Splashing out

Villa Romonea, still adding some finishing touches back in November, is now open for business

You might recall that I visited a lovely renovated villa when I was in Kep in November last year. Yes, I know there are lots of villas being renovated in and around Kep you will say, but this one is a bit special. At the time it wasn't quite ready, they were still adding some finishing touches, including a 6-hole pitch-and-putt golf course, and the name was Eskepe. Well, the name has changed, it's now called Villa Romonea, the renovations to this 1968 modernist-style villa are complete, and it's ready to rent. It isn't cheap, as you might imagine, but for your money you will get a full food and drink service, housekeeper, a saltwater infinity swimming pool and secluded large gardens overlooking the sea, a tennis court, it can house 12 people in 4 double rooms and 2 twins, individual rooms can be rented at weekends or the whole house can be yours if you so require. Fancy splashing out? Find out more here.

The main reason

The bedroom in a bungalow at Nataya Coral Bay Resort, 17kms west of Kampot

The real focus of my whistle-stop trip to Kampot and Kep at the weekend was to pay a visit to a bunch of hotels, old and new. For some it was quite literally poke my head in the door then out again, others it was a more formal inspection. The latter included new resorts like Nataya in Kampot and Eskepe in Kep. Here's some pictures to show you a few places I visited.

A view of the Nataya bungalows, which houses two separate rooms

The 1km beach at Nataya is a big attraction. I think it used to be the Queen's favourite beach in bygone times.

The Magic Sponge GH in Kampot. Clean and comfortable, housed in a former building used by Acleda Bank.

Simplicity reigns in one of the bedrooms at Knai Bang Chatt in Kep

A view of Eskepe, a gorgeous house for rent in Kep, which is still to be completed

The pool and grounds looking out to sea at Eskepe in Kep

The eco-friendly Vine Retreat outside Kep has rooms on 2 floors and a relaxation area above that

Work in progress; the new swimming pool at the popular Veranda Resort in Kep

While I was there

The ruined Prasat Tani at Wat Tani in the village of the same name

Even though my trip to Kampot and Kep at the weekend was purely business, I took the opportunity to veer off the main track to poke my nose around for anything interesting, as I always do, and benefited from my explorations. On the way down to Kampot by car, we stopped at Wat Tani, on the edge of the town of the same name, as I had never previously seen the prasat that sits in front of the rebuilt vihara. It's ruined and there are no carvings, and the light was poor as it was getting dark, but I was happy to see the 11th century laterite temple nonetheless. On the way back from inspecting the new Nataya Resort and after my visit to the ghost-like railway station at Koh Touch, I called into a trio of pagodas in the hope of unearthing something interesting. At Wat Rokar, the attractive wat had a low ceiling with the usual colourful wall paintings. At Wat Roluos there was a hive of painting activity on-going, both inside and out, about fifty metres from where the foundations of the old vihara stood. And at Wat Kampot, which was another visually pleasing-on-the-eye pagoda, I spent 20 minutes playing volleyball with two schoolboys, Omar and Kien, before their teacher scolded them for missing the start of their class. I was in the dog-house. Also on my travels I noticed an interesting wall painting in the grounds of Wat Kompong Tralach, which also houses a genocide memorial. The final batch of photos from the hotels I visited will follow.

The blackened laterite walls of Prasat Tani is due to old age rather than fire

The photogenic Wat Rokar with its low ceiling

One of the popular scenes you can see on the ceiling of pagodas around the country. This is at Wat Rokar.

The smell of fresh paint was overwhelming at Wat Roluos

The large Buddha and the wall & ceiling paintings at Wat Roluos

The painters were practising their artistic skills on this wall; eyes being a problem for some

A lovely older pagoda at Wat Kampot

My volleyball colleagues, Kien and Omar, who were scolded for missing class

A giant and other naked people on a wall at Wat Kompong Tralach

Quick run down

The sun is setting off the coast of Kep - a view I never tire of

So where and what have I been doing? Left Phnom Penh on Friday afternoon in Dan's car and we made it to the town of Tani as it was getting dark, so we stopped for a quick look at the ruined laterite prasat that sits in front of the main pagoda there. It's 11th century but looks older, there was no carvings to speak of and a tree has made its home in the middle of the parasat. And the old wat which contained some wonderful wall paintings I'm told, has been demolished. We carried onto Kampot and I took a room at Dan's new comfortable guesthouse, The Magic Sponge, near the salt workers' roundabout. I had time for a meal at the Rusty Keyhole and then early to bed. Up at 7am I was out to the Nataya Roundhouse Resort, 17kms west of Kampot, just off the road to Sihanoukville, at Prek Ampil, next morning. This is a brand new resort, with some nicely finished bungalows, and best of all, a 1km long beach. A swimming pool is being constructed, another eight bungalows are also being built and it looks like a nice option for Kampot lovers. I stopped at a trio of pagodas on the way back, a couple of railway stations and then visited a few hotels to say hello.
After lunch, I directed my motodop towards Kep, stopping at a couple of genocide memorials en route, at Wat Chum Kriel and Wat Kompong Tralach. Once I hit Kep I made house-calls at Knai Bang Chatt, the Sailing Club, the new FCC-owned house called Eskepe, which is just being finished off, Veranda (who are building a pool), and the new pizza restaurant at the crab market, La Bakara, where I bumped into Jean-Michel Filippi, who invited me to a lecture he was giving that evening. We then headed off into the mountains at Phnom Voar to visit a new eco-friendly guesthouse called The Vine Retreat but didn't stay long as they were in the middle of their opening party. Before dinner at the Riel Bar, I went to Champey Inn for Jean-Michel's lecture on the pre-Angkorian era in Kampot region, where he mentioned the region's first museum he is hoping to build by the White Horse monument in the near future. What he doesn't know about Kampot and Kep you could write on a postage stamp. Another early night, at Kep Seaside GH, there's not much to do in Kep to be honest, and then it was back to town on the bus this morning. As I said, all work and no time for fun.

The beach at Nataya Roundhouse Coral Bay Resort, 17kms from Kampot

The old cinema in Kampot, now closed but a hive of activity during the golden years of Cambodian film in the 1960s

Two Khmer Rouge victims at the small memorial at Wat Chum Kriel, 5kms outside Kampot

Kep: Not yet open but already looking resplendent, Eskepe, related to the FCC chain

Another sunset picture taken from my guesthouse in Kep

Off to the seaside

On a previous visit to Kep

I'm rushing out of the door soon as I have to make a whistle-stop visit to Kampot and Kep for the next two nights to check out a few hotels, new and old. Someone's got to do it. The blog will be a mite quiet as a result. Tonight I'm trying out a new guesthouse in Kampot, the Magic Sponge, 'cause its been opened by a friend. I'll let you know the verdict. Tomorrow I'll be rushing around like a blue-arsed fly visiting a bunch of places in both locations, no time for a holiday I'm sorry to say. Then I have to get back for an event at the Cambodiana Hotel first thing Monday morning, its called Hidden Treasures, and its identifying the best of the new community/eco-tourism sites in Cambodia. Again, more on that on Monday night.