the papper farm at khmpom

"Kampot pepper is very special. It grows best at the foot of the mountains because of the quartz in the soil," says Sorn Sothy, the owner of Sothy's Pepper Farm, a small pepper farm near Kampot, Cambodia. The region, along the country's southern coast, is famed for the spice, which was the first Cambodian product to receive a Protected Geographical Indication (the same certification that protects regional products like Champagne). The mineral-rich soil and rainy weather in the high-elevation areas near Kampot and Kep are perfect for pepper production, and I was here to see it firsthand.