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Koh Rong. I'm sad to inform you that all the words I could write will never do this island the justice it truly deserves. Unless I am extraordinarily lucky, I highly doubt I'll ever visit a place as close to paradise as Koh Rong. I feel so privileged to have visited this place now due to recent Lonely Planet journalists making trips to the island I feel that the exclusivity and shipwrecked surroundings will be lost with investors and developers ruining what is so special about this beautiful island. I've left my heart in a lot of places yet this island doesn't make me want to as that means we have to leave which will always be too soon.
After an amazing nights sleep at Don Bosco school we packed up early and began our journey to Koh Rong by a tuktuk from Mr Pork (don't ask). We left early as we had to apply for our visas at the Vietnamese embassy yet unlike the experience we had at the Cambodian border, this ran relatively smoothly. With time to spare, we went and had a pancake breakfast in downtown Sihoukville, which was lovely but also when we realised this was very much an older Aussie blokes hangout with their Asian (probably paid for) brides.
Our ferry was at 11am so we made our way to the pier at 10.30 am. All going smoothly. Yet at 10:55am as we are just boarding the 30 seater speed boat a surprise monsoon swept the beach. Well walking down a set of not very well handmade wooden stairs and then taking a leap of pure luck two metres into the boat with our backpacks on was fun, not to mention a miracle that we (Frankie) didn't fall in!
The next forty minutes proceeded to then be the longest and most nauseating of my life. What seemed like an eternity later we arrived at Koh Rong. We were greeted by a group of 'local' westerners who worked on the island and we were welcomed to what I can only describe as a island initiation. This was when we realised how back to basics this island was, in all the right ways.
Take the film the beach and place 24 bars/restaurants/guesthouses on it and that is Koh Rong. All of the buildings are made of wood and there is only electric between 8-2 and 6-12. No wifi, meaning you got to meet so many more interesting people and it made me realise how much you don't actually need to use your phone. There is no doctor, no ATM and even best no need to wear shoes anywhere.
Each guesthouse has it's own cool personality and to my happiness, lots and lots of pets. Bongs is where we are staying (supposedly means brother in Cambodian) and we have three house dogs and four tiny beautiful kittens! Every one that works here is so chilled out and are like a little family that are so welcoming. We also get free tea, coffee and breakfast all day at Bongs, told you it was paradise!
The westerners on the island are very interesting and bohemian and would explain why a lot of the bars have the same relaxed laws and products of those that you'd find in Amsterdam (minus the prossies). Everyone is so so chilled out and mellow and some of the stories we've heard from the people here are crazy!
The main bar 'Cocoa' is the busiest and holds events each night. I thought I was competitive then I saw Franks 'Monica from Friends' side when it came to beer pong. She even dropped me as a team member when we lost and went on to the finals with some other dude! Cocoa is so fun though, everyone just gets drunk, smokes and tells each other about their life and travel stories. When the electric cuts out it's either back up music from the generator and a disco in the dark or if there's a musician present an acoustic set by candle light.
I can't even explain. Running through the clearest sea at 3am looking for plankton with life long friends you've just met or attempting to stay up to see the most beautiful sunrise. You can't make up memories like these.
Unfortunately as soon as we got to the island the good spell of sunshine broke. Although it's great to chill and play board games and go swimming in the sea whilst raining we have missed out of exploring the island. There's a jungle you can trek through for about an hour, past a waterfall and get to the most beautiful and deserted beach. We also wanted to go on the zip line which circles the whole island, over all the beach and jungle. I am currently sat on the balcony of our guesthouse in a hammock writing this and we are hoping the weather clears so we can make the most of our last day. If we can't do a jungle trek we are going to hire a kayak and make our way to a tiny deserted island. Failing all this we are thinking of going to Island Boys Guesthouse and buying a special island cookie. I mean when in Koh Rong.........
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