to the ride today: Lovely first kilometers on the #1332 and the whole rest was not much worse. I was always headed for Kampot as I had such a good time in the Pepper GH six years ago but with plenty of time in hand I decided to do that u-hook taking the 33A through Kep. Kep is changing quickly with many posh looking hotels being built and Kampot itself attracts far more western tourists nowadays too without entirely giving up its charme. At least that´s what it felt like to me. I was still disappointed as the owners of the Pepper GH could obviously not resist the call of money. The former large ground floor communal area had to go for expensive bungalows; the fantastic first floor restaurant and bar are dorms nowadays. Shame! I still stayed at inadequate 10 US$ for my fan room as I couldn´t be bothered looking somewhere else for just one night.

On the QL80 approaching the Cambodian border

These huge casinos are to be found at every single border crossing down here

I was only prepared to scratch his forehead for a couple of minutes and when I stopped....

....he decided to help himself. They are such gentle animals though, he could have so easily thrown my bike over

...you shouldn´t be proven wrong 50 meters down the road

Whereas pepper is the big thing in Kampot, Kep is on the culinary map for its crabs

Kep used to be the summer refuge of the Phnom Penh elite until the Khmer Rouge brought that to an end. Unfortunately they do not get renovated but have to make place for new multiple star hotels

The durian roundabout in Kampot, fortunately without the corresponding smell

Quality stuff on offer in the Pepper Guesthouse

Today's ride: 64 km (40 miles)
Total: 3,940 km (2,447 miles)

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