From Kampot to Kep: Discovering A Seafood Heaven

The South East Asia Games are underway. This regional, Olympics-style event is being held in Cambodia for the first time in its history, with Phnom Penh the host city. 

The last night of our time in Phnom Penh coincided with the Games’ opening ceremony, a spectacular event encapsulating typical scenes from Cambodian history and everyday Cambodian life all delivered with the wonderfully choreographed routines that characterise these opening ceremonies. Packed with commentaries on the country’s bright future and full of pride and patriotism, the whole thing felt like another powerful statement, another big step, on Cambodia’s road to a new era. The enthusiasm of the crowd simply watching on the big screen by the river would suggest that there is significant buy-in to current philosophies.

Kampot is playing its part in the pageant: this small town is hosting all of the boating events for the Games and the excitement is moving towards fever pitch as we leave town. The courses are laid out on the river, the flagpoles are being erected along the river banks, and there’s the regular sight of international teams practising by frantically powering their paddles down the river. We wonder whether time may be tight for the organisers: the rainy season is getting ever closer and we’ve already witnessed thunder storms and strengthening winds in our time here. As it happens, we too are hoping the rains don’t mean business just yet as we are off to reacquaint ourselves with the sea after several weeks inland. 

It’s not a long journey this time, from Kampot to the seaside at Kep, so we do the 40 minutes by tuk-tuk, the three of us and our backpacks all crammed into Richard’s brother’s machine – though if like us you’ve previously crossed the whole of Sri Lanka by tuk-tuk, then this quick skip to Kep is a doddle.

Describing Kep is not going to be straightforward, but here goes. This sleepy town sits on a peninsula, but due in part to the steep hill in the middle, Kep is not continuous and is instead split into three distinct sections: the crab market, the beach, and the town. It takes us a surprising 90 minutes to walk from the first to the third. The overriding reason that anyone and everyone comes to Kep is the seafood – Kep has a certain reputation which we’ll come back to shortly.

First though, the town. It has virtually nothing going for it and is as devoid of restaurants, bars and even shops as anywhere we’ve ever seen. Second, the beach. It’s not natural, the coast here is rocky and the admittedly fine sand has been shipped in from further up the coast to form an artificial beach – despite its ersatz nature it’s much loved by Cambodians who flock here from the cities most weekends. 

Now then, there’s two things which in our opinion contribute to making this a candidate for the World’s weirdest beach. Firstly, everybody keeps their clothes on. Here we are, just 40 minutes’ ride from scantily clad girls outside bars, and there’s not a bathing costume or a pair of speedos in sight, let alone a bikini. Everybody is fully dressed, whether laying in the sun, playing volleyball, or even swimming in the sea. Women appear out of the waves and trudge back up the sands with their long dresses, comfy trousers, or even T-shirts and jeans, sopping wet and clinging to the body.

Secondly, there’s the big long row of what look like beach bars but are nothing of the sort. What they are is hammock fests – large wooden platforms with parasols and kiosks looking for all the world like a beach bar, but in fact simply a platform on which literally dozens of hammocks are strung between wooden posts. The world and his wife are either snoozing in a hammock in the shade or picnicking on the wooden platform beneath. In all of our travels, this is a first, we’ve never seen a hammock jungle before.

Across the street from the beach, families and large parties spread out their picnic blankets which they’ve rented from a street trader, and lay out a giant picnic of all types of food. On the pavement. Yep, Cambodians seem to see a dirty pavement (sidewalk), next to parked cars and fume-belching tuk-tuks and amongst the hordes of ants, as an ideal spot for a picnic.

All this brings us to the third part of town, the crab market. Believe me, we’ve saved the best till last. At one end of Kep beach, a statue of a crab stands proudly above the sea, its claws reaching for the sky – and there is good reason, Kep has a serious claim to fame, enjoying a huge reputation for some of the best fresh crab in the entire world, and, what’s more, a speciality dish which marries Kep crab and Kampot pepper.

The “market”, a considerable schlep from beach and town, is a makeshift set of ramshackle stalls on a rocky headland where the size and variety of the daily catch has to be seen to be believed. Along the road in front of the market is what looks to be a line of grubby takeaways with smoking barbecues, but look closer and behind each one is a restaurant with tables on the decking above the sea where it takes all of three minutes for you to know you’ve landed somewhere rather special.

Around us the smell of wood and charcoal fires fills the air, carrying the unmistakable aroma of smoking fish past the noses of eager diners. The waves lap beneath our table on the boardwalk, then before we know it it’s impossible to concentrate on the menu because the sunset over the Gulf Of Thailand is so incredibly, beautifully spectacular. The fiery red sun drops below the horizon, the clouds catch fire in blazes of orange and yellow, a pathway of diamonds sparkles towards us across the waves.

And then comes the food. Not just crab, but virtually anything you could want from the ocean, and all of it straight from boat to barbecue. The crab carries a succulent, sweet flavour which kisses the Kampot peppercorns in a tryst made in heaven, the giant prawns ooze the most sensational taste, the huge grilled fish is beyond to die for. Even the side dish, crabmeat rice, has all the flavours of a best-ever paella.

This is our message to every single traveller seeking the ultimate seafood experience: get yourself to Kep and your search will be complete. That’s how good it is! Best seafood ever, magnificent sunset, great setting, cheap prices. 

Kep’s history explains in a way the nondescript character of the town. Always famous for its seafood and sunsets, Kep became a destination for the wealthy during the French colonial era. The great and the good of Cambodia, and even more of the same from France, built large, sumptuous homes here, a retreat from whatever other excesses filled their lives. Like all of Cambodia, the region became a war zone during the America-Vietnam conflict, and then, of course, there was the Khmer Rouge.

What more ostentatious manifestations could there be of the bourgeoisie which Pol Pot sought to eradicate than luxury homes by the sea? The many proud villas were systematically confiscated, bombed, shot and detonated during the four years of the Genocide era. Few though were razed to the ground, and the remains are all still here, most of them in some state of dilapidation, many reclaimed by nature. Apparently though, most are once again owned by the wealthy, or by developers, waiting for their moment and secure in the knowledge that the land on which the building stands is their greatest asset.

Kep remains a favourite for Cambodian holiday makers and weekenders in larger numbers than international tourists; most of the latter seem to be from France. Among the favoured pastimes here is a boat trip across to Koh Tonsay, aka Rabbit Island, where the sea is incredibly warm – only on Tioman Island have we felt seawater to rival this for warmth. The shallows are positively hot. 

The hill, or hills, which form the centre of the headland and effectively separate Kep into its three parts, is in fact a designated National Park and presents an opportunity to climb its slopes, including a watchtower, and take in terrific views of the scenery and coastline. Around us, exotic jungle bird calls echo across the valleys, though we catch glimpses of just a few, including the unusual looking coppersmith barbet.

What an unusual and fascinating place Kep is, what a varied stop this has been. Watching the locals on their day at the seaside, and how differently they go about their day on the beach; skipping over to Rabbit Island; enjoying the lush greenery…have all been great. But those early evenings watching the magnificent sunsets, devouring the fabulous fresh seafood then listening to the waves as darkness falls, will be among the moments we treasure most from this entire trip.