Cambodia forum

Hi krisim,

There's buses from Phnom Penh to Kampot (leave morning only - I think), from where you can then organise transport onwards to Kep, but as wolfman says, take a share taxi -- it is far far far faster and will let you skip having to get from Kampot to Kep. If there's a few of you just charter the whole taxi (should cost around US$25) -- they leave from Deam Koh market.

Interesting though, was just looking at Veranda's (one of the resorts in Kep) website and they say there's a "traveller bus" which runs from Phnom Penh to Kep - I've not heard of it -- perhaps drop them a line and ask...

Hi Krisim,

There is a bus nowadays that runs direct between Kep and Phnom Penh. Actually its route runs PP>Kep>Kampot and back. Fairly good service, though there are a number of stops along the way as random people flag down the bus to get on. So that adds a half hour or so to the journey.

With the company I took, I think that there's two buses a day from PP, 7am and 1pm. The trip takes around 4 hours. The schedule on the way back it about the same, one bus in the morning, one around lunch time.

The departure point is Dumkor Market (on Mae Tse Tung Blvd, at the south-western side of the city). This is the same place where taxis heading down to Kampot and Kep are found. I went there to buy my ticket and to take the bus. There were a few companies there - sorry, I can't give you the names. The cost for the bus was about USD$4 for foreigners (yes, Khmer get cheaper prices, and no, there's no use arguing, even if you speak Khmer).

Hiring a taxi is slightly faster and you can go on your own schedule, and will cost you $20-$25.

Final note, in late november it should be dry again, but keep in mind that post-wet season a lot of roads are in need of repair. So don't schedule your times too closely to a timetable, you may find that a four hour trip becomes five. Unless you're in a taxi, those don't tend to slow down for holes in the road... :)

Thanks Vintage,
That was really useful information!

Anybody been the PP - KEP route in the last 5 YEARS ? the above newest log 2006

Chris, I just travelled that route earlier this month, PP to Kampot , via Kep . Bus company is Phnom Penh Sorya and I paid $4 for my ticket including pick up from my hotel in PP. The bus left 7:30 from Phnom Penh (Psar Thmei) and stopped at Kep, before continuing on to Kampot. I think travel time to Kep was about 4 hours, but my neighbor was talking non stop, so I pretended to sleep most of the way and kind of lost track of time..... Road condition is good, there's just a few spots that are still being improved.

Similar to ecbaker, I was not very impressed with Kep's beach (there hardly is any) and found that Kampot was quite a pleasant surprise. I did a daytrip on motobike to the countryside with crab in Kep for lunch and that was enough crab/Kep for me.

Should you go to Kampot: go to Epicarts cafe, a little cafe by the old market that is run by deaf/handicapped people.

"Miss" ecbaker does my account say male?? Maybe I never changed it!

Anyways, don't quote me on this but I'm pretty sure you have to go through PP. I know for a fact that from Saigon to Kampot you have to go through PP, there is no other choice (trust me, I looked everywhere at tons of companies). There might be the option to go from Kampot straight through as you are going towards a bigger city (from small to big cities there is usually more direct routes than the other way around), but I wouldn't count on having the straight through trip. I will say however, that you can easily do the whole trip in a day (a long day, yes, but doable). We went from Saigon (left early in the morning), went to PP, had about an hour break then continued on to Kampot all in one day. What I would suggest is that whatever way it works for you that you pay all the way through. If you show up at the boarder in hopes of finding a bus to bring you to Saigon, you will end up paying a lot more or using a taxi (=$$). I want to say we only paid $14-16 to go all the way through-totally worth it. And we had AC in the bus, they help you cross the boarder with paperwork stuff and it was a painless boarder crossing which says a lot for SE Asia. I would like to mention that you probably want a visa completely ready in your passport before you get to the boarder as they are very strict about visas in Vietnam. You can go online and pay someone to file you visa papers for you, then when you show up you get a visa on arrival, but this is common place in an airport, not sure how the land crossing will be with this kind of stuff. Also, if they feel something is wrong with your paperwork you could be there for hours. With the visa already in your passport you can avoid potential problems!

Hope this all helps! So jealous...wish I could go back!

I don't want to interrupt the blossoming romance but there is an alternative for backtracking to PP.
You can take a bus from Kampot to Ha Tien (Vn) and from there go through the Mekong delta to Saigon. The route via PP is, however, more efficient and reliable.
Be aware that there are plenty of people/agents in Kampot/Kep that sell tickets from Kampot to Saigon but that is a scam.
Once you reach Ha Tien you'll need to change buses and the next bus won't accept your ticket so don't bother buying such a ticket all the way to Saigon or somewhere else in the delta.

Hi eastwest - thanx very much for da info, that is what I was hoping, to not have to back track to PP and will now go via Ha Tien with confidence - hell the scams are just every where and probably would have got hit with a dud bus ticket from Ha Tien - I'm hoping to put info on line as I travel - so for my computer charger can you tell me are the electric plugs the round 2 pin EU plugs ?

oh and no news from chocgirl !!

regards chris

Most electrical sockets can receive several types of plugs including the 2-round pin plug type from europe. More standard in the region is 3-rectanlges pin plug. You can however easily buy an adapter (called "free" in Cambodia) in almost any (hardware) store in the region for $0.50 or so.
There is no official electrical standard in Cambodia and imported electrical goods come from all over the world. That should explain it a little.