Phnom Kampong Trach Caves, Mountains and Wat in Kep, Cambodia.
“Phnom” is mountain in the Khmer language.
“Kampong Trach” pronounced “come pong track” in English, is a district of Kampot Province. (But it’s closer to Kep than Kampot)
And a Cave, at least in Cambodia is a hole in a mountain, usually not more than a couple meters to 20 meters big. But this cave is different…
It’s a really nice half day attraction.
About 25 minutes from the White Horse Statue in Kep, or 35 minutes from the Kep Beach. Either way, take the road to Vietnam.
Pretty empty on weekdays, crowded on the weekends and holidays.
This attraction is in Kampot Province, though you will only visit coming from Kep.
You can get here by car, van, motodup (motorcycle taxi), or tuk tuk (cart pulled by a motorcycle), but the best way to get here is on your motorcycle (automatic scooter) that you rent in town for $5 a day.
No charges to get in here, but at the Wat, you might want to make a $1 or more donation, for the maintenance of the Wat and caves. There are donation boxes all over the place.
A few attraction out here. When you get to the mountains pictured below, you turn right for a one minute ride to a Wat (you know, like Angkor Wat). To the left a few minutes is a cave you have to walk down one minute, and can go swimming, or walk up a mountain a couple minutes to a small cave, but with a great view.
At the Kampong Trach Wat, you’ll want to get drinks and a meal. Bottled water is 12 cents, (25 cents for the good stuff that is the same), and 75 cents to $1.50 for a rice dish or fried noodles with veggies and an egg or meat or seafood. A couple horse carts give countryside tours for $5 and up. A new Wat, if it’s open, you’ll want to go in, and an old Wat have some interesting paintings and statues.
The entrance to the cave is a small gate, and you go down a few steps to a very uninteresting cave. Get your flashlight out, (if the lights are out) and walk about 20 seconds through the cave. That’s all we’ll say for now. Very interesting at the other side.
The Swimming Cave is on the other side of the mountain, about a 4 minute drive from the Wat. You can walk down to the cave and swim in fresh water, or walk up a path on the mountain a couple minutes, to a not so interesting cave, but with fantastic views.
You can see several limestone mountains around, and these are all riddled with small caves at the base of the mountain, and going up. Really nice countryside here.
You can drive a motorcycle or Tuk Tuk around the mountains, and stop to go in small caves all over the place.
There’s also a few coffee shops, and pony rides around the Cave/Wat.
