Dusk from the restaurant.
So after that adventure I got a tuk tuk to the Little Garden and was looking forward to a relaxing afternoon and a chance to look around Kampot. I arrived amidst some confusion as to who I was, which given that I had been in regular email contact with Norm and Barbara, the owners, was surprising. The Khmers at the reception did not have a booking for me and at first I thought I might actually be in the wrong place! However Barbara then arrived to shed some light on the situation.
She was obviously upset about something and suggested we sit down, have a drink and she would explain what was going on. She explained to me that the Khmer owners had, as of yesterday, increased the rental of the guest house and restaurant by a ludicrous ammount which meant that they could no longer afford to rent the guest house part of the business; they would however continue to run the bar and restaurant side of things. Both her and Norm were understandably very upset about this as they had put their hearts and soul into this place for the last five years. The garden here may be small but their hearts are big supporting and launching community based projects including a drop in centre for orphans; their staff do more than just serve up international dishes.
I was'nt really sure what to do now; whether to stay here or find somewhere else to stay. I met Norm who is originally from Manchester but knew Plymouth very well and also knew many of the surfing fraternity from Cornwall; most of whom I knew from my t-shirt printing days. He was obviously pleased to talk to someone with common interests and we chatted for a few hours about all sorts; I decided to stay and had a much needed rest before going out to explore Kampot.
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