It was actually rather fun, travelling to a new town on a scooter with all our luggage strapped onto us. We have often wondered what it would have been like if we had bought a scooter for our travels, and today made us wish we had. The freedom of movement and the amount of money saved would have made it an ideal choice.

Kep is only about 25 km from Kampot, and so the journey was a quick one. We arrived in the small but greatly spread-out seaside town during the morning, and eventually found a nice guesthouse that offered cheap dorm beds too. Kep was once the seaside playground of the elite - French colonials and wealthy Khmers used to spend their holidays here, in their grand mansions that gazed at the sea. Now there are just ruins left of these villas and mansions thanks ot the Khmer Rouge, giving a hint of how wealthy the people had once been. The town itself is strangely lain out, with a small cluster of shops and guesthouses around the main beach; and then around the next bend, a very large seafood fair called the Crab market. It's almost as if it was deliberately done so, with the town being formed by clusters of buildings separated by a great road or bend around a hill.

Kep is famous for this Crab market, and one of the must-do activities for this town is ordering fresh crab. After a swim at the beach we had a beer at the grandest of Kep lodges, which was indeed something special; and then we headed down to the market for some fresh seafood. It's actually an interesting set-up: there are locals displaying live seafood in metal tubs, whilst just a few steps away fires are stoked continuously and ready for cooking the dinner that you just purchased. We opted however to buy a fish and some squid from one of the stalls that had already barbecued the seafood - and it was delicious! Each stall also sells a bowl of rice; and if you purchase a drink from a certain lady, you're allowed to have a seat at the tables. So there we were amongst the chaos of the market, eating our dinner whilst dusk settled in and the locals scurried about their stalls.

Sunday morning saw us doing the hike through Kep National Forest. What an experience! The 8 km loop around the park is very easy and incredibly scenic, with views of the ocean and little red squirrels scurrying about in the trees. Every once in a while a path leads of the main hiking path and up into the mountain; and so eventually we decided to follow one of them, for there are many interesting stops and little shrines to see as one wanders about the peak of the mountain. Unfortunately, we had chosen the most difficult route to the top - they had not been lying with that red warning sign! We had to use ropes to scamper up slippery rock surfaces and steep forested areas. It was one of the best workouts we've had so far. And definitely worthwhile! We stopped off at the beach for a refreshing swim, and then went home for a rest before tackling the crab market again.

We did not want to go to a restaurant and order our crabs, we wanted the real experience: haggling for fresh crabs and then having them cooked right at the market. After hours of researching this process and learning the numbers and phrases in Khmer, we confidently set off to the market. But we quickly realized that we are the worst hagglers on earth - no one would budge, and within about 20 minutes we had only succeeded in getting half dollar off! The meal was lovely though, and the experience unforgettable.

Monday morning we visited the famous pepper farms near Kep (Kampot pepper is world-renowned and exported globally, having a GI just as champagne has). The farm we toured was really interesting, and we even tried the pepper tea. Unfortunately the rain made our trip a little difficult, but it was interesting to see and learn about organic pepper farming and the strict regulations that had to be followed. After the visit, we once more hopped onto our scooter with our luggage and made the trip back to Kampot.