We are back in Phnom Penh from Kep and preparing to depart for home tomorrow.
Tonight we had our final tour dinner together after a river cruise on the Mekong to watch the sunset - unfortunately the sky was completely cloudy so there was no sunset, but the river cruise was pleasant and dinner was definitely a great finale for us to sample Khmer flavours one last time.
Our last couple of days in Kep were pretty chilled.
Following our day on Rabbit Island, the next morning we spent back on dry land. Firstly, we went to visit a local pepper plantation - pepper was a major crop of the region before the Khmer Rouge era and pepper trees dot the landscape. A few plantations are now being renewed and Kep pepper is now back in commercial production.
We expected a fairly formal tourist setup at the farm we visited, but were amused to find just a very small shed beside the field of pepper poles with a poster on the wall on how pepper is produced. However, the lady was very friendly, although with not much English, and let us show ourselves around.
Next up was a visit to some limestone caves at Kampong Trach - these caves were formed millions of years ago through the actions of the ocean eating into a limestone hill. At some point, enough of the foundations of the hill were eaten away that the middle of the hill collapsed, leaving a large hole in the middle of the hill open to the sky. From the outside, you walk in through the caves under the edge of the hill to emerge into this amazing amphitheatre in the middle of the hill. In the wet season, the whole bowl fills with water, but for our visit it was completely dry to walk into.
The caves themselves are classic limestone caves and you can imagine in the past they were just like our own limestone caves in the Australia. However, like many things in Cambodia they have never been protected, so all the delicate formations in the caves have been destoyed by people - you can see the remnants of what were no doubt spectacular formations in their day ... but no more.
The middle amphitheatre was worth the visit, it's just a pity that the rest of the caves have lost their true beauty.
The afternoon was free for R&R with the girls mostly just reading and/or recovering from sunburn.
Chris & Julie decided to return to the sailing club on the waters edge to watch one more sunset and were rewarded with just a spectacular 40 minutes as the sun set and the sky shone with many colours. There are a number of photos posted to give you an idea of the progression of colour during the sunset.
Our final day in Kep we also kept free and again the girls were happy to stay home and "chill" - Chris tackled a solo bushwalk into the National Park behind our resort chasing more butterflies ... the photos again tell the story.
Today we arose for a leisurely breakfast and then our 3 hour bus trip back to Phnom Penh.
This afternoon the shopaholics had their last quick crack at the markets before we headed out to our river cruise.
So that's pretty much a wrap for the Ramsay tour of Cambodia for 2010/11. We hope this blog has served to keep everyone at home informed about what the girls have been up to over 3 busy weeks. Hopefully the girls have had the chance to experience a different culture, learn about the diverse history of this country and also had some time for rest and relaxation - all in one big package.
Chris promises a multi-media slideshow to tell the pictorial story of our trip in some more detail - but this will take a few weeks to complete.
One more sleep and we know the girls are all looking forward to see family and friend again back in Melbourne - see everyone real soon !
Thanks Julie & Chris for all your informative blogs and wonderful photos, I'm sure its been a wonderful experience for all the girls, thankyou so much. See you all soon. Wendy & Jeff.
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