No Fixed Abode: Rock & Roll hall of fame.

Fri 11 Mar 2016 - Holiday day 2, Kep National park

After a hearty (plain large in Glenn’s case) breakfast we selected the best two mountain bikes i.e. the ones with most working gears and half effective brake(s), and set off for Kep National park, which is formed from the forested centre of the headland that is Kep. It was very muggy but thankfully cloudy this morning and once we started climbing up the hill to the park entrance we were both dripping with sweat and with Yvonne mumbling this may have been easier on scooters. At the entrance barrier we paid our tourist entrance fee, a whopping $1 each, then set off up the dirt track until we came to the Led Zep cafe, which sells hand drawn maps of the park. With map in hand we set off on the 8km loop around the base of the park.

Outside the cafe was a magnificent hand made sign board covered in small yellow signs with arrows and distances to all the features and we soon found that these were proliferated throughout the whole park. With no formal funding they were the handiwork of the Led Zep cafe and the Squirrel foundation who have done a great job in getting the park created in the first place and making it available to visitors - principally westerners, courtesy of a reference in Lonely Planet. This forest was a major holding ground for the Khmer Rouge and the surrounding area of Kep was used during the Pol Pot era. The Director of the Park was one of the detainees during ‘75-’79 who stayed on to save the area from ruin.

The first 2 km was a steady climb but, thankfully, mostly in the shade of the trees and as we gained altitude the air began to freshen. At the Kampot lookout point was a wooden structure the New Zealanders would have been proud of: bar-b-que, sink, tables, all under a sloping roof and with views over the bay below. Presumably they bring school trips or similar up here but regretfully there was a lot of heat haze so the distant vista was not very clear. It was a welcome stop nevertheless.

Next up was a waterfall, however, when we got there all we found was a dry rock pool and host of signs, one for each year, recording the days on which water flowed - typically around 20 in a normal year.The guys from the cafe are clearly passionate about this place. The plethora of data captured on these handmade signs was touching and clearly signs of a man with too much time on his hands.

Passing several Lonely Planet walkers we reached the high point, a whopping 240m, and luxuriated in the cool boneshaker descent with no effort required and a cooling breeze running over us. We passed turnings for several side trails that cross over the summit of the headland or joined with other roads, one so steep it had been fitted with ropes. All beautifully signed in yellow. A short while later we passed a family on a scooter that we’d seen yesterday in a grass covered campervan and then a group of French people, also on scooters, who are staying at our resort. After a brief conversation in tourist English we carried on and reached the low point of the trail where we debated leaving the park and heading back to our resort, which was quite close, however, with all the effort the Led Zep folks had put into this place we felt it right to pay the cafe a visit so it was back into climbing mode and more profuse sweating to cycle back uphill to our start point.

Wearily we reached the cafe, both dripping in sweat again, and wandered down the steep ramp onto the verandah. The cafe is a wooden shack built on stilts on the side of the hillside giving the large verandah wonderful views over the bay and, more importantly for us, a lovely breeze. We ordered a couple of glasses of lime juice and sat and cooled down. All around the underside of the roof were large round wickerwork trays each adorned photos of rock and roll heroes with pride of place going to Jimmy Paige (Led Zep guitarist) of course. It seems the cafe is owned by a French guy who has worked with some locals to forge the paths through the unexploded land mines - yes, there are still plenty of them in this country - and badger the authorities to get the park created. Learning that, we ordered some delicious banana and coconut crepes, covered with honey, then a cup of tea for Yvonne and ended up spending an hour there enjoying the view and the peace and quiet.

On our way home we checked out the sailing club, which, much to Glenn’s delight, has Hobi Cats for rent - a return here is assured. Then we passed the ‘crab market’, Kep’s claim to fame, which was really a host of rustic cafes selling crab specialities, and finally back to the pool for a well earned dip - just in time for cocktail happy hour.