Kep

Today we made our way, with a private car, to Kep a village/town by the coast. Arriving at our hotel, my first thought was, hey this isn't ocean front. While not the Hyatt Regency it is a pleasant resort/hotel on par with what one will find in Southern Asia. A large clean suite on the second floor overlooking the pool which is surrounded by a tiled surface with chaise loungers. Around the pool were nice trees and grass which comprised most of the grounds. After a refreshing dip we were ready to explore. Since the hotel is 2km from town they have a Tuk Tuk available to hire for 2 US dollars to town. We headed to the Crab Village which was nothing more than a row of restaurants situated directly on the ocean offering fresh seafood. Of course these are not restaurants as we know but shanty style restaurants of the Asian style. After walking around to see where most of the people were we went in and enjoyed a lunch of shrimp. As it turned out it was the one recommended by the Lonely Planet guide. It was OK at best.
After lunch we found a very pleasant and humble Tuk Tuk driver to take us to the beach and town area. A lot smaller than we had expected. A quick tour, purchase a few important groceries, ( Rum, chips and nuts) and we were on our way back for our own little happy hour, pool side at our hotel.
This area is famous for the pepper plantations as well as caves and of course a few Wats. Tomorrow our Tuk Tuk driver is coming to take us on a tour of the area and a pepper plantation.
We were Abe to enjoy some of the peppers with our dinner. Specifically it is a sprig with numerous peppers ( the type where black peppercorns come from). The entire sprig is put in the dish while cooking to give it flavour and aroma. You can eat the little peppers right off of the sprig. They pop when you bite them and have a very aromatic and somewhat perfume like flavour. Absolutely delicious! The season for them on the sprig is from now until February. I can hardly wait to tour the pepper plantation tomorrow.