Getting to Jasmine Valley
Jasmine Valley is in Kep, Cambodia, just 25km from the Vietnamese border crossing, and about 2.5 hrs from Phnom Penh.
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| If you approach Kep from the Phnom Penh side, look for the elephants on your right | About 800m further, on your right, you'll see this corner. | Look closely. |
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| If you approach Kep from Kampot, with the sea on your right, pass the white lady. | Then pass the giant crab. | Then the 'Most Beautiful Bays' statue. | About three hundred meters further, on your left, you'll see this corner. |
Take this road, including the unsealed gravel, the bends and twists, all the way into the mountain - about 2.5km. Cars and motorbikes can get all the way up, but tuktuks will usually stop about a hundred meters from Jasmine Valley Eco-Resort. If Jasmine Valley staff know you're coming in a tuktuk, someone will help you with your bags for the last 100m.
See the video below, for a quick tour from the main drag to your welcome drink!
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 The worst bit. |
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 Nearly there. |
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 100m walk from here. |
If you're using public transport, a tuktuk should cost around $3 or $4 from the bus stop. Due to the fact that we're the other side of the mountain, and the road can get a bit tricky, some tuktuk drivers will use that to try and make you pay silly prices. If the road is particularly bad (torrential rain, more like a river than a road - we've only seen it that bad once), it would be a nice idea to tip a dollar or two. From November to May or June, the road is usually in pretty good condition.
The following drivers have offered a 'set price' for Jasmine Valley guests to travel from the bus station.
Two people - $3. Three or four people - $4. Night time - $5.
Lee - 0977 775 379: Pon - 089 244 469: Porn - 0976 365 753: Theurn - 0121 718 040
Please let us know if you have any trouble with these drivers.
Expect to pay around $15 to or from the Vietnamese border crossing near Ha Tien.
Note: Kep is a small, sleepy town. It's hard to find motos or tuktuks at night. They'll likely charge more after hours, as they're not normally working at night.
Kep is about a $5 bus trip from Phnom Penh. Any travel agent, hotel or guest house in Phnom Penh will be able to organise your bus ticket. Usually there's no need to book ahead more than a day or so, and you can usually get tickets on the day. Should you choose a private taxi, expect to pay around $40 to $45 from Phnom Penh to Kep.
A quick note on Taxis: This doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen. Drivers will make things look very difficult in order to try and raise a price, so if your taxi driver, who has driven you all the way from Phnom Penh, needs to call for directions at the last minute, don't take too much notice if he gets very worked up on the phone. We sometimes have them tell us in a very angry voice, in Khmer, that they're not really after directions at all. After the 'traumatic' drive up the dirt track, they'll then demand an extra $10 or so. Most drivers are not like this, but it does happen from time to time.
One driver, who doesn't speak English very well, but who's always done the right thing so far is Mr Hav: 097 8868 726 and 012 981 596.
+855 (0)977 917 636 +855 (0)977 917 635
email info@jasminevalley.com