A bubbly Christmas

Monday 26 December 2015
Christmas Day was peaceful this year with almost no tinsel in sight. We hadn’t made great plans other than to walk round the Kep National Park trail, an 8 km path through the rainforest at the back of the bungalows. It’s been marked out with signage, maps, informative way markers about the trees and wildlife by a French guy who runs Led Zep cafe just inside the Park.

Set on a platform high above the town with wonderful views, the cafe is a great place to have breakfast before tackling the trail. The walls are decorated with photos of famous names from the 1970s rock pantheon – Jeff Beck, Steve Stills, Robert Plant et al. There’s also a display of fascinating photos of Kep from the past, showing it in its 1960s glory.

Fortified with pancakes and baguettes, we set off round the trail. It’s an easy walk on a good path, shaded most of the way and with occasional spectacular views over the surrounding countryside, all the way to Sihanoukville to the north and Vietnam to the east. There’s a single old male hornbill who lives in the park, apparently, but we didn’t see him. I couldn’t help feeling it would be a kindness for someone to import a female for him.

Half way round we left the trail and scrambled down, risking life and limb, to the valley below, where there’s a secluded butterfly farm. It’s a lovely low-key tourist attraction with beautiful flowers and friendly staff. My photos weren’t a patch on those I took first time we visited, but hey ho.

Returning hot and sweaty after 3 hours’ walking, we intended to settle in to a peaceful afternoon, sending Christmas greetings and reading, but we were met by our new friend Ed with a bottle of champagne on ice and gifts for us both – a flat hat for Trevann and a krama for me. One thing led to another and we didn’t get back to the bungalow until 1 a.m., having managed a couple of pool tournaments, Christmas dinner of noodles eaten with chopsticks, a somewhat unfestive film - “Dope”, washed down with copious beer and another bottle of bubbly.
I’ve drunk more Champagne this holiday than I have in years! Hic.

And in no particular order, cos I can't be arsed, here are the photos: