We saw this part of Kampot for the first time in 2011 in a motorcycle traveling and we fell in love with the village and the tranquility of the place. Two years later, we discovered that there was the possibility of renting land and decided to settle here and build three bedrooms so that friends and family can come and enjoy the atmosphere of this place with we. We are obviously in love with our Kampong but nevertheless, we now write here all the negatives, because since we have decided to open to the public, I have read reviews on B & Bs in Kampot Tripadvisor and j 'I had more fear disappointing people who come here with too high expectations.
If you are looking for a luxury resort, this is not the place. We have done our best to make our bungalows compliant and we struggled to keep them clean. But yes, you will endure mosquitoes, insects, lizards, birds. Occasionally, buffalo crossing the beach to eat the grass in our garden and we let them be until they try to eat our newly planted flowers.
We clean the beach every day and sometimes several times a day, but in the links and the season, the beach can be dirty and the water is not attractive. There is no waste collection in the village and that means we must burn the rubbish we collect from the beach and we produce. It can be a malicious work and smoking!
Living in a fishing village has its advantages and disadvantages. fresh fish, crabs, shrimp, shellfish, fresh fish arrive before they walk in the market so we can have nice boats and healthy and tasty meals. It is fascinating to see them go to sea to 17 hours every day, but the motors on their boats are very noisy! The boats return at 5 in the morning, the whole village wakes, children and women wait discarded for their fathers and their husbands return after 14 hours of rest at sea. This is a very noisy and busy time, you would be tempted to bring here your Western ways which indicate that 5 am is too early to wake up. But this is not the case, not here. Take a shower, grab breakfast while watching the sunrise, enjoy the time to refresh the day, choose from the boat the fish you want to eat at lunch. You will have time to sleep deeply in the hottest hours of the day (11 am to 15 pm) when the village becomes incredibly quiet and silent, everyone stays indoors or away from houses. Fishermen sleep before returning to the sea and the women lay down nets.
The days here have a different pace. After the last call of the day the mosque (Ishah), it's time to prepare for bed, reading a book, watching a movie on the iPad, making love and call it a day.