We needed to do better!

If we wanted to stay at our current accommodation, we had to change rooms. The host offered us an interior room with no windows, for only $9 USD ($12 CAD), compared to the $12 USD, ($16 CAD) we had paid for the first night.

For that price, we would give it a shot for a night. It's not really the type of place that we'd like to spend more than a couple of nights, and in all honesty I'm not enjoying the heat, and without air conditioning it's pretty darn warm. On the other hand, the price is very attractive!

While getting our laundry done in the morning, I did a little bit of searching for better options, and found a place on the river about 5 kms (3 miles) from town. Quite a bit more expensive, but of course far better as well. We needed some exercise, so we ended up walking up there. Despite the heat, you still need to keep moving!

Lots of Chinese New Year celebrations going on.

Scenery along the way.

We turned down a dirt side road in a definitely more rural area.

Beautiful bougainvillea flowers.

We stopped in at one place that looked really nice, but they were sold out. She brought us to a neighbor that has quite nice cabins for rent at $18 USD per night, but again with no air conditioning. They would have been cooler than where we are, but not what we were looking for. 

The next place was absolutely beautiful. Gorgeous modern buildings on the river. Kayaks available. A nice swimming pool with water temperature that even I could jump right into. However at $50 USD a night, out of our price range. I negotiated them down to $40 USD a night for a one week stay, but that's the best he would do. We seriously thought about it because it was just so nice. But $40 USD is still $53 CAD, and we're trying to stick to our budget this month! Also, we really didn't want to spend another full week here. So we turned it down.

We took a tuk-tuk back to town and found a Mexican restaurant to have lunch. We questioned the authenticity of the food, but with $1.25 margaritas and $0.50 beer, how bad could it be!

And it turned out to be fine.

On the menu, the enchiladas were made with flour tortillas, but the woman said she could do them with corn ones. They turned out okay, but without any typical enchilada salsa. It was fine though. 

We went for a walk along the river.

It was another cloudy day. We want to rent a scooter and go up into the mountains, but we're trying to wait for a clearer day so we can enjoy the views. Very hot though. 34C (93F) during the day, and 23C (73F) overnight.

We spent the afternoon up on the rooftop patio here. It's covered, and there's a bit of a breeze, but it's not really very scenic. But they have a hammock which I enjoyed, and we played a few games of backgammon and yahtzee.

For dinner, we went to a Mediterranean place that advertised salads, and our Mexican meal was really quite filling, so we figured all we needed was a salad.

My chicken salad.

I had a chicken salad, and Ruth had a regular mixed salad. They were actually really good! But also very filling. And we splurged on a glass of wine each for $3 USD.

One thing about Kampot, there is a big international influence, and a lot of expats have settled here and opened restaurants. So there is a lot of variety. I've learned that most local Khmer (Cambodian) food doesn't really do it for me, so this is a nice change. They use a lot of lemongrass in the local soups and stews and I find it really chewy. 

We strolled down the riverside after dinner.

Everything is lit up at night.

Sidestreet in Kampot.

Riverfront walkway in Kampot.

Back at the room, it was baking hot, even with the fan on. It affects me more than Ruth, and I decided that even with the $9 USD a night price, we needed to do better. Besides, there was an awful sewer smell coming from the bathroom in this unit. 

So I researched for over an hour and found a couple of other options. One looked like a really nice shared apartment here in town for $18 USD per night, and the other a private bungalow at a small resort overlooking a very inviting swimming pool for $27 USD  ($36 CAD) a night. The resort is in a more rural area, about 4 kms outside of town.

We chose the rural bungalow and pool option for the next four nights!

So, we'll pick up some supplies so that we can make our own breakfasts, then make the move out there. As I sit here sweating, I am imagining myself jumping into that pool!

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