25th, 26th and 27th January 2013
The boat was due to leave at 9.30 am for Koh Rong Samloem and would be stopping at a small island on the way for a bit of snorkling and jumping off the boat. It was called the Party Boat …
The boat stopped about half way and one of the boat crew showed off his best tricks.
The sea was a bit rough in the open sea but in the shelter of the island it was dead calm. The fishing boats were also sheltering there, both the typical Cambodian style and some more modest ones!
This one was made of slabs of polystyrene tied together with rope, but the owner was just as proud of it!
About an hour later we arrived at the main beach. The water is pretty shallow and so you have to jump into the shallow water with your bags.
First impressions are great, white powder sand and turquoise sea. Immediately behind the narrow strip of beach is the jungle. Development has only happened in the last couple of years here. Before that, the only bungalows were on Lazy beach, a twenty minute walk across the island.
The arrival point is ‘The Beach’ which has a mixture of backpacker dorms and small bungalows.
We stayed at the end of the beach where it is a bit quieter. There is a new pier there built by the owner of the bungalows.
The view from our bungalow immediately made us decide to extend from two to three nights …. seven would have been nice!
During the next few days we spent the time walking, swimming, eating and drinking. It was an easy walk to Lazy Beach which has a lovely beach side restaurant, with great fruit drinks and a mixture of western and cambodian food.
The food is really tasty
You have to remember that you are in the jungle, so you do get mosquitoes at night and the odd creature where you don’t expect one! This made Marjool jump when she went to wash her hands.
Our final day was spent walking across the island to a third beach with bungalows, Robinson Beach. The path takes about 30 to 40 minutes to walk, but is steepish in places and it is quite warm in the jungle.
It is a nice beach, but narrow and quite small.
The final night was pretty noisy on our side of the island as it was a full moon party. Not big by Thai standards but still over 150 people, mainly from the mainland.
We were pretty boring and left well before the party got into full swing … more a young backpacker thing.
The following morning we reversed the process with the boats and arrived back at Serendipity pier, ready for a night (sleeping bus) back up to Siem Reap.
Although it seemed like a good idea, it felt really unsafe laying flat, with only a small edge at the front to stop you sliding forward. The bus went incredibly fast for the road and all night we kept thinking that if the driver fell asleep or had a puncture we would crash off into the trees at the side of the road, shooting through the windscreen feet first……. (I wish I didn’t have such a vivid imagination). The lower bunks (which we had booked) would have felt much safer …… but the outcome would be the same! Oh well, we made it in one piece and put it down as an experience which we would not repeat. Strange how you see the danger more as you get older!!
So on the morning of 28th of January we are back in Siem Reap!
troopytracks 