Finding paradise in Cambodia - Koh Rong Island (Day 79 - 83 by Chris)

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Friday 4th December 2015

Today we leave Phnom Penh and head south to the beach town of Sihanoukville. This journey started at 9am and we were crammed into a mini bus which took 4 hours to travel 100 miles to the beach. The journey was uneventful and we arrived at our destination for approx 1pm. We then walked to our new accommodation for a one night stay, the Reaksmey Meanrith costing us $23 per night. The hotel is away from the beach and the bar street which is what we wanted as apparently the bars can get quite rowdy and we fancied a little relaxation. That being said, we headed straight to the bar street to try and buy a ferry ticket that would take us to the island of Koh Rong the following day. We had no intention of staying in Sihanoukville for any longer than necessary. I had been here 10 years ago and although it is a little more developed now (they have concrete roads rather that dirt tracks), there was still the feel of magaluf bar streets with people offering us flyers for a bar crawl and I was even offered meth from a tuk tuk driver. We managed to buy 2 return tickets on a speed boat the following day leaving at 9am to the island for a fee of $20 each. To kill time, we had a look at some of the clothes shops and bought a few items, as well as essentials for the island such as insect repellent and additional sun cream. We ate dinner and then headed to the hotel to sleep.

Saturday 5th December 2015

Up early, we headed to reception to check out and wait for the bus to collect us and take us to the ferry terminal. At 9:30am we boarded the boat and made our way out to sea. The journey was a bumpy one and thankfully we weren't sick. After 45 mins we arrived at Koh Rong Sanloem, which is the 2nd of the 2 main islands in this area and according to our previous hotel owner the nicer of the two. We had booked accommodation here, but for another 4 nights time as we were going to be staying on Koh Rong first (for clarity there are 2 islands next to each other 'Koh Rong' and 'Koh Rong Sanloem'). The ferry dropped everyone off who needed to be at Sanloem and continued another 20 mins to Koh Rong. We arrived at a busy, dirty port full of bars and restaurants and began to regret booking 4 nights here rather than an extended stay at Sanloem. Luckily for us, we weren't staying at the port, where many people from out boat were. We had booked accommodation at the Coconut Boulevard on Long Beach which was on the other side of the island. This meant that we had to take a taxi boat for another 45mins around the island. We shared this boat with approx 10 other people and arrived at an idyllic beach and were instantly happy we had opted for 4 nights here. We didn't know exactly where our hotel was, but the pier was at the very corner of the beach so it made sense that if we walked right we'd eventually arrive. Everyone one else on our boat had some bungalows right next to the pier and were already checking in as we walked passed them. We asked a guy walking towards us if he knew how far down Coconut Boulevard was and he said it was quite far, approx 45 mins walk down the beach. We laughed and then realised he was being serious. We thanked him and continued to walk. Gemma then popped into a hotel to ask them and they confirmed what the first guy said. At this point we discovered we'd have to walk with out 20kg baggage along the beach. At first it didn't seem too bad, but 1 minute in we realised that walking on the sand was very hard work. We stopped every so often to catch our breath and take shade under a tree. We had left the busy village area behind us and in front was nothing but pristine white sand and turquoise sea. Had we not been exhausted and slightly worried that our hotel didn't exist, we would have enjoyed the walk, but instead we marched ahead, heads down sweat dripping from our chins. We then stumbled over a lone walker who asked us where we were going. He said he had walked as far as the rock (1km ahead) but hadn't gone any further as there didn't seem to be anything there. Now even more worried about the hotel not being there, we continued. We eventually reached the rocks and could see no sort of hotel ahead. We then saw an Irish couple and they were shocked to see us carrying our bags and exclaimed "where the hell are you going" we told them "Coconut Boulevard" and they said that there was a "wooden shack" and nothing else about 150m down the beach. We said, yep, that sounds like our place.

We arrived at the Coconut Boulevard after almost 1 hour of walking in the 35 degree heat. We were greeted by one of the guesthouse workers shouting "Are you Chris Potter", with that I knew we were home. Having said that, we were at a wooden shack and I couldn't see the beach side bungalow we had booked. As we were soaked through with sweat, the guesthouse owner gave us a glass of water and an Italian couple who were sitting at the bar asked of our ordeal. After telling them they explained that they arrived the day before and when realising how far the walk was, they hired a little taxi boat for $5 to bring them here!! Brilliant! We then walked through the bar, following one of the guesthouse workers and over a hill to where a house was positioned in the jungle. This looked like the pictures on Booking.com but perhaps we hadn't read the description very well as we assumed (wrongly) that this was on the beach front rather than in the sodding jungle.

After showering we took in our new surroundings in the room, which actually was quite nice. It was very simple with a mosquito net over the bed and a cieling fan and nothing else, other than a bathroom with rain water collected in a big blue container which acted as the toilet flush and shower. We had paid a whopping $33 per night for this place and the reviews of previous guests stated how basic it was, but that you really pay for the location on the beach. It is true that this place is very secluded. It is 45 mins walk in either direction from any other home, hotel or person. After we left the room and walked to the bar/restaurant area on the beach, we were greeted with the best sea view we have both ever witnessed. We we totally alone, other than the guesthouse owner and the Italian couple. We walked onto the whitest sand anywhere in the world. It was honestly like walking on flour. The sea was see-though and the most beautiful turquoise. We could see the whole beach to the left and right of us. It was a bow shape and we were right in the centre. We knew then that the hard slog on getting here was definitely worth it.

In the evening we watched a beautiful sunset and sat down for dinner chatting to the Italian couple, Ben and Rachel, as well as the owner of the guesthouse, Kobe, an Isreali expat who moved to Cambodia 12 years ago and now runs the guesthouse with his wife. This place was actually his home for 3 years where they lived in seclusion, but discovered as more and more tourists walked down the beach that he could probably make some money. We could see all the stars above us, but at 9pm we were shattered and decided to call it a night. We walked in the dark the 50 metres into the jungle to our room and we slept in the heat (the electric stops at 11pm, so no fan) and woke at 9am the next morning rather warm.

Sunday 6th December 2015

We woke at 9am feeling completely relaxed and headed out to the beach. We were the only ones there and other than Ben and Rachel coming to the beach too, but keeping themselves to themselves, we sat and enjoyed the peace and quite for most of the day. Occasionally we would go for a swim and then dry off in the sun, read and then swim again. It was an amazing day of just relaxing in our own paradise. Occasionally the odd couple of people would stop by at the bar for a drink having walked the route we took the day before, but they wouldn't stay long and once gone, it would be just us 4 again. We watched the sunset along with the 2 Alsatians and their litter of puppies, which belonged to the owner, as they played on the beach. This was followed by a dinner of a traditional Cambodian dish called Amok. This is similar to the Thai curries and is made with coconut milk. We spent the rest of the evening drinking beers and sharing stories with Ben and Rachel before heading to bed.

When we entered the room we heard the clicking noise of a Gecko, a tiny lizard about the length of a finger which we had shared our rooms with many times before whist in Asia, however this one sounded bigger. The room was very dark given the lack of electricity, so we were using head torches to maneuver around. I spotted the gecko on the wall next the the bed, however this was the king of all geckos and was MASSIVE! It was the length of a forearm and its head was as big as a fist. I cautiously called Gemma over pre-warning her that this was more a lizard than a gecko and it was bigger than other geckos and that it wouldn't hurt her. She was curious and tentatively walked over. When she saw it, her first words were "Fucking Hell" (such a potty mouth). Once she had regained her composure she walked over to get a closer look. The lizard, being more afraid of us, then ran behind the wall not to be seen again, but heard quite often. We named him Larry and he became our companion making strange noises throughout the night. We were safe under our mosquito net and he was happy feasting on all the bugs in the room. We were woken in the middle if the night by a huge thunder storm. The room lit up with every bolt of lightening and the thunder sounded like the building was collapsing.

Monday 7th December 2015

We spent the day relaxing in the sun again and hired a snorkel set from the guesthouse owner and swam around trying to find some fish but were unsuccessful. We took a walk down the beach but quickly returned to our section of the beach as it was much better. Upon returning we noticed that there were quite a few people sat around our bar relaxing and drinking. Some were quite noisy which annoyed us as we had become quite territorial of our little paradise and became more frustrated as more and more people walked down the beach and into our area. Luckily many stopped by for only a short amount of time and after the sun set they were gone. On that note, the sunset this night was the best we've ever seen. After the sun had gone down, the sky turned red and many other shades of orange. We snapped away with the camera and got some postcard like images.

The Alsatian dogs that live here are very territorial too, but very friendly. The male dog, Bamboo, is very protective of his puppies and when a dog walked into our beach he went crazy. Barking, he chased the unsuspecting dog, which was significantly smaller, down the beach. He caught up to it very quickly and the only means of escape the dog had was to run into the sea. Bamboo chased it to the sea and began fighting. One of the guesthouse workers chased Bamboo and put a chain around his neck and brought him back. The other dog, petrified, swam out to sea. A random guy began swimming after the dog but so afraid, the dog continued to swim. Its head became a tiny dot on the horizon until luckily a fishing boat went past and they managed to turn the dog around and it swam back ashore. If not for the fishermen, this dog would've certainly swam to its death.

In the evening, it was just us 4 again and we sat chatting for hours. I spent most of the night scratching as I have been bitten to shreds by sand flies. What you don't see in post card images of pristine beaches is sand flies. Like mosquitoes (of which there are none here thankfully) they suck blood. My body seems to have had a bad reaction to the bites and they have blistered and are very itchy. We headed to bed about 10pm and had another long sleep.

Tuesday 8th December 2015

Today, following an invite from Rachel & Ben, we headed towards to the town to visit a waterfall in the jungle. At 10am, Kobe, the guesthouse owner gave the 4 of us a ride in his motor boat to the main pier where were started our dreadful walk 2 days before. This way is a much nicer way to travel. We paid a Cambodian guy $1 each to take us to the waterfall. After being pulled along a small lake in a circular boat, we arrived at the jungle and made a treacherous walk over rocks for 5 mins to the waterfall. The waterfall was small in comparisons to others I have seen, but it was nice, and fun to sit under the water to cool ourselves off. After 30mins we made our way back to the main village on Long beach where all the other tourists where staying. We ate some food at the small restaurant overlooking the sea. We then played in the sea, jumping off the pier, before walking 45 minutes around the beach back to our piece of paradise. Thankfully there weren't many people around so we took up our spots in our sun lounger seats and relaxed drinking a coke. We watched another beautiful sun set and in then sat around the bar with the Italians and chatted for ages. There were also another Italian couple who were staying elsewhere along the beach and were on the island for 20 days. They were crazy.

Kobe's wife had agreed to teach Ben how to cook 'Amok' which is a Cambodian dish. Tonight they brought the kitchen out into the bar area and it was just us 4, plus the 2 random Italians, being given a cooking class under the stars. Ben used a pestle and mortar to grind up all the spices and then began frying them off in a pan and added the veg, chicken and coconut milk. We then sat down to eat the Amok which was lovely, and as it turned out, free!! Once the 2 other Italians had left we sat around talking for hours before we decided to head out into the water. It was dark and apparently great for seeing the plankton. Plankton, for those who are not familiar is a form of algae (or so Gemma told me) and they gather in huge pods. When disturbed i.e someone waves an arm around viciously in the water, they all glow. They are iridescent and sparkle like glitter under the water. There we were, under the stars on our private beach with great company witnessing the sea glow around us. It was magical. I felt like Harry Potter!

Alas, the evening had to come to an end and so our stay at Coconut Boulevard on Long Beach, Koh Rong, but not before Kobe got us all drinking some Pastis. This is a french spirit made from aniseed, so tastes like sambucca and is 45% - horrible! He also gave us a story about how some travelers were decapitated a couple of years ago on the Island. We went to bed thinking he was winding us up, but he seemed quite serious and said that's why he has all the dogs. If it was true, I was glad to be leaving the next day. We said our goodbyes to Ben and Rachel who had one more day on the Island before departing for Phenom Penh and then back to Italy as they are only away on a 2 week break.

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