Wednesday 10 April 2013

Kep calm and carry on



When I left Australia I thought I'd strolled along my last patronisingly well-maintained mountain trail, but with Kep Mountain squatting right behind my cabin it would have been rude to ignore it. Plus, I'd just spent an evening dealing with the incompetence of HM Revenue & Customs and getting nowhere, so getting scratched to pieces by branches and being found dead on a hillside wasn't an entirely uninviting prospect.

No, seriously, I'm fine. Stop calling.


Kep Mountain National Park



It feels like every Cambodian town was built on the ruins of a ghost town



Hey, a near-vertical shortcut through spiky foliage! That'll save a few...





About time I started learning from my mistakes.
The trail wouldn't be this easy for long though



Phnom Chngok, Phnom Bron Dambang, Phnom Thom and Phnom Kon Sat from North Viewpoint. I bothered to write it down, so you'd better bother learning it



View from Sunset Rock (182 metres). Not at sunset, you'll notice.
Like I'm going to risk getting lost in these twisting trails at twilight



I climbed a pretty steep trail just to see this Little Buddha (286 metres).
I haven't been this disappointed since Derek



I'm sure this guy who wanted to be buried up here doesn't mind you thoughtlessly tossing your empty bottles onto his grave, even though there's a bin less than 50 metres away.
You go ahead and be disgraceful



I was listening to a bleak, post-apocalyptic audiobook during this trip, just to keep my spirit high. This derelict temple guarded by pointlessly territorial dogs fit in nicely



DID IT! And possibly did lasting brain damage from whatever nefarious signals were getting beamed in by these things



Wh... what the hell is that? If I wasn't a rational person I'd probably think it was some sort of foreboding sign or something... ha ha...



OH FU---*


Today's irrelevant soundtrack: David Brin, The Postman


Cambodia route map
(March 2011, November 2011 and February 2013)




A Poipet
B Siem Reap / Angkor Archaeological Park
C Phnom Penh
D Kampot
E Bokor National Park
F Kep