DAY 23: Kep and pepper (13/04/19)
Days in Kampot were very nice. I had spotted an amazing place where I was going for breakfast every day. One of these mornings, I thought it would be nice to let my family know I was still alive so I asked the owner to let me log in on Facebook using his phone. After several minutes of explaining to him my phone got stolen, he accepted.
To my surprise, I had a message from my French friends with whom I had crossed the Laos-Cambodia border, saying that just today they were coming to a nearby town, Kep. I texted them back but before getting a response, I took my bike and rode to Kep.
I didn’t know how I would find them, but I trusted in the universe. And in fact, all the stars aligned so I would find them in the Kep crab market🦀. I was planning to get some fresh seafood there, but they convinced me to go with them to eat “the best chicken with pepper ever” and then visit a nearby French pepper plantation.
In “La Plantation”, they gave us a free tour, including an exotic pepper tasting. It turns out that the pepper harvested in Kep is one of the best in the world. They had more than 7 varieties of pepper from which I especially liked one with barbeque flavor and another that can be eaten as a snack. My 2 friends went back to Kep and I convinced them to come visit me in Kampot the next day, as it would be my last day.
In the morning I played stupid again, attempting to cycle up a mountain to visit the Bokor National Park. Many locals riding motorbikes encouraged me, but halfway through I realized I was too dead and I knew the next day I had another 120km waiting for me. At least riding downhill was a lot of fun🎢
When I met my friends at night, I was surprised with a huge celebration. I didn’t know cuz I didn’t have a phone, but that was the first day of Songkran, which is like a New Years' celebration in all the SE of Asia. People were euphoric dancing, screaming, and throwing water at each other. Also, a couple of firefighter trucks were in the main Durian square spraying everybody. We joined them for a while but I didn’t stay long, as the next day I was riding towards the paradisiac island of Koh Rong🏝️