Rabbit Island

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We were dropped off at Kep and straight away bought return boat tickets to Rabbit Island as well as bus tickets to Siem Reap for the day we were returning.

We had around 40 minutes to kill so got some breakfast before a tuk-tuk came to take us to the jetty, and then a boat to take us to the island.

We quickly found ourselves a little hut on the beach for $5 a night – just a bed and mosquito net and a hammock hanging outside. The beach is beautiful and there were hardly any tourists there. Many tourists come for a day trip so at night it feels deserted except for the few families sitting together watching TV.

We dumped our bags and spent the whole morning swimming in the sea. By lunch time the sky was looking rather dark and cloudy and by early afternoon it was raining. We sat outside our hut watching the rain pour down and reading but the rain decided that instead of stopping it was going to get heavier, so we decided to have a nap! Why not! When we woke around 3 hours later it was still raining but we took a little walk anyway to a nearby restaurant. The stormy grey sea was still warm.

We spent most of Saturday in the sea, snorkelling and swimming, reading and eating. Until around 2pm the beach was almost deserted. Then about 5 boats of Cambodians arrived. When we were eating our dinner of grilled beef and chips a group of them came over to talk to us, said they were having a party as they had just finished their last term at uni. We sat out the front of our hut and watched the party, commenting on how different it would be if they were western students! – there was hardly any beer involved and when we were waiting for our boat the next morning at 6.45am they were already up running around the beach!

Feeling a little sad we left back to Kep on the 7am boat and then took the 8.30am bus to Phnom Penh, where we would change busses bound for Siem Reap - the base for exploring the Angkor Temples!

Deb & Ang

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