Kampot & Kep
On the southern coast a few hours west of the islands, Kampot is a riverside town surrounded by the pepper plantations that produce what was — and is again — some of the best peppercorns in the world. Hire a moto or join a half-day tour to a working pepper farm, then drive on to Kep, the seaside town famed for its blue-swimmer crab eaten fresh at the open-air Crab Market alongside green Kampot peppercorns and a glass of palm wine. The drive up to the abandoned French hill station of Bokor — a 1920s casino, hotel, and church on a 1,000-metre plateau, mostly reclaimed by mist and jungle — is the marquee day trip. Sunset on the Kampot riverfront is the easy evening; the night market and a sundowner cruise round it off.