Chilling over New Year

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We were besieged with offers of lifts when we arrived at Sihanoukville station but Steph ordered a tuk tuk via an app to take us to the port. We had pre booked an express trip to Koh Rong, an island about 45 minutes from the mainland. They was a flurry of activity at the dock with various sized boats arriving and leaving. Getting passengers and luggage on and off the boats was done swiftly and efficiently. We boarded at the back and the luggage was thrown along a line of employees to be stowed in cupboards on both sides of the boat. The journey was smooth and quick. We were staying on Long Set beach with a jetty next to our hotel and we were the 2nd stop. We were met on the jetty and checked in. We were put at the back of the grounds in a hastily finished room but at least we had 2 comfortable beds, air con, hot water and it was away from the noise! We sorted ourselves out then headed out to eat. There were a few restaurants about 5 minutes from the hotel so we had a Thai meal. About 11:30 we walked to the end of the jetty to watch the firework displays at the various hotels and resorts as well as Chinese lanterns. Steph had packed tins of ready made mojitos so we didn’t have to drink any local concoctions 🤣

A buffet breakfast was included in our room price which gave us the opportunity to take fresh milk back to the room for our tea ☕️ We began the New Year with a walk along the beach in both directions and a swim in the warm sea followed by a meal further along the beach.

The next day was a day to chill but I did try my hand at SUP - stand up paddle boarding while Steph took advantage of one of the hammocks. We had dinner at a different resort along the beach.

On 3rd we booked a Khmer massage which took place in a hut near the beach, It was very relaxing but I’ve never been massaged by someones feet before 🦶😉 I booked myself on an evening snorkelling, fishing sunset boat trip which also also offered the chance of seeing the bioluminescent plankton. There was a French man, a family of 4 from Liechtenstein and me. Our first stop gave us the chance to snorkel and, although it was quite choppy, there were plenty of fish to see as well as some coloured Coral. We then set off along the West side of the island and stopped for a spot of fishing. All the adults managed to catch at least one fish each. We headed further up the coast so our fish could be barbecued on board and we could watch the sunset 🌅 Our final stop was to see the plankton. If you agitated the water you could see sparks of light which were the plankton. It was a nice way to spend a few hours and I enjoyed the pizza we had for dinner.

After breakfast the next day we checked out and boarded our boat back to the mainland. It was a very exciting journey as the water was rough so there was a lot of bouncing through or over the waves 🌊

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Comments

[Jennifer]

Happy New Year
Wow, what an amazing trip. Beautiful photos and have enjoyed reading about your adventure. It has wetted my appetite to visit such a wonderful place. Hope all is well. Kids, etc are all good. Lots of love. Jennifer et al