Established by the French as the premiere beach destination in the 1900's, Kep will definitely not win first place as best beach, but the appeal, lifestyle and mood that this place injects is indescribably surreal!
Dotted with countless villas from the French colonial era and the 1960's, the city was built at the time when Cambodia was on its golden years. Now, however, it is a living testament of the dark years of the Khmer Rouge and the Cold War. The grand old edifices that used to stand proud on its seaside avenues are but empty shells and rotting ruins.
The last couple of years however, saw the re-emergence of Kep in the radar of the international jetset. Now, it is slowly rebuilding its arms with a good number of eco hotels, exquisite boutique resorts and small luxurious hotels around.
We first came to Kep accidentally, after I burned out from a very tiring shoot in Phnom Penh. Instead of going back home north to Siem Reap, we decided to make a drive down south and found our way here. We first stayed at Khnai Bang Chatt which we thoroughly enjoyed. But on the next couple of times, we stayed at the rustic Champey Inn by the Rue de la Plage, a stone's throw away from Kep's famed Blue Crab Market.
We are just hooked to this place and are planning to stay here in one point of our lives...
As always, you have awesome photos! We have never stayed in Champei Inn but it does look nice. We usually stay at Vanna's Guesthouse and Kep Lodge up on the hill, they're about 10-15mins walk to the Crab Market. The last time we were in Kep was 2 months ago and we stayed at Kep Malibu. It was lovely, but was disappointed at the way the management are treating some of their guests :C
ReplyDeleteYou're the culprit nga why we pushed ourselves to go there. You had great photos on your blog so sobrang naglaway kami to see kep... and now we are hooked!
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