Kep ~ Cambodia

After short but interesting ride from Phnom Penh we arrived at our old favorite sleepy resort in Kep.  This is a sleepy coastal village along the southern coast.  Famous for its blue crabs.  There is really nothing much to do here.  Hang out and relax.  We stay at the Raingsty Bungalows, where the french owners have created a small secluded and very quiet retreat.  Nearby is the National forest, Kompot pepper farms, a dozen or so rustic restaurants mostly built on stilts and extending over the water.  We stayed a week.  Bungalow 2 although we were meant to have bungalow 3.  A squirrel lived in our ceiling (we think it was a squirrel!) and scurried around at night waking me up.  There was a wonderful white dog who slept often on our porch, and ate my butter and croissant in the morning.  Aloof but mindful, he kept an eye on things.  Mark, our host, went each morning on his cycle to the one very small French bakery to pick up the fresh baguette and croissant served with fresh pineapple jam every morning.  He told me the flour was flown in from his village in France and that was why it tasted so good.   He also served a different medley of fruits each morning, eggs, and the worst coffee I have ever tasted!  Really beyond drinkable.  We were forced to drink tepid tea.  We pretty much laid in the same two chaise around the pool every day.  Read, and didn’t do much of anything.  Happily we met the most wonderfully enchanting Dutch couple.  I knew the minute I saw them arrive on their cycle to inquire about a room that they were special.  I hoped they would return and they did, for four days!  We first spoke with them late in the night as we were in the pool and they were returning from their dinner.  Like talking heads!  But we became fast friends and enjoyed hours of conversation and dinners together.  Every evening we would walk down the dirt road to the coastline, choose a restaurant, usually Holy Crab, and have a beer or two and dine on fresh seafood.  Our last night with Raymond and Yvonne we actually had two bottles of wine during a windy wild night eating beneath the sky and large full moon.  The week slipped past with no effort on our part.  Except for a few mosquitos, and a squirrel,  all was quite simple.