How to Visit Kep

A Weekend Away

Kep has two pronunciations. Foreigners read it phonetically like it is, "kep." Cambodians pronounce "KI-pe." This is because the Khmer alphabet cannot be accurately translated into English due to strange sounds nonexistent in English. Why is any of this important? It's not, really. I just wish it was spelled differently.

I lived in Cambodia almost 2.5 years without properly visiting Kep. Expats who live in Cambodia were appalled. Kep is only about five hours south by bus (faster by car) and a highly popular expat weekend getaway. Cambodians prefer the much more developed (possibly overdeveloped, occasionally irritating) Kampong Som/Sihanoukville.  Kep is a sleepy town. There isn't much beach to speak of due to the rocks, but you can get very tasty crab and other seafood. The guesthouses and hotels cater to expats and from what I've heard, there has been an explosion of amenities in recent years.

I went down to mourn the late King Sihnaouk's Cremation. Since we were given two additional days off from work (on top of the 17 public holidays) and because Phnom Penh was flooded with people for this rare once-in-a-lifetime occasion, getting away was only logical. Kep was also busy, foreigners looking to get away from the closed streets and businesses. We had a hard time finding a hotel in Kep the week before when arranging hotels. I took a bus down with friends to meet other friends.

We did all the things that one does in Kep. We laid by the pool and caught the sun. We walked down to the crab market and ate crab in the tiny little wooden restaurants overlooking the water. We went down to the beautiful "Sailing Club" where we enjoyed beverages at white tables in the sand, and walked down the dock at sunset. We (I) went kayaking and admired the restful little town from the distance of the ocean, the water shallow and warm.

Our biggest adventure was to Bokhor Mountain in Kampot. Kampot is only 20 miles away from Kep. We rented little green automatic motos and zipped along the awful awful road for an good hour to get to Kampot. From Kampot it was another hour of driving up the windy "mountain" (more like a large hill) overlooking the sea. It was easily one of my favorite Cambodia experiences. Three were also many Cambodians making this adventure traveling in cars. Since there are no rest areas, they pull off on the road and picnic.

Leaving for Bokhor, we were clean and tanned. Returning, we were a different color.  For one, we were covered in red dust. Secondly, (and I speak for myself) we were painfully roasted from an excruciating sunburn. (My Aussie friends lather up in sunblock while I from North America refuse to believe the sun is actually that strong. When I do learn this point, I quickly forget). Alas, what is a good trip without a good sunburn.

Coming back on the bus from our long weekend away (which is just painfully tortuously long given that it's so freaking close!), I realized just how blessed I am. When I first came to Cambodia, I didn't know I could take a quick and relatively inexpensive jaunt out of town with friends for a long weekend. And yet, here I am. Entirely blessed.

Kep is what you make it. If you want to relax, eat some good food, and spend time with friends, it's the perfect place. Also, you can call it "Kep" or "KI-pe," whatever works for you.