After my time in Phnom Penh, the boys left on their way to Laos and I headed to the coast to a small town called kampot.

After 5 minutes there I loved it already. I loved the relaxed vibe, set on a river side there was just something incredibly tranquil about it.

I went for a run along the river side. It’s a good change from running in the cities. My poor lungs can only take so much pollution!

At the hostel I stayed at I met 3 kiwi lads who were traveling around south east Asia on motorbikes much like what Matt, Ian and myself did. I have barely seen kiwis in south east Asia but it turns out they are all in Cambodia. I think I saw about 10 here. Good to catch up with fellow country men

I got a bike the next day and headed off into the mountains to check out a casino and resort. The location of the buildings was to be rightly questioned. There was absolutely no one there! I wandered into the resort and walked around a bit. But no one was there. I went into the casino only to find bored staff members eagerly waiting for customers day after day. It kind of felt like I was actually in the hotel out of the movie “the shining” very creepy.

I went out at sunset to see the salt flats with 2 friends which were particularly beautiful with the light. I was reminded once again that life is beautiful. It’s amazing when you take the time to really breath in the scenery. Really be there! It consumes you and lifts you up when you can appreciate this wonderful planet we live on

The next day a lovely kiwi couple in their 50’s arrived. They were from Titirangi and had just spent 2 and a half years looking after people’s houses and pets in England and France. Really friendly and inspirational couple. We (a Welsh lady and I) were headed out to see a movie when they arrived so we asked them if they would like to join us. This movie “theater” was a surprise. A pleasant one at that. It turned out to be a small room with a king size bed and and large TV and sound system! Complete with aircon and fan. We all cracked up when we saw this weird and wonderful set up. It made us all feel completely at home. We watched “whiplash” which was a solid film. Really good I thought.

On my last day there, I went to a power yoga session on the river side which was a good wake up call to my muscles who have been a bit underused in recent weeks. I also got to catch up with a lovely English lady I had met at the border. She was touring around south east Asia on a bus tour. All in all Kampot was a big highlight for me in the Cambodian chapter.