Cambodia - kiteboarding at Kampot

Winter hit Australia hard this year — and not just the weather. My mate lost his job, and morale was lower than a tide at dawn. We needed a shot of gee-up medicine: and kiteboarding felt like the perfect cure. But where? Most destinations were expensive or awkward to reach… until Cambodia blipped onto our radar.

Cambodia ? Really ?

Not the first place you’d think of for kiteboarding, but dig a little deeper and we found it has some good spots, and it doesn’t break the bank.

Before this trip my knowledge of Cambodia was embarrassingly thin:
Angkor Wat immortalised by Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, Pol Pot’s brutal history and a country wedged between Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. Hardly the poster child for kiteboarding holidays.

A chat with Cambodia Kiteboarding sealed the deal. If the kiting turned out to be a dud, I’d at least get to wander around Angkor Wat (sadly sans the beautiful Angelina Jolie).

A tight turnaround getting there, first inpressions.

Flights booked, board, helmet, 2 kites, wetsuit & booties- for protection , packed (have I forgotten anything ? oh yeah - passport and visa. A week later we were off. Gotta love a spontaneous, unplanned adventure!

Cheap fares, monsoon season… doubts crept in: rain, sweat, mosquitoes, “Apocalypse Now” vibes. Looking out the plane window it was all water.…

Looking out the plane window it was all water.." We’re not supposed to be in Cambodia, but that’s where I’m going.”

Reality turned out to be very different:

Yes, it’s cheaper in wet season — very much so.
Rain is usually short-lived (about an hour).
The temperature is pleasant, moderated by showers.
Bugs? Hardly any. Frogs and geckos eat them!

Our first port of call

The owner of Cambodia Kiteboarding is the son of the owner of a resort called Villa Vedici in Kampot. It was convenient for us to stay here as he was able to organise a boat for us to travel out to an island on the mouth of the river (about an hour).

It just so happens that on the weekend coming that he had organised an event and there will be a few more likeminded guests joining us.

The resort wasn’t flash but perfectly fine by Cambodian standards:

A couple of pools
Clean beds, flushing toilets, hot showers
Friendly staff who’d help with anything
Food good and reasonably priced
Cocktails worth every cent and coffee essential to daily survival.

Put the lime in the coconut and ...

A journey to the Island

Every day started with a long-tail boat ride. Open engine, propeller on a long shaft, occasional sputters — but it always came back to life. The scenery along the river was endlessly engaging and new things appeared on each journey.

The kiteboarding spot

A low-lying sand island with shallow water you can wade out a kilometre. Perfect for beginners and for us — flat water whatever the wind.

Our 9–12 m kites (85 kg riders) were spot on. With a cloud-burst promising to happen the wind would come on strong then abate to a manageable level. Usually we would have good winds from about 11:30 to 3:30pm, which was plenty of time for us to play.

A small shelter at the end of the island offered refuge, beer and sandwiches between sessions..

The kiteboarding festival

A friendly event of “hack” kiteboarders like us, from Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium and a few expats. Evening BBQ and a local band added to the vibe.

Aside from the kiteboarding I was super keen on the first day to go kayaking. The resort had some old heavy vessels for that purpose (nothing like I have at home !) . I had fun paddling out and exploring a section upstream for a couple of hours and run out of any further enthusiasm due to the energy required for kiteboarding and socialising.

Exploring beyond the water.

Three or four days of kiting was enough before we needed a break. Enter scooters!

Hire: USD 6/day
Tuk-tuks: about USD 2 per trip
Helmets sub-standard — we used our kiteboarding ones.

Motor biking in Cambodia was good fun. Driving in Cambodia looks chaotic but speeds are low and everyone is bike-aware.. Just about everybody has a motorbike, teens to mums with the entire family, farmers with goats or chickens and so on.

Markets and Food

We visited the local produce markets. Produce here is as fresh as it gets it is alive in the morning, on your plate at lunch. Not for the squeamish.

Markets also brim with clothes, jewellery and more at prices much lower than Australia.

A couple of days motor biking.

The abandoned Chinese Development .

Kampot shows evidence of a stalled mega-project: a concrete skeleton near the river. We rode up into Bokor National Park to see the grand but ugly statements firsthand. The drive itself was fun — clouds opening to reveal sea and valleys, monkeys, an old palace and temples.

All that is needed is a bull dozer. The national park could then be a thing of beauty that it once was.

It was an interesting day out, the drive fun, wending our way up the curves to the top. Clouds closing and opening views to the sea and valleys.

Monkeys, a palace and old temples.

We even got a flat tyre, which let Tass add a Cambodian number plate to his collection (USD 7 for the tube, USD 25 for the plate). Apparently number plates here are swapped between vehicles so they are very hard to buy and often at a premium. Who checks engine numbers? Later in our trip Tass was able to obtain a communist era number plate which made him even happier.

Massages and Haircuts

After days of kiting or biking, muscles need relief.

Khmer massage: USD 7–15/hour, similar to Thai but less painful. Tip for blokes: “Extras” may be offered at some cheap massage places. If you’re after a straightforward massage, say so clearly.

Haircut + beard shave: a work of art for USD 4 — best looking guys in Kampot!

Kampot Pepper

Kampot claims the world’s best pepper. We visited Nyann Kampot Pepper Farm near Kep.

Pepper grows on trees. Green pepper, black pepper, red pepper, white pepper all off the same plant. We got a good education from our host, who gave us an impromptu run down of his farm (Nyann Kampot Pepper farm) and what grows on it. As well we learnt about banana, durian fruit, and various herbs. The pickled green pepper was so good, so I succumbed and bought 200g.

Nearby Kampong Trach Water Cave turned out to be a labyrinth dotted with Buddha shrines.

Kep itself is a seaside town supplying much of Cambodia’s seafood.

Markets are tightly packed with seafood stalls and a string of eateries along the shore.

There is quite bit in the way of eateries along the shore as like many a seaside town it has its share of tourists. Overall Kep was worthy of a stop on our day trip and a good complement to our visit to the caves and the pepper farm.