Kampot

A sealed road climbs to 1,000m and the abandoned French hill station: a ruined church, drifting mist, and a casino shell by a modern resort.

Tour a working plantation and taste green, black, red and white off the same vine. La Plantation, east of town, is the easiest to visit.

Two hours down the Praek Tuek Chhu on a slow boat with a beer and mountains behind you. Some trips carry on to look for fireflies.

Flat pans between Kampot and Kep, worked in the dry months, and limestone caves like Phnom Chhngok holding pre-Angkorian brick shrines.

A compact grid of French-era buildings around the old market, now cafes, bakeries and bars. Walkable in an hour, lingerable all day.

Three to four hours south on a good road, with hourly minivans and coaches. The most common way in and much the simplest.

Royal Railway's Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville service stops at Kampot. Slower than the bus and infrequent, but the ride is lovely.

Nearest airport, about 105km west, then a two-hour transfer. Most travellers fly into Phnom Penh instead and come down by road.

November to February: dry, breezy evenings and clear views up to Bokor.

June to September. Green, wet, cheap, and the waterfalls actually run.

Christmas to mid-January, plus the Khmer New Year long weekend.

Coffee by the old market, then a walk of the French-era grid before it gets hot.

Drive up Bokor for the ruined hill station, the mist and the view back to the sea.

Down the mountain for grilled fish or a pepper-crab lunch beside the river.

A pepper plantation tour east of town, tasting the colours straight off the vine.

Sunset cruise on the Praek Tuek Chhu, then dinner and a beer on the riverfront.

Twenty-five kilometres east: crab wok-fried with green Kampot pepper, eaten at plastic tables over the water. An easy half-day.

A limestone hill 12km out with a 7th-century brick shrine inside the cave. Village kids guide you through for a small tip.