Kampot

The Kampot province was a delightful stopover after the first 2 busy weeks of the trip.  It is a quiet town with a laid back vibe. Not overtly touristy.

Two Moons Guesthouse in Kampot.
Up to now we had a pool at each place we stayed.  It really helps with the kids' morale! 

We tried some good new foods and some bad. These large, street-cart snails had a smokey barnyard flavor.
On the other hand, we did have one of the best BBQ pork banh mi sandwiches of the trip at Kampot's night market.

Genna had saved her money to try rock climbing.  We had a great half-day outing with Climbodia trying their via ferrata, abseiling, climbing a few routes, and exploring a cave. Genna was a literal ROCK star.  She had far more energy to tackle more walls than any of the adults.
Maya and Babçia went kayaking while we were out.  After getting a little lost, they were rescued by some good British samaritans with a GPS.

One night we were solicited by a Tuk Tuk driver, Ren, to take a day trip with him through Kampot and Kep.  Along with another driver we took 2 tuk tuks to a sea salt production field (not in season), a rural village cafe and family farm, La Plantation pepper farm, another "Elephant Cave" temple, and through the town of Kep.  He was an enthusiastic guide and told us a lot about Kep's French Colonialism which was destroyed by the Khmer Rouge and how the city is coming back.  Our biggest disappointment was going to his preferred Kep Crab Restaurant (where he got a free meal) instead of letting us eat at the fish market.

Jeff can't pass up a straight razor shave, even if it is in a random rural village where we just stoped for drinks.

Learning how the famous Kampot black pepper is grown at La Plantation. 

This rural family showed us their piglets and then the cooler full of dog meat in the outdoor kitchen.  We saw very few horses on the entire trip (maybe 3 over the thousands of miles of countryside we passed).  Since oxen are the main beasts of burden and recreational pets are frivolous, the primary reason for caring for extra livestock is to put on the menu.

This monk insisted on a selfie with Grandpa, then Papa... but none with the ladies.
As we left, he was working through his pack of smokes..... OH, so that's what the alms are for!  Poor Genna did not fully consider this everytime she put money in a box to make an incense offering.  Not all monks are burning up the coffers with bad habits, but how do Buddhists reconcile the blinging of the temples with the Middle Path? (Obviously they are not the only religion that suffers from this hypocrisy)

Many cities had a bank of exercise equipment in their parks. The girls enjoyed this one along the Kampong River.