We left early the following morning to take the short bus ride to Kep, a former French colonial beach settlement just along the coast from Kampot and further towards the border with Vietnam. We’d booked a stay in a palm-fronded bungalow in the gardens of a businesses have re-emerged in various parts of Cambodia, albeit with a more locally sensitive attempt at integration this time around. Some of the best have not only offered local employment and educational opportunities but have also turned a spotlight on ecological or responsible tourism. All of the accommodation at Le Bout du Monde for example, has been made in the traditional style so the houses have been built on stilts, out of wood and other natural materials which means that they remain cool in all seasons and do not need to be air-conditioned. They also offer various styles of bungalow meaning that people on tighter budgets are also catered for which we felt was important in the battle to prevent eco-lodges becoming associated with and branded as the preserve of the wealthy, luxury accommodation chains and trend-followers.

Proving that the finer things in life don’t need to cost lots of money, Le Bout du Monde is refreshingly different to other more exclusive settlements in the area such as its neighbour, the Veranada Natural Resort. Our bungalow ‘Holy’ (named after one half of the Bertrand Tavernier filmwhich was filmed on location there), may have been one of the more basic on offer but it was just what we were after. The bungalow and wooden slated balcony (complete with hammock) was surrounded by lush greenery and beautiful views out to the Gulf of Thailand, especially at sunset; but it was the evening and dawn choruses of tree frogs, geckos and various other jungle inhabitants that made the experience really unique.

When we finally managed to tear ourselves away from our hammock pod, we discovered that Le Bout du Monde was also a great starting base for treks through the national park. Many routes through which have only recently been opened up thanks to the efforts of the charismatic Christian from the local Led Zep café (which itself has fantastic views of the coast from its hill top location and is great place to enjoy a post-walk drink). Following Christian’s squirrel icons through the hills will take you to sunset rocks, horse icons, a little Buddha and a disused, gothic nunnery. Along the way, we saw snakes, lizards and lots of exotic birds. We later learned in the Led Zep cafe that there is now sadly only one Great Hornbill, a male, regularly seen in the Kep area since the disappearance of his mate a few years ago. It is currently unclear as to why Great Hornbill numbers are in decline in Cambodia but they are now listed as near threatened on the endangered species list.

The jungle canopies offer refreshing respite from the town below which the French established as a holiday resort (Kep-sur-mer) back in the early 2oth century where they could go to escape from the heat and bustle of Phnom Penh. The ghostly presence of the old colonials is still visible in the form of abandoned, crumbling villas (many of them pockmarked by bullet holes) which were left to decay during the reign of the Khmer Rouge and haven’t been touched since. Kep is far from lackadaisical though, its famous crab market is garnering global attention and word is quickly spreading through internet forums, magazines and newspapers of its adjoining restaurants which serve up fantastically fresh dishes making full use of Cambodia’s famous salt and pepper. There are also sailing clubs, boutique hotels, juice bars and yoga retreats spurting up in abundance - often advertised by leaflets thrust out to you from a passing bike.

offers some particularly enticing drinks mixes, for those that find themselves in the area. It was difficult to leave Kep with its lush green forests and rich, red dirt tracks burned crimson by the huge setting sun. But with our visas running out, it was time to make the very short journey to the newly opened Ha Tien/Prek Chak border checkpoint where we would cross into Vietnam…

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In the morning, we decided to take a trip to the Colo-i-Suva Rainforest Park, a short trip out of town, where we had heard talk of waterfall-fed swimming pools (one of which had been used as a film location for the awful film Anaconda 2: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid). Intrigued, we hopped on a bus and passed colourful houses, washing lines and friendly people waving from the roadside on our way into the hills. The walk to the pool took about half an hour and passed through the wet and humid forest, which was originally a mahogany plantation that was subsequently allowed to regrow with native trees, creating a unique (for the region) contrast between the canopy and the lower layers. The reserve was also full of vetao trees, which the local women use to dye their hair, and pandanus trees, which yield a very strong bark that can be used to make canoes, as well as rope from the leaves. It was also eerily quiet in the forest, except for clusters of noisy insects, and we didn’t see much in the way of wildlife except for the odd frog.

Eventually, we came across one of the river-fed pools where some local teenagers were hanging out, climbing trees and making impressively high jumps into the pool from a rope swing. After a quick change behind a rock, I jumped into the murky, cold pool, feeling a chilled rush which made my skin tingle. The river must have been fed from an underground spring because it reminded me of freshwater swimming in the Malvern Hills or ‘Silent Pool’ in England. The walk back to the roadside was much more bearable after a cold dip, and we had time for some pineapple cake, tea and mango juice in the nearby Rainforest Eco Lodge, which is situated next to a beautiful lake.

Back in town, the contrast to where we had just been could not have been more pronounced. Suva is a corporate town which has embraced built up offices, shopping centres and, strangely, barbed-wire clad mobile phone empires but it is also known for its organised crime targeting tourists. In the main town, many people dressed in suits were entering or exiting large air conditioned buildings while others were hanging out on the streets, traipsing large black sacks of fake pearl and wooden goods around. Fiji itself has undergone three military coups since 1987, and the political situation is tense with a standoff between the indigenous Fijians and the large Indo-Fijian population. In 2009, the country was ejected from the Commonwealth for failing to hold elections, and every time elections are held they appear to be by quota, so that representation is largely along ethnic lines.