Plantations of Black Pepper | Salt and Pepper – Kampot

White Horse Monument-Kep to Kampot- Black Pepper Plantations

Road to Kampot – Black Pepper Plantations

A good paved road connects Kep with Kampot, it is only a short trip about 30-40 mins to Kampot. Leaving the crab/seafood market we continued along the seafront turning left at the statue of Vishnu (route 33a),  left again at the white horse monument to  route 33 the main road to Kampot.

Kep to Kampot –  Salt Fields

Salt and Pepper – produced in Kampot

Salt fields were visible on one side of the road; there are some 1,000 salt pans providing work for hundreds of locals at  harvest time in Kampot  Province.  Water is let in from the ocean to the salt fields and allowed to evaporate leaving salt crystals. When evaporation is complete the salt collected and stored in the warehouses, then delivered to the salt factory. The salt is then cleaned, packed and shipped throughout the country. Salt production is very labor intensive.  Machinery is not used in the productions of salt in Kampot, it is all carried out by manual labor. Interestingly both salt and pepper are products of the Kampot region. Black Pepper grown on plantations and salt produced from the sea. Both salt and pepper are an important product in the region.

Plantations of Black Pepper

Kampot is also renowned for its black pepper. Tourists can visit the black pepper plantations to see the pepper vines and buy the famous green pepper-corns. Kampot black pepper considered one of the finest in the world for flavor and aroma. Kampot has an ideal climate for growing black pepper; the vines are still grown and cultivated on plantations in the traditional way. Pepper Plantations destroyed during the Khmer Rouge rule have only begun producing black pepper again in the past few years.  It appears little escaped the tentacles of the Khmer Rouge during those disastrous years.

Green Pepper plantations.

Plantations of  Black Pepper

Black Pepper a sun-dried product of green Pepper Kampot

‘Rikitikitavi’ – freshly prepared food with spices, herbs, salt and pepper

We enjoyed a late lunch at a riverside  restaurant ‘Rikitikitavi’. The restaurant has a beautiful terrace for dining, cool and comfortable with great views across the river to the mountains beyond.  The staffs were delightfully engaging, the food all  freshly prepared with spices and herbs, plenty of fresh salt and black pepper from local plantations, and fresh tropical fruit.

On the menu –  Touk sait Ko (ground beef folded into a crispy pastry jacket served with sweet chilli dipping sauce);

Sait Moarn Chantii – made with local cashew nuts,carrot,peppers,baby corn, onion,green beans, chicken pieces stir fried in a  mildly spicy sauce; Amok trai – traditional Cambodian creamy coconut and fish fillet curry, steamed in a banana leaf,

Rikitikitavi On the menu l

Kuru Krahorm traditional Cambodian red vegetable curry with french beans, egg-plant, onions, potatoes, carrots,fresh herbs and spices, all served with rice, pita bread and salad. The restaurant also makes delicious fresh tropical fruit drinks, icy cold, and so thirst quenching.

Very relaxing at this riverside restaurant.

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