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Koh Rong is exactly what we both dreamed of when we made our plans to travel together. Isolation, surreal beaches, unique accommodation, superb weather and crystal clear jade sea.
On day one we got picked up in Sihanoukville and were taken to the port and boarded our boat for the 2 hour journey to Koh Rong. There were only 5 passengers in total, we were both on a hangover after the England v France match and feeling fragile!
Upon arrival to Koh Rong it was instantly apparent how different this place was to anywhere else we've been so far. We checked in at "CoCos" and were shown the way to our "bungalow" (see pics). It was right in the middle of the jungle and nothing more than a large shed with a hole in the roof at one end. CoCo is located in the only village on the island which had about 8-10 buildings in total. Apart from the village there are three other bungalow style guesthouses along the beach with bars and that's about it.
On our first day we spent our day exploring walking on the beach with the thick white sand actually squeaking under foot as it's so clean - like walking on flour! We stumbled across Monkey Island bar (see pics) which is where we ended up spending each evening - if Carlsberg made bars this would be it... the staff were amazing and the customers were all really cool, we had lots of laughs there. We had a BBQ on the beach at CoCo before going to bed. We'd taken candles with us as the electric in the bungalows runs from 6 - 10 only.
On day 2 we decided to go on an organised snorkelling trip to the corals on an island nearby. After Gem initially getting over the fear of being in the deep blue we enjoyed looking at the corals and watching the various fish swim by (and steered clear of the sea urchins). The trip included lunch back on the pier, rice and cambodian veg. We spent the rest of the afternoon lazing on the beach and swimming in the gorgeous still water before making our way back to Monkey Island for a very funny night which included fire shows and copious cocktails.
Day 3 became a chill out day on the beach in fantastic weather, swimming, reading, smoking and sleeping! We ate at Monkey Island and spent the evening again laughing with other travellers and the bar staff. Someone told us that we should go for a midnight swim on the darkest part of the beach and we would see dayglo algae. Curious, we went ahead and as soon as we were thigh deep we started to see them. The deeper we got and the more we moved the more the sea lit up with small bright sparkles of flourescent green light dancing around us like magic dust. Its official name is Noctiluca scintillans and just like in the film The Beach, although it's pitch black and there's not even any light from the moon when you move around it lights up your whole body. An amazing experience, we couldn't stop laughing at the wonder of it!
Day 4 and it was time to return to Sihanoukville for 2 more nights to watch England V Sweden (and we're glad we did!). We have booked a bus to Kratie which leaves on Sunday 17th - it's the longest bus journey we've done so far so not looking forward to it very much but Kratie will be our last stop in Cambodia before Laos so it'll be worth it.
- comments
Ronnie Sounds awesome mate, how long are you in Asia for and where else are ya visiting.
Steve Botting Incredible guys! Just incredible! Xxx
Emma hunt Sounds and looks amazing. So glad your living your dream xx
Matt Hey Ron, hope you're well mate!x We leave Asia for Australia at the end of October. We are in Laos now and then Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore to go. x