best kep secret

I am hopelessly in love with this place, and the whole Cambodian coast as a whole. But me and my wife are definitely head over heels with the city of Kep-Sur-Mer, or Kep in short...


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...

in search of a pearl

Woke up one day and found myself in Makati where I started working 8 years ago. The next morning, I found myself waking up with the sound of the lapping waves, birds and an eerie silence - marooned in a series of islands called the Pearl Farm Beach Resort...


I'm here on the island's rustic arms - beaches fringed by coconut trees, impossibly emerald green waters and quaint traces of its Maranao roots. When I got a call from my former employer weeks ago to help him redo the brochures, photography and corporate identity of Fuego Hotels, it took me only a second to think and say yes.


So now, I'm on the lap of pure luxury, shooting the resort's many facets and charms. Its beaches and natural beauty are nothing short of captivationg, but sadly, the resort in itself needs an enormous facelift...

It's rooms and structures were breathtaking a couple of years ago, when I first came here, but of course, time and age takes its toll among everything created by man. At least, this room at the villa of former Miss Universe winner Margie moran is definitely not bad...

Pearl Farm's resident parrots were definitely a riot to tourists and were absolute charmers. They should be on the payroll too and should receive hefty tips.

And the Ylang Ylang Spa was still gorgeous, but like the resort, it needs touch ups in a whole lot of ways. Took me time to make it look like this on the camera.

But no matter what state the resort falls into, the most precious pearls you can find there are its amazing, warm people. They were there always to lend a helping hand, make you feel welcome, feed you a huge buffet of tuna sashimi, deliver a tuna melt sandwich on another island in 10 minutes, open the blutique at midnight so you can buy a pair of Havaianas, extend bar hours from 11 pm to 2 am so you can enjoy drinking more San Mig Lights, bring you to the airport on a speedboat at 4 in the morning in the middle of a storm so you can catch your flight (I can't believe I made it alive and I'm writing this), and among others, still smile wholeheartedly after all this.

I am definitely coming back. And hopefully next time, not for work, but with my wife and son... and yes, with flights in the afternoon so I don't have to have raging seawater get in my Louis Vuitton luggage again.