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Our mission for our time in Cambodia, as well as Shaun's birthday wish for the 24th February was to be on a beach, relaxing and allowing our long-travelled souls finally to catch up on now slightly weary bodies. However, there was a lot to see beside the coastline so after waking up early after a good night's sleep in the amazing 88 Backpacker's hostel and being picked up by Simon, our tuk-tuk driver for the day, our first taste of the country was the Phnom Penh Genocide Museum, or S-21 prison, which was a very harrowing experience without going into too much detail of the barbaric acts of Pol Pot's regime. We could not stay for very long as it was so eerie and suffocating to witness, but as we said about Auschwitz, it is good that people are shown these things in hope that it will not happen again anywhere else. On our return the low spirits where overtaken by Shaun's first experience of a haircut during our travels, which definitely made good value entertainment for just one dollar. Sporting a new Cambodian chopped up hair-do with inconsistent lengths throughout, we met up, for one last time, with Jess & Matt and Stina & Mathilda for a night of bizarre fun in the capital, including lots of offers from local girls for their company, and even stumbled upon a Suomi Bar, which to my extreme delight served all my favourite liquorice shots and classic Finnish cuisine (although we didn't get a chance to try any of the food). Needless to say, it was a late one and it ended with the inevitable & heartbreaking final goodbyes to the foursome. Once again we were, after a long time travelling with other friends, just us two.
The now well-established 'hangover & travelling day' morning broke nice & early and we headed down south towards Sihanoukville in search of the promised beach life. On arrival the place seemed quite touristy, but with a nice beach so we sat down for dinner and drinks and witnessed a very pretty sunset, though all the while getting constantly pestered by local kids and beggars asking for money or trying to sell things. We where very happy in the knowledge that across the horizon lay Koh Rong Island, where we'd be heading off in a few days time.
The morning of our two and a half hour boat trip we fuelled up on Karjalanpiirakka (tasty finnish rice-pasty thing) from a Finnish-run cafe and we were on our way happily relaxing on a calm sea and watching the islands get closer. To say we were excited is really an understatement as we docked onto a small pier, walked past a tiny fishing village and walked along a pristine white sandy beach, crystal clear warm waters to find our bungalows for the week ahead. To top off our first day, that night we went swimming at midnight (when all the generator produced electricity on the island goes off) and got to experience fluorescent algae in the sea, it was like swimming with millions of tiny diamonds whilst above us was another millions of tiny diamonds, one of the best nights skies we've seen; amazing. Shaun's birthday was the following day, but as if by some ill-fate, the bad stomach Shaun had on my birthday in beijing, struck me in the morning. I had to take it pretty easy to make sure I would be OK for the night, but after the late night on the previous eve, both of us only managed a pizza at the third resort called Treehouse and a few drinks at the second resort, Monkey Island. So as it goes, on Shaun's 27th birthday, we were in bed by 10.30pm. The morning after (which was only our third full day on the island) we figured that we loved the place so much and to make up for the slightly unexciting birthday, that we decided to extend our stay for a further four nights. We had booked to stay at Paradise Bungalows, which were right next to Monkey Island Bungalows, a much livelier and younger-feeling place and we actually ended up spending much of our time there. The staff there were great, the Thai cook made amazing food and there was always a daily game of beach volleyball where the losing team bought the winning team beers and after each game, the cheap beers were thrown into the sea for all the players who'd ran in to cool off. Shaun tried to teach me to play volleyball the next day, but even after a training session in the sea, as a bit of a perfectionist, I decided that after my first game, my volleyball career would be very short-lived.
We woke up early the next day to catch the sunrise at 5.30, it was spectacular on the deserted beach with waves lapping on the shore. After a little catch-up on sleep we headed to a four-kilometre beach about a 30 minute walk away through a small stretch of jungle, which didn't disappoint, apart for maybe all the rubbish that was washed up on shore. All that aside, we walked all the way across and back in shallow, clear and calm waters and only returned as it was starting to get dark. The island just kept getting better the longer we stayed and we were playing with the thought of running our own place there one day. Or failing that, bagging a job at Monkey Island, true home away from home, where we yet again returned for the evening for strong buckets of rum and pineapple, chats and laughs with Paddy the manager, Shea the Assistant Manager, Dave from Melbourne, Australia, Seamus from Ireland, Tee from Vietnam and Mickey from Canada. Seamus had organised a quiz night for the day after, which we didn't do half bad at; to start with, Shaun's input with the team name - Norfolk 'n' Change - bagged us a bottle of Cambodian Jagermeister (questionable) but also with my amazing luck with the bonus round, we got another bottle of Mekong Whiskey, both which we happily shared with the packer bar. All in all we were having an amazing time on the gem of an island whilst making lots of friends with staff and other travellers, relaxing, swimming (and myself catching a few naps every now and then) - just what we needed.
In the next few days we were doing rather little, we had a go with spear fishing with snorkels which was great fun, but with no catch and after Shaun getting in the wrong side of a 15cm crab we called it quits. We met with a lovely couple from England called Debbie and Dave, who were staying a few bungalows below us. They'd done extensive travel in South East Asia and were pretty adamant that Koh Rong was quite possibly the best they knew in terms of not being unspoiled by tourism, cleanliness and spectacular scenery and beaches. In their words, we were 15 years too late for anything else in the region. From chatting to the staff over at Monkey Island and from little research we knew that this paradise would not stay the same for too long, so we were beginning to contemplate on staying just a little longer...
After a crazy night during which our bungalow seemed to have been taking over by mice, ants and lizards, we woke up a little jaded and not feeling too well. After failed attempts of eating, we were pretty much bed bound with dodgy stomachs, feeling rather desperate. Thankfully, Debbie and Dave from next door had a suggestion for a cure; drink a big bottle of water with a few drops of iodine and nothing else, no food, for 24 hours. With no objections, we duly obeyed and took it very easy just relaxing at our patio and dreaming about Mexican food. Having said that Shaun still managed three games of volleyball while I slept, without the beer intake, of course! As the day passed we were starting to feel a little better but ensured that we didn't eat until the following morning - a total of 36 hours. Feeling extremely weak, we wandered over to Monkey Island and ordered a simple breakfast. Trust us, those were the best beans on toast ever! We were confident enough to eat twice that day and even tried some of the four metre snake which a villager had caught and prepared for Monkey Island. Joyous about our recovery, we enquired about staying for a little longer, only to realise that perhaps Paradise Bungalows weren't too happy us spending hardly any money at their establishment and so our request was shunned to say the least. During the night we had a mad thunder storm (which sparked a chain of them almost every night thereafter) and taking this as a sign, we were convinced that we would be far better off over at Monkey Island.
Feeling safe about adding old uncle alcohol into the picture after our fasting, we had a fantastic night filled with giggles, chatting to staff; Seamus and Dave, as well as Shaun's fellow Mancunian Shea and Mickey from Canada. We also made friends with Ellen from France, Matt, Dan and Tim from Australia, Jenni, Anniina and Johanna my fellow Finns (we were almost the top nation at one point in the whole place) and lots of other people. We were getting stuck firmly on the bamboo bar stools, no joke, it was a turly amazing place with a fantastic atmosphere! To top off our night, we heard that the owner of Paradise Bungalows had been bad-mouthing us to Paddy, the Manager of Monkey Island that he has guests staying over and requesting to extend their stay but spending all their money over at Monkey Island! Moi??
We were fast making history of the longest staying people in Monkey Island (loving the fact that they saw us as guests from the beginning) and Shaun even got his signature cocktail - The 'Shaunito' - on the menu. Now safe and sound staying at Monkey Island's beach front bungalows, we were having the time of our lives enjoying the beach, the sea, the food, the volleyball games the drinking games (including Pub Golf and Wizard Stick night - the latter which will be featuring in England as soon as were back).. the people, the cutest dogs, puppies, cats & kittens ever, the sun and the thunder storms - just life on Koh Rong in all it's glory. Even the fact that Shaun got bitten literally hundreds of times by sandflies on a trip to the other side of the island to watch the sunset on an almost deserted beach didn't put a downer on things. If anything, his back became the stuff of legends. I made the sweaty hike through the jungle later on along with Shaun, Dan, Jenni, Ed and Lauren from Australia (very nice couple) and Juan from Argentina (what a dude!), but we all agreed we would not stay for the sunset to be eaten alive. The beach on the other side was so worth chancing the grueling Indiana Jones-like hike in about 40c heat through jungle up and down a mountain, as it was the most spectacular beach we have ever seen, even better than the one on 'our side'. It was like a swimming pool, no-one around, just breathtaking - and as mentioned, difficult to match anywhere else.
Our stay at Koh Rong totaled to 19 days. It is hard to summarise the life we had, never mind the fact that it sometimes was simply just about relaxing and not doing much at all. We could tell you about the nudie swims at midnight (well, the record attendance was 17 people), or maybe try and bend the truth that we didn't drink way too much during that time, but the bottom line is that we simply did not want to leave. If it hadn't been for our Cambodian visas running out, I would not be surprised to find us still there, on our bamboo bar stools chatting away the day with the great people we've met. Sadly, Koh Rong Island is now mostly owned by a scary Khmer guy (with his posse of bodyguards popping in every now and then) with big plans of an airport, motorways, golf resorts, big hotels and casinos. We are unsure, sadly perhaps a little doubtful if the Island would be the same if we were to return in the future, or after our travel around the world. However, I'm sure it'll be worth the chance and we would recommend for anyone to visit and try their hardest to leave.
- comments
Adam Great Blog!! Were heading out to Koh Rong in October this year. Would you say Monkey Island is the pick to stay at. It seems you spent a lot of time there. Also have you got any photos? I would love to see them
Anne & Shaun Thanks dude! Koh Rong is an amazing island, it was so hard to leave. Monkey Island is definitely the best laugh, the staff are great and you'll never go bored. The setting there is perfect. :) The bungalows there are (or were) 20$ for beach front with shared toilet & shower (not a problem) or 30$ for a row behind with their own bathroom. On the island there are two other bungalow places, Paradise (which we stayed at first, 20$ for hill-side with own bathroom) and Treehouse, which is a little further back, not sure about their prices, but they make nice pizzas! :) All in all, MI is where you will be called by your first name from day one, think that says it all. Have fun, we're extremely jealous!
-a Monkey Island, how appropriate! Did you guys talk to Guybrush Threepwood? Or see the Giant Monkey Head? :) Koh Rong sounds like a lovely place. And there's nothing wrong with just relaxing for a few weeks... especially if you happen to be on an awesome tropical island.
Alicia So we left before the midnight swims?? Phew! I'm sure that was quite fun especially with photo phosphorescents! So glad to have met you in your travels!
Anne Antti, that's what I kept thinking! :) It wasn't far off, chickens running around, giant snake, pirates... oh no, there wasn't any pirates. But still! :) Wish we could go back, it was amazing!
Lucy Was the manager called Sean Breegan? Was there anyone there of that name?
Shaun Yes Lucy, although he refers to himself as Shea.
Senior Breegs Nice words. Best place ever, i'm going back for my 3rd trip soon... too see the island or my brother shea sean franko breegs!
jess Nice post! How was the stay at Paradise?