6/1 – Kampot is a sleepy little town, with street-side shops and dusty roads, along the Kampot River. Our guest house has bicycles available for our use, so we borrowed them to see a bit of the town. It is HOT, but riding a bicycle gives you a nice little breeze as you move along.  Here is the Kampot River.

There are two bridges to town, creatively named the Old Bridge and the New Bridge.

We crossed the New Bridge, a scary proposition with all manner of vehicles competing for the narrow lanes. Trucks get the middle of the road, then cars, tuk-tuks, motorbikes, bicycles and then pedestrians along the edges. We found a shop to buy toothpaste and snacks for the next few days.

The shop had a talking bird in a cage by the door. He had a very respectable English “hello!”

The town has one big bank, and lots of mish-mash architecture.

The roundabout in the middle of town boasts a statue of a durian – the world’s smelliest fruit – which is grown and sold here.

Durian has been described as tasting like sweet almond cream, but smelling like gym clothes left in a locker all summer, or perhaps raw sewage. I’m told that if you hold your nose you may be able to get a bite into your mouth without gagging. So far, I have not been brave enough to try this. Jim asked our host if he would prepare some durian for me, but he refuses to let it in the guesthouse. Must be really awful!

We elected to return home via the Old Bridge, which our host told us was perfectly safe. First we had to lift the bikes over the barricade.

We could see through the rusted holes down into the water below.

A lovely ride.

In the evening, we had another glorious sunset, followed by amplified singing and fireworks. We asked if it was a holiday, but our host informed us that it was a funeral – they send the departed off with a bang. A good way to go, don’t you think?