“It is not necessary to hope to undertake nor to succeed to persevere.” William the Silent

New day in Kampot, after the ride by the sea yesterday, Today we take the altitude. Entering the National Park Preah Monivong of we embark on dozens of kilometers meandering mountain Bokor where we are not a little surprised to find ourselves in the middle of mist that sometimes turns even in thick fog. The most incredible is the temperature accompanying, not, we did not think to get really cold in Cambodia !

At the top of Bokor

We surely follow the route of the old road leading to the buildings constructed 1917 speak French – which for once had to seek fresh : six years of work in conditions which cost their lives to hundreds of convicts employees. En 1925, Bokor Palace opens its doors to wealthy ; mais leur rêve ne durera pas et l’endroit ferme à la fin des années 1940 during the Indochina War. Our old friend King Sihanouk the rebuilt and opened in 1962, with the notable addition of the first casino Cambodia… reserved for foreigners. This only lasts a decade, closed this time by the Red Khmer.

Je m’étais donc préparée à une bonne séance photo dans les ruines de l’hôtel et nous parcourons les routes au sommet plusieurs fois car il est difficile de s’y repérer dans le brouillard ! We find much the Catholic Church offers us a nice point of view, anything not clear enough to see the Gulf of Thailand. Puis devons nous rendre à l’évidence : les cambodgiens ont décidé pour la troisième fois de rénover le Bokor Palace !

Le bâtiment est bien là mais, repeint, a perdu son côté photogénique et n’est bien sûr plus visitable à moins de s’y payer une chambre à plusieurs centaines de dollars la nuit ! 😮 De nouveaux hôtels, au design douteux, sont également construits un peu plus loin et nous commençons à nous demander si ça valait le coup de venir si haut, aussi agréable qu’ait pu être la route.

Nous laissons le béton derrière nous pour rouler vers des champs de riz qui n’en sont pas : 100 Rice Fields (les 500 étant payants, peut-être parce qu’il y en a plus ? 😀 ), they are actually rock formations between which push the grass straight giving the impression of an aerial view of rice fields. Again something of escape ! Later we leave voluntarily escape the waterfalls of Popokvil, Pay also, which should not be very impressive in this dry season. This is the turning of another site that we find a rather nice place, a lake full of fish around which are still not no tourist. We appreciate his quiet for a moment before starting to slowly descend to the plains.

100 Rice Fields

Ya Mao

Decidedly photography day continues to be compromised, the statue of Mao Ya is masked by haze, while failing to see it, I will tell you briefly the history of this guardian of such ribs I've read : “The legend of Ya Mao said that she died at sea while traveling to see her husband, Khmer therefore assume that she wanted sausage and still make offerings phallus and bananas.”

hungry, we make a mistake of tourists and command without asking price food stand installed at Ya Mao feet. The wait is extremely long – My noodle dish vegetables good happens before a simple sandwich – and at checkout, Prices are extremely expensive ! But officials of the booth ripping us with a smile, losing their English when we question the price. Mi-figue, half grape on this walk on Bokor, we still enjoy the sunshine playing with the mist, the impressive vegetation on roadsides or even remains invented by our imagination : see yourself as a profile in the rock ?

natural sculptures ?

Departure from fishing boats

Back in Kampot after a break at the inn, We expedition set out again in the late afternoon, hoping to see the collection of salt marshes that extend south of the city, acidic Koh D'tray – Isle Fish or Fish Island. We do not go further than the bridge that connects the island to the mainland, scooter behaves strangely and we quickly discover a flat tire ! Back in town, when one goes on a mission – it tells you lower – to change a tire while the other not to burden the vehicle returns to feet inn. Interlude which allows me to discover that Cambodian play pétanque, but jack ! Another witness, speaking French, confirms me after asking me if I knew this game – and how ! It's a bit of a home – not that they do not respect the rules and simply pull like mad with incredible speed, puis de changer de côté et de recommencer ! 🙂

Coucher de soleil à Kampot

Marais salants de Kampot

Deuxième tentative, nous arrivons au bout de la côte est de l’île où nous pouvons observer la sortie des bateaux de pêche. Cette fois-ci c’est l’aiguille du réservoir d’essence qui nous fait repartir en ville pour un plein avant une troisième tentative vers l’ouest de l’île. Nous avons l’impression de rouler fort loin, lorsque enfin apparaissent sur notre gauche des quadrillages plutôt marrons que blancs. Nous continuons de nous éloigner, et profitons d’un paysage calme sous le soleil couchant, it's face it we find a few square where we believe guess salt, some still covered with water. Are there a season for pickup salt ? Have we arrived too early or too late in the day ? We'll never know but appreciate what gave us to see before returning to the hostel for our last night.

If ever you go through Kampot, I suggest you get hold of a small free paper guide or the online version called Kampot Survival Guide, if you understand English well, I promise you some laughs as I could have with the number 41 I found the inn.

And as promised in the previous article on Kep, at the end of the video : Cambodian move !

On the way to the salt flats surrounding the city, on my faith track, a little rough and full of holes, one of them punctured the rear tire us. Where are we going with a flat tire in Cambodia ? When a garage, came across shows you the way a tire-repair (?) in his native language, even with gestures, it's hard.

I finally inflate the tire and go the hostel dare dare, where they apparently used, a phone call and half an hour later the case is in the bag, effective ; the price of the repair is reflected on the invoice, five dollars, quel outrage ! 😉