The sleepy town of Kampot, South Cambodia is famous for it’s varieties of pepper! During our stay we walked past this huge tray of pepper drying out in the Southeast Asian sun.
Koh Rong Island is suprisingly unspoilt, with just a small handful of fishing communities living in wooden beach huts by the port.
Even in Cambodia’s high season, Koh Rong Island has that sense of isolation and serenity away from the hectic mainland. Our paradise beach bungalowThere’s a choice of three gorgeous places to stay on Koh Rong Island: Monkey Island, Paradise Bungalows and Tree House Bungalows.
Monkey Islandis run by a couple of brothers from England. The restaurant/bar can get quite lively at night and they do great food with big portion sizes. One of the brothers is married to a Thai lady who can cook up a blinding pad thai and green curry.Paradise restaurant
Paradise Bungalows has some outstanding views from the beach hut bungalows. The restaurant is known for it’s chilled out vibe. Cushions and soft mats line the bright and breezy room, and relaxing music chosen by the German owner adds to the mellow atmosphere.
Friendly dogs on Tree House beach
Tree House Bungalows is tucked around the corner away from the main beach strip. Guests stay in their own tree houses overlooking the Gulf of Thailand. They have their own beach area and a couple of friendly dogs running round keeping you company! Best of all, the chef cooks possibly the best pizza in Cambodia in their wood fired oven!
Getting to Koh Rong Island is easy from Sihanoukville.
A return trip to Koh Rong Island can be organised through one of the many tour agencies in Sihanoukville.
Boat journey to Koh Rong Island
With the rest of the travellers searching for paradise, you will first need to take a boat to the Island which will take about 2 hours. The boat is quite small and you will literally have to ‘walk the plank’ to board it.
When we visited Koh Rong Island in 2011, a surprisingly good spread of complimentary watermelon, bananas, coffee, tea and doughnuts were laid out for everyone to tuck into on board. There was also a toilet available if anyone suddenly felt sea sickness coming on!
I would recommend taking an anti-sickness tablet before you set off to Koh Rong. Stu didn’t, and after he’d just eaten his own weight in fruit, doughnuts and coffee, you can imagine how a 2 hour rocky boat ride made him feel!
Tree House beach
A perfect dinner setting, Koh Rong Style!
On reaching Koh Rong Island, you will have to brave the plank again to get off the boat. There will be someone from your hotel waiting to greet you and show you the way to your dream beach hut.
Koh Rong Island at night
When you see the white sand and clear blue sea on Koh Rong’s empty beach you’ll be in heaven! Walking through the warm water and feeling the soft sand will make your heart melt, and you’ll probably want to stay forever.
We originally booked 2 nights and ended up staying for 7! We only left because they needed our room!
As of 2012 there are future plans to build a casino, beach resorts and an airport on Koh Rong Island, so make sure you get there quick! I would recommend anyone visiting in the future should check the current status before you go.
Back in August 2011 Stu and I went on a cookery course in Kampot, during our month long trip through Cambodia. As keen cooks and food lovers we couldn’t wait to try our hands at a new cuisine.
Previously we went on a great tour to the Bokor Hill Station with ‘Smile Tours’ and got to know the guide Jok quite well. He invited us for a few glasses of his home-made palm wine with his friends. It would of been rude to turn down such an invite!
We then organised the cookery course through him as he showed us such warm hospitality and we got along so well.
Jok showing me a white aubergine
Our day started with Jok taking us round Kampot Market to buy all the interesting ingredients.
Kampot Market
The market was full of fruits and vegetables I never knew existed and a few added horror sights through the live animal section!
Edible water lilies at Kampot Market
Even though we were making vegetarian options, we couldn’t seem to avoid seeing peeled pig faces and live chickens almost dead as they pecked each other on the floor. As a vegan and animal lover this was hard to see! 🙁
Our workspace
The cookery class took place in their family home which also doubled up as a shop front.
Me in my apron
Ooo suits you Sir!
Apron on, check. Hands washed in lemon water, check. Elvis Presley booming through the speakers, check. Shot of home-made palm wine, check!
Right, lets begin!
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Menu of the Day
Cambodian Green Curry
Amok Tofu Curry
Green Mango and Onion Salad
Vegetarian Spring Rolls
Banana Tapioca Sweet Pudding
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Me mashing things up
Look at the size of that clever!
Chopping off those mushrooms!
Tastes like a refreshing Caipirinha cocktail!
I feel that part of the enjoyment in learning how to cook is in the preparation! The Head Chef was Jok’s wife who only spoke a little bit of English, but we got along just fine.
I especially enjoyed grating taro for the spring rolls and after soaking it in water, squeezing all the juice out!
With the left over green mango and a pinch of salt, Jok’s wife created a taste which resembled a refreshing Caipirinha cocktail. It was magic!
Preparing the green mango and onion salad
We used some strange ingredients like sour tiny aubergine balls, tart green mango and the bizarre root vegetable taro.
Cooking the green curry
Spring rolls ready to cook
Making the spring rolls was great fun! Neither of us had ever made them before so we were interested to find out how it’s done. Jok’s wife showed us two clever ways of preparing them:
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Vegetarian Spring Rolls Method – What you need and how to do it!
You’ll need square sheets of spring roll rice paper and grated taro/carrot mixture for the filling.
To make Traditional Oblong Shape Spring Rolls: Put a small bit of the taro/carrot mixture at one side of a square piece of rice paper. Then fold in the two sides and roll it up.
To make Spring Roll Parcels: Put a pinch of the mixture in the centre of a square sheet and gather up the sides, twisting it round to secure.
Fry the spring rolls in a lot of vegetable oil. When cooked, drain the oil and allow to cool.
Serve with sweet chilli dip. Yum!
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Freshly cooked spring rolls
Jok’s daughter helping herself to the spring rolls!
Jok’s children were there during all the food preparation and couldn’t wait to try the tasty creations we cooked up!
Dinner is served!
Green mango and onion salad
Green curry
Taking a cookery course is definitely something I would recommend if you like cooking or eating! Who doesn’t?! It was a really fun day and we had a great time with the whole family.
I would have to say my favourite dish we made was the Amok Tofu Curry. This traditional Cambodian meal is usually made with chicken or fish instead of tofu. To make this tasty curry either follow the recipe below or click here to see the original recipe print out.
For the Green Mango and Onion Salad and the Banana Tapioca Sweet Pudding, click here to see the recipe.
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Amok Tofu Curry
Paste 2 Sticks of lemon grass 1 Piece of turmeric (about 3cm/1inch) 1 Piece of yellow ginger 3 Garlic cloves 50g Dried red chillies
200g Tofu (can be substituted for fish or chicken) 200ml Coconut milk 1tblsp Sugar 3 Kaffir lime leaves 50ml Cooking oil 1 Coconut, peeled and emptied
If you are not making a vegan version you can also add: ½tblsp Shrimp paste 1tblsp Fish sauce
To make the paste:
First place the dried red chillies in a bowl of water and leave to soak.
Slice the lemon grass as thinly as possible.
Put the lemon grass, turmeric, garlic and ginger into a pestle and mortar and crush and grind all the ingredients together.
De-seed the chillies and add to the pestle and mortar. Mix all together until it becomes a paste.
To make the curry
Cut the tofu into big chunks and fry in oil. When it starts to crisp and turn brown, take out the pan and drain.
Heat a pan and add the oil.
When hot add the paste and mix with the coconut milk, saving some for garnish.
Mix altogether allowing the milk to turn red. Add the sugar and if you’re using the fish sauce and shrimp paste add now and stir.
Add the cooked tofu and stir.
When all mixed together and the liquid begins to thicken, turn off the heat.
Finely slice the Kaffir lime leaf and use with the left over coconut milk to garnish the finished Amok
Koh Rong Island’s beautiful beach
Paradise!
Friendly dogs on Tree House beach
Tree House beach
A perfect dinner setting, Koh Rong Style!
Koh Rong Island at night
A boat on Tree House beachTop photo by happytimeblog
Kampot Market
Jok showing me a white aubergine
Kampot Market
Edible water lilies at Kampot Market
Our workspace
Me mashing things up
Look at the size of that clever!
Chopping off those mushrooms!
Preparing the green mango and onion salad
Cooking the green curry
Spring rolls ready to cook
Freshly cooked spring rolls
Jok’s daughter helping herself to the spring rolls!
Dinner is served!
Green mango and onion salad
Green curry