Two Towns, One Perfect Weekend
Four hours south of Phnom Penh, the twin towns of Kampot and Kep offer a completely different side of Cambodia — slower, cooler, and extraordinarily beautiful. Kampot sits on a river flanked by French colonial buildings; Kep is a tiny seaside town known for its crab market and the ghost of a once-glamorous resort era.
Together, they make the perfect weekend escape — and the food alone justifies the journey.
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Kampot: The Pepper Town
Kampot is a small, charming riverside town that was largely unknown until travellers discovered it about fifteen years ago. Today it strikes the perfect balance between authentic and traveller-friendly — with excellent restaurants, a lively café culture, and the most beautiful sunsets in Cambodia over the Bokor Mountain range.
The Pepper Farms
The countryside around Kampot is covered in pepper plantations, and visiting a farm is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have in Cambodia. Knowledgeable farmers walk you through the cultivation process, explain the differences between varieties, and let you taste pepper at every stage of ripeness — an experience that completely transforms how you think about this humble spice.
Recommended farms: La Plantation and Sothy's Pepper Farm both offer excellent tours in English and French.
Eating in Kampot
Rikitikitavi — legendary riverside restaurant, exceptional food and cocktails
Ngor — outstanding Khmer food in a beautiful setting
Epic Arts Café — social enterprise café supporting deaf and disabled Cambodians, excellent food
The Rusty Keyhole — great for sunset drinks on the river
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Kep: The Crab Capital of Cambodia
Kep is tiny — more a village than a town — but what it lacks in size it makes up for in character. Famous across Cambodia for its crab market, this former French colonial beach resort retains a haunted glamour, with abandoned villas from the 1960s now swallowed by jungle.
The Kep Crab Market
Every morning, fishing boats return to the small pier and unload their catch directly onto the market. By 7:00 AM, the crabs are alive in tanks; by noon, they're on plates across the town.
The classic Kep dish is pepper crab — fresh mud crab stir-fried with green Kampot pepper still on the vine. The combination of sweet crab meat and fragrant, fresh pepper is extraordinary.
How to eat at the crab market:
1. Choose your live crab from the tank (sold by weight)
2. Choose your cooking style (pepper, ginger, butter, or steamed)
3. Find a table at one of the surrounding restaurants and order your crab plus some sides
Other Kep Highlights
Kep National Park — jungle trails through the hills above the town with panoramic sea views
Rabbit Island (Koh Tonsay) — a tiny island a 15-minute boat ride from Kep, with beautiful beaches and excellent fresh seafood
The abandoned villas — Kep was devastated by the Khmer Rouge; the ruined French-era villas that remain are hauntingly beautiful
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The Kampot Pepper Connection
Kampot pepper is the ingredient that ties these two towns together — grown in the fields around Kampot, cooked into the crabs of Kep, and celebrated across Cambodia as the finest pepper in the world.
If you visit Kampot and Kep, you'll come home with a profound new appreciation for pepper — and probably a suitcase full of it.
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Bring Kampot Home
You don't need to travel to Kampot to experience the world's finest pepper. At Kabas Concept Store, we stock certified Kampot pepper in all varieties — black, red, white, and green — carefully selected from the best producers in the region.
Available in beautifully packaged gift sets, our Kampot pepper makes the perfect present for any food lover.
Phnom Penh: #65 Street 178 | Siem Reap: 200 Pokambor Ave
Online: kabasconceptstore.com — worldwide delivery
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Kampot and Kep move at their own pace. The river is calm, the pepper is extraordinary, and the crabs are fresh every morning. Some of Cambodia's best moments happen here, quietly, with no agenda at all.