Kep - Crab...It's What's For Dinner

26 - 29 December 2014

The next morning we went back to Happy Pizza for breakfast and left on a minibus to Kep for a short 45 minute drive.  When I told the tuk-tuk driver that we were staying at Le Kep Bungalows he was happy and told us that it was Cambodian owned.  This made me a little nervous since Cambodian standards are a bit different than western standards, and Le Kep just opened so there was no reviews for the place.  It was actually hard to find a place to stay since it is the holiday season, so I didn't have much of a choice to book Le KepWhen we got there it looked pretty nice with bungalows situated around a swimming pool:

Crab bought from crab lady.

Crab being steamed.

It winds up that the place just opened on 20 December...only 6 days ago so there are still some things they need to iron out such as keeping the pool cleaner (looks a bit hazy...eh?) and having a soap dish or something in the shower area and dealing with breakfast crowds and providing enough towels, and having umbrellas in the pool area...but overall it was a pleasant stay.

Anyway, Kep is situated on the Gulf of Thailand and is known for their crab market, so we threw our stuff in the room and headed down to the market.  Of course I wanted to eat some crab, but we had to choose between getting some at one of the overpriced restaurants or buying them direct from the crab ladies.  Todays going rate was $5 for over 2 pounds of crab plus $0.50 to cook it.  Can you guess which one I chose:

While waiting for our crab to steam we were greeted with a beautiful sunset with the crab ladies tending to the crab cages where the unsold crab is stored till tomorrow:

Finally the crab was done, so we sat down at a table, bought a couple of Angkor beers and ate our crab out of a plastic shopping bag:

Yes the crabs were small and yes they were a pain to eat and yes we were still hungry after eating them all, but it was worth the experience.

After going to a restaurant and sharing a pizza we went back to our bungalow and settled in for the night.

The next morning we took on of the free bicycles...that's a nice touch...and rode along the Gulf of Thailand and into the county for about a 10 mile round-trip ride.  Here we are in front of the famous Krung Kep Blue Swimmer Crab statue:

We got back to the hotel around 1:30 PM, ate some cup of noodle soup, and decided to just relax for the rest of the day.  We then went back to the crab market, but skipped the crabs and went right to a restaurant called the Democrat and had a pretty good meal. Tim said it was one of his favorite meals he has had in a long time, so he was happy.

The next morning we headed up to Kep National Park for a short hike.  Wow...this was one of the nicest parks we have been in since we left the US.  It was clean and well marked and the views were awesome:

View of the Gulf of Thailand.

Those mountains are Vietnam.

Which way do we go?!?

Beautiful jungle landscape.

The top of Mount Kep (938 Feet)

Our bungalows from above.

Great signage.

This must be the way to go.

TIm negotiating the ropes during the steep section.

Another nice view.

Led Zep Cafe...a restaurant with a view.

Drinking the famous fresh squeezed lime juice at Led Zep Cafe after the hike.

After over 5.5 miles of hiking, we got back to our bungalow around 1:30 PM, just in time for a rest before heading into town for happy hour and dinner.  We had heard that the Sailing Club is a good place for happy hour so we headed out just before 5:00 PM:

Then off to the crab market one more time for dinner.  Tim loved his dinner so much last night that he wanted to go back to the same place.  I on the other hand was in the mood for some fresh grilled fish and squid from the market vendors:

Unfortunately the Democrat was closed tonight so sad Tim found another restaurant and had our go to meal of pizza.

Tomorrow we leave Kep behind and head to the beach town of Sihanoukville where we will be spending New Year's Eve on a primitive island...we can't wait!