What to do in Kampot province?

Champa Lodge along Prek Kampot

April is the month of holiday to Khmer people – because it is KHMER NEW YEAR. The days when people gather with friends and family or the loved one, going to provinces or just simply chill with their family.

This year is very special since it is one whole week holiday. I got to spend time with my family, relatives, and last but not least my boyfriend and my best friend. The last three days of the week, my boyfriend and I had off to Kampot which is which is about 144km from Phnom Penh. It took us only 2 hours to reach the destination, since we drove in a short-cut road (I guess). But generally, going to Kampot, you spend only 2 or 3 hours max. Yes, it is that fast to go.

This whole trip is a wonderful pleasure to us since we are only looking for place where we can really chill and relax as much as possible. That has to say, with the nature surrounding and a little bit of activities where we can really enjoy the pleasure of it. Since many people make their journey to Siem Reap and Kompong Som, voila, we are heading to the KAMPOT province. Over there, it is less stress and since Khmer people do not really pay attention to the potential of this province yet, we get to maximize our trip the max.

Many people have asked me, what to do in Kampot province? So, I was like okay why not I write about the whole trip since this is a really good trip that I think I should put all the memory into words? And plus, I promised with my bestfriend and boyfriend that I’m going to write a review to all the places that I’ve been to. 🙂

Just so you know that the way I make this trip is what my friend and I are joking around that this is a “hybrid trip”, for those of you who don’t know what we mean, it just simply means that we kinda make the trip a bit like a backpacker style but also keep some activities that the local people also do. So, it is a mixture of backpacker + local style traveling.

How to go?

Starting of, we arrived KAMPOT at 12.30PM since we didn’t want to go early. To get to Kampot easily with less traffic road, instead of going through National Road No. 3, we recommend to go along National Road No. 4, then when you arrive Thnol Tor Teng, you can go through road number 124. There you will approach Kampot very fast, but passing a couple of villages only with less people comparing to the typical national road.

Convenient road from Phnom Penh to Kampot

Where to sleep?

My boyfriend and I spend 2 nights at Kampot. The first night we slept at this very modern boutique hotel called “MAKK Hotel”. I found this hotel from Agoda, and the moment I saw the room, I booked it right away. Again, the only thing that we are looking for this trip is to just pure relaxation, so why not spend a bit more of money staying in a place where you didn’t get to sleep at often? There it was. MAKK Hotel.

Standard Double Room at MAKK Hotel

To be honest, the whole only challenge about the hotel is that we are in doubt whether the room really looks like the picture that they show to you in Agoda or any site that you book the hotel. Because once it’s bad, it will ruin your expectation. But this is not a disappointment. When we arrived there, we were warmly welcomed by the staff there, with apple juice and cold towel. Their staffs are really friendly and well taking care of us, and they asked us if we used to visit here before, because if we didn’t they would pull out a Kampot map, and told you where are the top 4 restaurants to go in Kampot and place to go, etc. The surprising thing is that the whole hotel has only 6 rooms. The staff over there told me that the hotel just recently opened, and they have like a family business style.

However, I’m impressed with the way they design the whole hotel, both architecture of the building & rooms, and its interior design. I asked whether it is owned by Cambodian, and they said yeah. Once we did a small talk on the lobby, we entered the room which to be honest, we were so thrilled when they showed us the room. I mean what’s more to expect to see a nice hotel room for your holiday, especially when the whether is super hot and all you did is just taking a nap? haha. Located along the Riverside Road, MAKK Hotel is a really suitable for people who are looking for a quiet, relaxing place, not far from town but away from the hectic nightlife restaurants and hotels, and especially with a nice Kampot view. When we left the hotel, the owner (I supposed) handed us a beautiful Khmer design wallet as a thankful gift to stay in the hotel. That was really nice of them. The Standard Double room, during the time we stayed was $40 including taxes and breakfast.

The second night, since my best friend joined us, we have to go to a place with more affordable price for my friend. So, we booked rooms at Nakru Guesthouse. Despite having a few problems with booking system, they managed to prepare rooms for us. Located at Street Samaky primary school, The guesthouse itself also designed in a boutique style in the downtown of the city. Half price of MAKK Hotel. It was $23 for Superior Double Room and $20 for Standard Double Room for my friend during the stay including taxes. Then again, it still keeps a good vibe for us to stay in. Just so you know, the hotel that I went to mostly in a very modern design, boutique sort-of style, and a place where you can enjoy the stay with good environment. Very decent place to stay for those who could afford less, with a good vibe hotel.

The night before, we also found another hotel for my friend last minute at Blue Buddha Hotel. It was also a nice place. For standard room is $25 dollars includes taxes.

For those who want to spend more time in a natural style in bungalow along the river, etc. Kampot is a place to go. There are many many resorts along the Prek Kampot where you can go to sleep in a bungalow or a traditional Cambodian house surrounding by the nature, and really feel the vibe of Cambodian village.

Where to eat? 

The first day after checked-in the hotel, we strolled around town looking for a restaurant to eat. Man, Kampot is really developing. Many restaurants start to open, as well as the hotels. I can see this is going to be one of the very hectic tourist destination in the future. Anyways, since we went there already late, we finally went to Veronica’s Kitchen. I ordered fried Squid with green pepper and Jasmine rice, and my boyfriend, Loy, ordered Salad with chicken breast. The food over there was okay to me. The banana shake is less sweet. So, overall, I give it average rate to this restaurant. However, the restaurant is located in front of the Kronat Market, so it gives the best location if you want to simply chill with your friend and gets some air.

Fried squid with green peppers and Jasmine rice

For dinner, we went to Pteas Nak Kro BBQ House, which is very local (or at least I can say, for young people who enjoy a new place). It is not like a real BBQ thing, but it looks like a current street food in Phnom Penh with nice wooden chairs and tables. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to take any photos, however, the restaurant just opened 5 days ago, that’s why the service is super good. The owner (I guess) keeps coming to our table and asked us if we need something, please do not hesitate to ask him. Besides running this business, he also claimed as a tour guide. So, you know, he was talking English to us and stuff. It was cool to know that.

The food and the sauce of the bbq is average. Bu since the business just operated, I guess they have more to improve, hopefully. The portion of the seafood and the meat is very small, and it costs $1.50 for each plate.

The second day, we had breakfast at MAKK hotel, then we were off to have lunch at Psa Kdam. The good thing about Kampot is that you can eventually drop by Kep to have fresh seafood easily and of course, coming back. We went to one of the restaurant along Psa Kdam. Again, unfortunately we didn’t get to take photo because we were so hungry at that time. But we ordered fresh crab 1KG (for $15), then some grilled squids ($1.25 per one squid), all of them included the cooking service and a pot of rice.

In the evening, we strolled around town again, then we found a really nice Chinese noodle restaurant “Ecran Noodle and Dumpling House”. We were so glad to found the place, because obviously, we ate a various of food – from western food to Khmer food to BBQ to Seafood and to (finally) Chinese food. Before going to Ecran Noodle House, we actually wanted to try pork ribs at the Russian restaurant “Rusty Keyhole”, but because it has only the big portion and we do not wish to eat that much, we left the restaurant and finally ended up with Ecran Noodle House. Rusty Keyhole is also one of the place you must go to for the sake of the pork ribs. Anyways, back to the Ecran Noodle House, the price is affordable. One plate of fried noodles or soup is about $3.50. Fresh noodles, and fresh dumplings. The taste was very good. I enjoyed the food. Over there, they also offers movie services which costs $3.5 per person/movie. Thus, if you get bored and want to do kill time, you can just rent a room to watch your favorite movie with your friends or your loved one.

For the third day, we went to chilling, kayaking at Champa Lodge, which a resort along Prek Kampot. Over there, you can find a fresh-made mango smoothies, which will blow your mind. Spending the whole day there by the river, then at night we dropped by Fish Market which is a cool architectural pub that we can find good cocktails, drinks and chilling by the river with amazing decoration.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip and I think soon Kampot will be another attractive tourist province for Cambodian people to drop by during the weekend and as well as their holiday. It’s gonna go big.