12/10/2024
KOTE offers more than just homestay or Airbnb experiences. It brings the rich history of Kampot to life through "Sakun’s Kampot." Each week, we’ll share an excerpt from this captivating book, which traces the evolution of Kampot over the past 180 years. The book is available on Amazon for purchase online as well.
The fourth weekly extract from “Sakun’s Kampot”
In 1851 a road was built from Oudong to the fledgling Kampot. It had wooden bridges and way-stations – with stabling for horses and employing local villagers to take care of overnight travellers – along its length.
Kampot quickly became a lively port with warehouses, shops and accommodation for traders and merchants who bought rice, cardamom, pepper and a variety of fruits from its hinterland. In just one year Kampot generated nearly 17,000 English pounds sterling of trade and attracted interest from the established trading hubs of Malacca, Singapore and Bangkok.
Ang Duong quickly grew to love Kampot and held a ‘grande feste’ there in 1856 to welcome his son back from Bangkok. Three years later, a year before his death, Ang visited the town with an entourage of 70 elephants, many horses, a harem of twenty young women and several mandarins (provincial officials). At least the peasants who lived along the road from Oudong could see what their hard-earned taxes were being used for by the king!
