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Our Workaway fell through and our Vietnam visa doesn't start for a while--so we're stranded in the lovely town of Kampot for 6 days. After yet another hot and uncomfortable minivan ride we found ourselves in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. The city of Kampot is a tiny overgrown village consisting of only a few dozen thousand people, while the province is home to three-quarters of a million people.
We were dropped at the center of town, near Durian Circle. We found a nice hotel after looking at few different guesthouses. I later checked our hotel on booking. The city is small enough to walk. The outside of many restaurants and guesthouses were run down, but somehow this helped add to the amazing charm of this tiny city.
Once setting foot inside the dilapidated buildings I was amazed by how clean and modern they were. I guess there is no reason to rebuild an already existing building? There seems to be more aging western expats here than backpackers, which is something I have yet to see during this trip. Not surpassingly these establishments are rated very high on Trip Advisor, as they were a step above the local competition. Every restaurant and guesthouse here seems to come equipped with a young child and a baby--families use the first floor as their restaurant and live on the 2nd floor.
The term "work-life balance" seems to have its own meaning here. I noticed toothpaste and laundry in the wash closet it must have been the only one for the house. Prices are cheaper here than elsewhere in Cambodia, but still pricier than they should be considering Cambodia's GDP. We went to an all-women's retreat on several of our mornings for a yoga class they offered one all-gender yoga class a day. One day Sylvie got a face massage but I wasn't allowed to wait, I was kicked out.
