Kampot used to fly under the radar. It used to be the place you’d only hear about from fellow travelers. There wasn’t much written about it. I wasn’t convinced about going there until talking with some fellow solo travelers in Siem Reap.

So I hopped on a bus then airplane then taxi and found myself surrounded by the colorful but dirty, crumbling, French architecture  wandering down the dusty, wide, bustling streets of Kampot.

Like Battambang up in the north, Kampot is a much needed respite after tourist-flooded Siem Reap or Phnom Pehn. It’s an authentic town with a number of expat run restaurants and hostels making it easy to navigate as a visitor.

Go to Kampot Now, Before It’s Too Late

Kampot is quickly replacing Sihanoukville - a once quaint, chill beach community turned over-developed, casino filled, Chinese tourist destination - as the southern Cambodian beach hot spot. The authenticity, affordability, proximity to beaches and plethora of outdoor activities has put Kampot on every tourist map. But because of that, it may be heading down the same path as Shanoukville. The original appeal of a quaint small city is starting to erode as more tourists come and Chinese investment grows. BBC even says so.

How to Get Around Kampot

The absolute best way to get around Kampot and the surrounding area is to rent a motor bike. It’s cheap and easy to handle in Kampot compared to other bigger cities. There’s really no other way to see it, other than hiring a tuk-tuk driver. But if you want to have the freedom to do what you want, when you want, get a bike.

Just be careful of the monkeys!
I experienced it and so have lots of other travelers in the region. Monkeys love the bikes. I don’t know if they’re trained to steal parts, or bikes, or open the seat to get what they can get, or if they’re just some legit motorheads.

More than a few times I saw a stunning scene, pulled over to explore, and came back to a monkey on my bike. And they’re not the friendly kind. They growl, showing their teeth and looking like they’re ready to pounce and attack. I had to throw rocks at it and wave a big stick. I was terrified! Locals rode by laughing while I crouched in terror at the bike monkey. Eventually I talked my self into grabbing the bike, luckily without injury.

What to Do in Kampot

There is a lot to do in Kampot to fill your days. I heard there are a lot of outdoor sports - standup paddleboarding, kayaking, rock climbing, kite surfing, climbing… though I didn’t do any of those things. Here’s what I did:

1. Learn More Than You Ever Thought There Was to Know About Pepper

If it’s grown in Kampot, it’s a Kampot Pepper; if it’s grown anywhere else, it’s just a pepper.

The Kampot Pepper is to Cambodia what Champagne is to France. It was the first Cambodian product to receive a Protected Geographical Indication (the same certification that protects regional products like Champagne).

Kampot Peppers are regarded as some of the best in the world, if not the best. The climate of the Kampot region has the perfect weather conditions for growing pepper and the quartz content of the soil gives Kampot pepper its strong flavor.

There are a bunch of pepper farms in the Kampot Region, and most offer free tours. I rode to La Plantation Pepper Farm, about an hour from Kampot. It’s not that far distance-wise, but the roads are shit: the main road is scary with speeding buses and trucks, while the off-roads are dusty, unpaved passageways full of mini Grand Canyons.

After arriving and signing up for a tour, we were guided through the pepper farm and learned the ins and outs of pepper growing.

At the end of the tour, we are treated to a pepper tasting, something I never even knew was a thing. It consisted of smelling the various peppercorns and tasting the ground variety of each. It went from a little bit spicy to downright unbearable. Pepper isn’t meant to be eating a la carte.

2. Get Salty at the Salt Fields

In addition to pepper, Kampot is a big player on the salt scene too, leading the country in its production. Most of the salt farms are in one area of town, and you can ride or bike through the fields as locals are raking the salt and moving it to the barn to store. It’s hard work, and the salt farmers here still use traditional methods for extracting the salt, no machines.

I was there during rainy season, so many of the farms were not producing salt, but were in the countryside tending to their rainy season crop, rice. But it was still peaceful to drive through the fields. And I did see a few people working out there.

3. Find the Secret lake

This lake isn’t quite a lake, and isn’t quite a secret, but it’s worth finding. First, Secret Lake is really a man-made dam. It was built using slave labor during the rule of the Khmer Rouge. Second, the name doesn’t come from it’s secret status, but because of the secret that it hides. The story is that the Khmer Rouge forced prisoners and captured villagers to build the dam. During the construction, thousands of Cambodians died or were killed by the violent regime and buried in mass graves beneath the lake. The “secret” refers to the mass graves that the lake covers.

I recommend enjoying Secret Lake on the way to or from the pepper farms. There are lakeside cafe’s and chill spots to relax that are worth experiencing.

4. Have a Beach to Yourself at Phnom Doung Beach

Past the salt fields to the south of Kampot city, through villages and more salt fields, on a dusty dirt road, you dead end at a small shack selling water and snacks. Kids may be playing soccer to your right. The woman working the food stall will ask for the equivalent of $.50 to park your motorbike and enter the beach access area.

After a couple minute walk among coastal trees of some sort, you’ll find a paradise-like beach jutting out into the sea. No one was there. If not for the trash that was strewn all along the waterline, it would have been one of my favorite beaches. But the trash does put a damper on the mood. Nevertheless, having the sandy beach all to myself is a unique pleasure.

5. Explore the Phnom Chhngok Cave & Temple

About 8 km from Kampot through enthralling village scenery, and on the way to Kep, are the limestone caves of Phnom Chhngok. While, you don’t need to spend much time there, the journey there makes it a recommended stop.

There’s not really any signage or information as you approach the Phnom Chhngok Cave. I knew I was there because some kids ran up to me asking if I wanted a tour of the caves. An obvious tourist. I said yep and they led me to a place where I could park my bike and buy a bottle of water.

I hear sometimes a monk collects a $.50 entrance fee, but he wasn’t there when I was there. I was led my a hustling child tour guide, whose English was pretty impressive, and followed by a group of three other kids who were just interested in the cave’s first foreigner of the day. I paid my lil tour guide $1 and off we went.

Up the 203-step stone staircase is a nice view of the surrounding rice paddies. You can see different limestone formations, an elephant, a turtle. You can hear the bats that live in the cave’s darkness.

6. Cruise the City Streets

The Riverfront

Kampot sits on an area where a river splits, giving it almost double the riverfront real estate. Right before the split is where you can find delicious local grub and feel some of the quirky vibe of the city.

Durian roundabout

Durian is a super smelly fruit popular in Southeast Asian countries and grown in Kampot. So why not have a roundabout celebrating the fruit!?

Some Park

I don’t know where it is, somewhere between the Durian roundabout and the riverfront, is a long rectangular park that is always bustling and full of energy. There are benches to chill and possibly watch some local kids play soccer, or just sit and admire the surrounding colorful architecture.

7. Go to Koh Tonsay (Rabbit Island)

You can get a good river experience in Kampot, but if you want a good beach experience, you need to get to Koh Tonsay.

A 30 minute motorbike ride to Kep and another 30 minutes by boat lies a small island that will make you feel virtually isolated from the world. No hotels, no cars, not legit restaurants, just beach front shacks, your two feet, and makeshift, one stove restaurants that serve what they catch 20 meters off the shore.

With oceanfront massages, isolated beaches, Khmer food, beers and cocktails, hammocks and hikes, Koh Tonsay has whatever relaxation means to you, as long as it’s on the minimalist side.