My stomach got a bit messed up at night (strangely so, I usually don't get that way), but I think that it had smth to do with us starting to eat Malarone, and that's one of its side effects.. So we didn't dare to go on the group tour to bokor at morning. Also I was sooo tired 'cause not having enough sleep last night, that I needed a nap. The tour would've lasted 6hrs(!) too, so we decided to have our own later. Also, being with at least 10 other people in a group just isn't my thing anymore.. ;P
So instead we took a relaxed afternoon, after breakfast I took a nap, and then we we went off to the centre to look for a car for ourselves to Bokor. We decided then to go tomorrow morning, 'cause the time was already about 2pm and we had arranged this one guy with a tuktuk to come and pick us up from our hotel at 4pm to go to the pepper plantation.
We had a fairly ok price for a private car to Bokor, 30$. The group tour would've cost the same, 15&$/head, so a good deal. Ok no lunch, which would've included in the group tour, but you fon't need to spend 6hrs there, with 10 other people, in a minivan. I prefer our choice.
-- At 4pm our tuktuk-guy, Vannak, pick us up, and off we went to see and but some world famous Kampot peppers, from their very original source, the plantation. The journey was fun, though it took about 50mins/way across the rural lands, to Kep province. But you could see some actual, genuine Cambodian life on the way; shacks, cows, water buffalos, very (and I mean VERY!) large pigs, etc. :D
If you don't mind eating some dust on the way, which is inevitable, unfortunately, with travelling with a tuktuk, do take the way by a tuktuk, rather than a car. You'll see much more. We sootted only two other tutuks with foreigners on the way (coming back from the same place, undoubtely).
At the end of a dirt road was the small pepper plantation. Smaller than I had thought. There was the little boy who told us a bit of the peppers, and the process (his in the cover picture). And afterwards we bought 6 bags of pepper, black&red). 2 of them are presents for our dads. Mine does a lot cooking so I guess he'll appeciate it a lot! ;) And he can brass about it to his friends, too. ;D Like: "oh by the way, there's genuine Kampot pepper used in this dish. My daughter brought it for me from her trip to Cambodia. And with the dessert we'll have cups of Kopi Luwak, she brought that as well, from her trip to Indonesia. ;DD
The way back felt that it went sooner than the way there. And then we just headed to have a coupla happy hour drinks to our hotels' restaurant, and for a dinner. Tonight I had the Loc Lac portion. It was good beef, a good dish, but it could've been a bit more _tasty. But overall it was a good dish in its 5,25$ price. Then to bed, because tomorrow we head to see Bokor.