Kampot · Backpacking

The living is cheap and the doing is not. Climbodia's climbing and caving days run US$28 to US$48 with a US$5 tuk-tuk transfer on top, and Bokor and the pepper farms are priced again after that. Everything is quoted in US dollars, with riel as change under a dollar at about 4,000 to the dollar.

The bungalow places a few kilometres up the west bank undercut anything in the old town, and most run a shuttle in for the evening. Check what time the last one comes back before you settle in at a bar.

The sealed road into Preah Monivong Bokor National Park climbs roughly 30km to a plateau at about 1,000m, and a rented motorbike does it for the cost of fuel — considerably less than any organised trip. Take a jacket; the top is much colder and often inside cloud.

Prices are in US dollars and change below a dollar comes back in riel. ATMs in the old town charge per withdrawal, so take out larger amounts less often, and refuse torn or marked dollars because the next person will refuse them from you.

Through the wet months there is daily rain, a brown river and cloud on the mountain, and room rates fall to match. If you can live with wet afternoons it is the cheapest time to sit still here; if you came for Bokor and the sunsets, come in the dry.