Kids: Big Sister 8y10m, Twins 6y4m
Flights: Hong Kong - Phnom Pehn v.v. on Dragonair
Booked through: Flights were on miles / points. All hotels were individually booked, mostly based on Tripadvisor reviews and lots of internet searching. Transfers were arranged locally.
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| Phnom Pehn, Kampot & Kep, Cambodia, March - April 2013 |
Most travelers need visas for Cambodia. Easiest way to do this is through the internet. Some simple steps and within 48-72 hours you have the visa in your email box, print and off you go (the website says you need 2 copies, but nobody checked our visas on departure on either visit). Definitely not worth lining up for visa on arrival, especially when travelling with kids. To apply for a Cambodian visas, please visit this website. Please note that Cambodia basically uses US$. Only very small change will be given in Riel. Make sure you have plenty of small notes as US$100 and US$50 won't get you very far with tuk tuk drivers but should be OK in restaurants and definitely hotels.
Let me start by saying that if you love 5* resorts with kids' clubs and your kids only want to eat kids' meals, this may not be your trip. Phnom Pehn would still be a good city trip but Kampot and Kep are definitely still fairly undeveloped. Things are improving and tourists are starting to flock in but there aren't lots of great (upmarket) choices just yet. For us, that was part of the charm and the main reason to travel into the south. Also in the south, more west, along the coast is Sihanoukville (west of Kep and closer to the Thai border, while Kep is closer to the Vietnamese border). However Sihanoukville is more of a party town with lots of back packers. Even locals we talked to said it's rapidly turning into a second Pattaya (and not in a positive way, never been to Pattaya though), due to its proximity to the Thai border and sex tourism is an issue in Cambodia, and apparently especially in towns like Sihanoukville. The beaches are supposedly better and nicer. It is more developed, more night life, but our understanding is that Kep is definitely the better option for a family.
Also great knowing, hotels like The Kabiki are part of the ChildSafe network which protects children from abuse and prevents them from being put in abusive situations as this remains a major issue in a poor country like Cambodia.
Below is our trip summary. I've reviewed all hotels and restaurants on Tripadvisor so I won't be reviewing them here. This is mostly about what we did and where we went. At the bottom, I'll link all places at the end, or you visit My Tripadvisor.
Phnom Pehn
We arrived in Phnom Penh in the morning at a well organised and nice small airport. It was hot, really hot. March through May are the hottest and driest months in Cambodia and temperatures easily hit 38 degrees while we were there. Since we already had our visa, we basically got in and out of the airport in 30 minutes. Caught a taxi for US$9 (flat fee) to the city center. After going back and forth, I had booked a room at The Kabiki in a quiet part of town next to the prime minister's home so plenty of security all around. The place is surrounded by greenery. Lovely hotel, great for kids, family room including a bunk bed and a day bed / sofa bed for US$95 a night including breakfast. Nothing super fancy as you will read in my review, but more than sufficient.
Walked from the Kabiki to K'nyay restaurant, just a 5 minute walk from the hotel. Slightly hidden, off the road, with a lovely menu with lots of vegan and vegetarian options (but also options for carnivores like ourselves). Most restaurants don't have air-conditioning, but even with shade and plenty of fans it's never really too hot (you won't need to bring a sweater for sure either, it ain't Hong Kong or the States). From the restaurant we walked over to the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda ... that was probably the hottest part of our trip, or maybe it was simply because we were still adjusting at that point ... no shade, no breeze, just blazing sun in the middle of the day. Luckily it wasn't too far. We walked around at the Palace grounds ($6.50 per person; kids under 6 or 6 or under were free, not quite sure and neither were they), tried to stay in the shade, same indoor places to see and it's definitely a must visit while in Phnom Pehn. Fairly touristy but nothing compared to other major tourist sites in Asia in terms of numbers of visitors, and it won't take hours either.
We headed back to the hotel for some cooling down time, had an early dinner, and set off to the National Museum for an outdoor show performed by Cambodia Living Arts, called Plae Pakaa. Not sure if it's still ongoing as it looked like 30 March was actually their last show (they're trying to find more financial resources including the money for a roof once dry season will be over). Nice cultural and fairly educational but also entertaining show, good explanations, interesting and doable for kids (just 1 hour, and after that hour my bum was sore from sitting as well), although they got super sleepy as we rose early that morning to go to the airport.
The next day, we decided to visit Choeung Ek, or better known as the Killing Fields. We had struggled whether to go or not to go, as we were really keen to go but weren't sure it was wise to do so with kids. However, we didn't want to leave the kids behind either with a baby sitter for several hours during the day. Also the tuk tuk drive (US$20 return) over to Choeung Ek (about 30 minutes) gives you a good idea how poor Cambodia still is, and the kids actually enjoyed the craziness on the roads. Unpaved roads, litter everywhere, fully loaded motor cycles and trucks, smelly rivers ... We looked through the travelers' pictures on Tripadvisor about Choeung Ek together to get an idea what we could expect. Any museums with graphic images were definitely a no-go (I had just visited the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City in November), but this wasn't very graphic in the same sense.
It was more about the connections you had to make yourself based on your prior knowledge and understanding. The children were still unable to do so, especially the twins. We did explain in an age appropriate way what to expect, what it was about and why we were going. Big sister (almost 9) didn't seem quite sure, and was a little intimidated and scared. She didn't seem to understand why such a place would exist, and more importantly why visit. We explained that this historical event, so tragic, horrendous and beyond words, must never happen again. We need to learn about the past in order for it to never happen again. It's an incredibly heart breaking part of history, but we must be grateful about the fact that so many people nowadays agree that this should never happen again ... human mankind has hopefully learned from the mistakes made. Also it was about showing respect to the victims. Respect they didn't get back then, but respect they deserved like any human being.
My husband walked around by himself to check out the area while I sat with the kids in a little outdoor cafe near the entrance. I then took the twins who seemed quite keen for some reason and we did a small loop on the premises. In the mean time my husband talked to my oldest and when I got back, she also voluntarily requested to have a look after all (I wasn't going to force her). All three were very quiet and respectful (we did see other kids, mostly 8-10 years and older). They asked some questions and seemed satisfied with the answers. We didn't go inside the little museum (afraid it being too graphic) and we didn't show them the skulls inside the special monument. My husband and I walked around later by ourselves in turns.
I have no regrets about taking them. They grow up very sheltered in Hong Kong. I learned about the Holocaust (and Anne Frank which I recently read to my oldest, the Usborne version) and visited concentration camps and related sites as a child. It is part of our history. This is an important part of history in the area of the world where our children grow up. They've had no nightmares and occasionally still ask questions. We didn't do the audio tour which is supposed to be excellent (but extremely sad) as it was easier this way with the kids. Later at the airport, I picked up a picture book on the subject, which is also available on Amazon. It's called Half Spoon of Rice about the Cambodian Genocide. I just read it to them tonight as they were very keen to hear the story. My oldest was again quiet and seemed a little sad, but the story has a "happy ending". She's fairly sensitive and takes it all in, and I just let her. In the back of the book there are some further explanations as well.
We headed back and had lunch at Friends Restaurants in Phnom Pehn. Most tuk tuk drivers are happy to wait for you knowing they can get some more business out of you. Trips in the city are usually US$3-4. Friends Restaurant also serves a great cause (training former street children in the hospitality business) and has nice food in a lovely setting (make a reservation or come early). Romdeng is also one of their other restaurants and supposedly very good but we didn't have time to try plus it was closed on Sunday.
After some well deserved pool time (the road to Choeuk Eng was unpaved and extremely dusty so in that sense a car would be preferred - or bring something to cover your face - but the kids will chose a tuk tuk over a car almost any time!), we headed to Wat Phnom (a Buddhist Temple, there's a small fee for foreigners only, kids were free) which wasn't very exciting but it's situated in a nice park and offers plenty of much needed shade. Our tuk tuk driver then dropped us off for pre-dinner drinks (comes with plenty of snacks) at the famous Raffles' Elephant Bar. All bars seem to have Happy Hour at some point but prices for cocktails and beer are really affordable anyway (you won't be able to buy a soda or a beer in Hong Kong for that price). That night we had dinner at The Pavillion (as our first choice was closed on Sunday, The Yumi). It's the sister property of The Kabiki but it doesn't allow kids but they gave us the heads up after calling ahead (the fact that the kids were 6 and 9 definitely made the decision easier for them) and they were very accommodating. The kids behaved impeccably, also because Big Sister basically passed out after finishing her food. It's just around the around the corner from The Kabiki. Food was tasty, nothing super special but the setting is very nice, the manager (French) very friendly. He got the kids free ice cream as he seemed to feel slightly guilty of having our table slightly on the side of the restaurant which we didn't mind at all; in the end the hotel was supposed to be kids-free.
The next morning after breakfast we left for Kampot. The Kabiki had arranged a transfer for us (car) for US$65 and the trip took about 2 1/2 hours. We arrived just before lunch time ...
Kampot
Arrived in Kampot in about 2 1/2 hours over a relatively well-paved road. Driving in Cambodia is not too bad, although double lines and the opposite lane don't really seem to bother or stop anyone. Honking your horn basically means "I am coming, get out of my way"! The first half of the trip is definitely less interesting than the latter part. Very dry, little greenery, poor, some factories but most of all, lots of rubbish and litter everywhere, especially plastic. Getting closer to Kampot the landscape got greener, calmer, less populated and nicer. Kampot is a very sleepy town located next a river that leads to the sea (and Kep area). We stayed in Rikitikitavi, which offered some of the best value I every experienced in my life. We had a family room for less than US$65 a night and the room was absolutely great! Really well done by the English-Dutch owners. Had lunch, walked around, had a massage at Jolie-Jolie (1 hour for US$12 in a nice clean place) while my husband took the kids to the Sisters II Bakery for snacks and looked around. We booked a boat trip on the river, but apparently he had forgotten (as I booked months ahead, a disadvantage of being so organised) but the owner still got things going and we ended up taking a private trip with snacks and drinks for about 1 1/2 hours. Slightly overpriced given it wasn't really our fault he had forgotten, so would recommend just shopping around town once you get there. There are various places that offer the same thing, and there is no need to book months ahead (for Rikitikitavi you should!) like I did unless it's a major holiday or Khmer New Year (in case of the latter, you may be better of postponing your trip a little anyway). We had a light dinner and a cocktail at Rikitikitavi after the cruise while the kids played a game and ate some more. I wanted to go to Veronica's Kitchen, next to the Old Market as it was supposedly good, but nobody want to come, they were all happy where they were ... so we stayed and I sat and sipped my cocktail instead ... ;)
The next morning, the staff at Rikitikitavi arranged a driver (car) to show us the salt fields and visit a Kampot Pepper farm before dropping us off in Kep, our next (relax) stop for three nights. Cost was US$35 for the trip. Not much activity going on at the salt fields, still very wet, plenty of evaporation needed. Unfortunately our driver didn't speak much English so we couldn't find out how long it takes and how often they produce the salt. The pepper farm is close to Kep and there were two right next to each other. The one we visited was small and ran by a local family. She showed us around (not much English spoken here either, it's really more of a quick look) and were able to buy some pepper straight from the family (black, white or red pepper corns about US$5-6 for 200 grams). Would recommended seeing both, it won't take a lot of time, but it gives you some insight about the income sources for this region. The area around the pepper farm was nice and green, lovely scenery. More on Kampot pepper can be found here.
Kep
We arrived at Veranda Natural Resort in Kep around lunch time. Had lunch at the hotel (nothing super special, kids shared 2 pizzas, we had sandwich) and spent most of the afternoon at the pool before heading to the Crab Market. We had a look around (very small) and have a crab and other seafood dinner at Kimly. A touristy place but food was very good. We mainly stuck to seafood as that's what Kep is famous for! Kep is a very quiet, laid-back town. It had no electricity and no major roads until a few years back. Electricity is still touch and go (the reason why not all places sell ice cream), the new and well-paved road is there, without lots of traffic and almost every place has wifi (just ask for the password). During the weekend it gets busier because people come down from PP, and it's apparently crazy over Khmer New Year. No ATM can be found in Kep, and the closest is actually in Kampot, about 30 minutes north again. For tourists, Kep consists of a crab market with some restaurants, a little "city center" (a block with a few shops, travel agents, etc.), a small public beach and some other places to stay scattered over town. It's by no means fancy nor very developed. Transport is mostly by tuk tuk and motor cycle. The most expensive hotel would probably be Knai Bang Chatt, which is right on the "beach" (Kep is not known for its beaches as such). However, for 2 rooms for 5 people it would basically have ended up being about twice what we spent on our Deluxe Family Retreat (US$160 a night for a huge 2-bedroom suite with enormous veranda), so we chose Veranda, although reviews are a little mixed. But for some reason spending over US$300 a night for 2 rooms in Kep just felt like too much. Apparently they had some start up issues as well with renovations and upgrading but recent Tripadvisor reviews have been very positive, so definitely consider based on your own requirements. Veranda has a huge pool and all services are available (restaurant, bar, spa, bakery, ice cream store, small kids area, etc.), although it's just a little more basic, closer to nature, slightly outdated and could use some TLC. Not perfect, but given the price tag, we were satisfied with our choice. The kids absolutely loved it.
We didn't do much in Kep except for relaxing and eating. We went to different restaurants for lunch and dinner. Had pre-dinner drinks at different locations. Walked around the crab market, drove around in our tuk tuk, saw some old colonial and completely deserted villas, and made an afternoon trip to Rabbit Island (also known as Koh Tonsay) by boat which is about 25 minutes away (US$25 for a return for our family in a private boat). Not a beach with crystal clear water, white sand, or anything like it, but extremely relaxing and just simply great. Plenty of shade, sitting areas available for free, restaurants that serve drinks and excellent seafood, and you can even stay overnight if you wish (about US$7-10 a night). The kids played in the water, looked for shells, and the breeze made the high temperature slightly more bearable.
Other things to do in the Kep area are several cave visits, Kep National Park (which we would have done if it wasn't the hottest time of the year, hiking in 38 degrees with 3 kids just didn't really appeal to me, hope you understand), Bokor Mountain (although reviews are very mixed saying it overrated especially now that the Chinese laid their hands on the development of the mountain). But above all, Kep is a place to relax and have fantastic sea food!
Worth mentioning is that there is also a luxury villa for rent in Kep, called Villa Romonea. Looks absolutely stunning, I am sure the price tag will match this impression, but worth considering when travelling with multiple families or if budget is not really an issue. This is also an interesting article on the area that was published in the NY Times.
Back to Phnom Penh
We headed back to Phnom Penh after breakfast so we didn't have to worry to much about packing up. We left 9.30 am with a car arranged by the Veranda for US$55. The trip took close to 3 hours, mostly as it was quite busy getting into PP on a Friday afternoon (much busier than our previous Saturday and Sunday stay). This time we stayed at the White Mansion Boutique Hotel, which I tried to book for the first 2 nights because of their excellent Tripadvisor rating but they didn't have the room I wanted, and the proposed 3 roll aways didn't seem like a good idea for 2 nights. Both hotels were quite different. The Kabiki felt more like a garden hotel, away from the city, very low key, could walk in my bikini back to the room, while White Mansion was more like a city hotel, definitely sleeker, more upbeat and better overall, but also at a higher price (US$95 vs. US$159 a night including breakfast). I liked both for different reasons, but quality wise White Mansion is definitely at a higher standard.
As our room wasn't ready we headed to Daughters of Cambodia who run a cafe on the first floor and a shop and small beauty salon on the ground floor. It's a non-government organisation that reaches out to victims of sex-trafficking and sex-exploitation in Cambodia. The cafe offers mostly Western food, friendly service, free wifi, but most of all a new future for the daughters of Cambodia.
Afterwards, we took a tuk tuk back to 240 Street where we visited some more boutique style shops in old colonial buildings. With temps still soaring, we were happy to reach the hotel and have a break at the pool. After some down time and a shower (massage for hubby, as I had mine in Kampot), we headed to the FCC were we joined happy hour at the bar overlooking the river and the craziness below. Slightly touristy, mainly because of the view, but tasty drinks and good value, especially during happy hour (those were everywhere!). We snapped a few shots in the area while our tuk tuk driver was waiting and he brought us to The Yumi restaurant. A Japanese restaurant with a kind of Asian twist. We were seated outside in the garden and had a lovely dinner before heading back to the hotel for our final night.
Breakfast at the hotel was good until my son spilled his hot chocolate all over his clothes and I could start unpacking the suitcase again searching for some clean clothes. I did tell the kids in advance that I wasn't too keen on the hot chocolate but I didn't win this battle on our last day! The hotel arranged our car to the airport which took about 30 minutes and cost US$10 (fixed fee). The airport is nice with free wifi, several food options, a great book store (where I got the picture book), some lovely souvenir shops with spices like Kampot pepper, Lak Lok spices, Amok spices, soaps, etc. which make great gifts. Prices are about US$5-6, so not necessarily that much more expensive than elsewhere and nicely packaged, great for gifts.
What can I say, we had a great week. I love Cambodia and its people. It's still a very poor country, but given the rough (and therefore fairly late) start the country had, progress is being made and there are definitely great places to visit besides Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Slightly less well-known places which are equally great fun with children. We saw several other families with children in Kampot and Kep and even met a Swiss family who was travelling around the world with their 3 girls, aged 7, 6 (she had her birthday that day) and 3, so a week or so should be doable as well! I wholeheartedly recommend this trip for anybody who isn't super picky with regards to hotels, likes low key and wants something slightly different with a good balance of culture and relaxation!
My Tripadvisor reviews in a row ... to make things easy! Sorry in advance for some spelling mistakes ... had lots to do, and cannot edit once it's published (pending).
Phnom Penh (2 nights, 30 / 31 March):
- The Kabiki (hotel)
- K'ynay (restaurant)
- Friends (restaurant)
Kampot (1 night, 1 April):
- Rikitikitavi (hotel & restaurant)
- Jolie Jolie (beauty salon)
Kep (3 nights, 2, 3 & 4 April):
- Veranda Natural Resort (hotel)
- Kimly (restaurant)
- Breezes (restaurant)
- Sailing Club (restaurant / bar)
- L'Auberge de Wam (restaurant)
- Kep Saloon (restaurant / bar)
- Rabbit Island (things to do)
- Holy Crab (restaurant, new)
Back in Phnom Penh again (1 night, 5 April):
- White Mansion Boutique Hotel
- Daughters of Cambodia (restaurant and shop)
- The Yumi (restaurant)
What's next? Summer we're off to Europe again, via Dubai (talking about hot!), visiting friends. And I am already planning in my head for fall and Easter (the usual breaks we go abroad).
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