Heading back to the beach

After my time in Kampot I went to the island of Koh Rong. I had heard that this island is supposed to be really beautiful and the pictures looked very promising. At 8.00 am. I was picked up at the hostel by a tuk tuk. Before that I had to go to the ATM again as I was told at the hostel that there were no ATMs on the island.

The tuk tuk then took me to the bus stop where the bus went to Sihanoukville. I was previously told that the road to Sihanoukville was supposed to be the complete horror and that I was better off taking the train. In the end it was easier to book the bus through the hostel.

The first part of the road was completely fine. After about an hour the road was no longer developed and we had to drive 18 kilometers off-road through numerous potholes. So of course we only made very slow progress and needed 1.5 hours for the 18 kilometers. I was more than just relieved when the road was finally paved again. After all, the bus shakes all the time.

Living the island life on Koh Rong

Then it was only an hour until we arrived in Sihanoukville. There we were let out directly at the ferry port. Finding the right port then took a while. There we had to wait a little longer until the ferry picked us up. Luckily, the ferry ride to Koh Rong island didn’t take long. After about 20 minutes I got off at the first stop.

I immediately fell in love with the island. All around me was turquoise blue water, white sand and bright sunshine. After I had my luggage, I made my way to my hostel, which luckily was very close to the ferry terminal.

The hostel was also visually a dream. It was right on the water. There were hammocks everywhere on the beach, there was a volleyball net, tables in the sand and a bar. You had to walk across the sand to get to the rooms. Therefore, the room was of course always full of sand.

My bed was also a bit sandy, but that was the case with everyone. I suspect that the washing machine is full of sand and the bed linen is no longer really clean. I had also read in the reviews at Hostelworld that the beds were already sandy upon check-in. However, it was still the best rated hostel on the island. I just put my blanket on the mattress and then slept in my sleeping bag. It worked well for me.

Relaxing at the beach on Koh Rong

I spent the afternoon relaxing in the hammock. In the afternoon I explored the area I was in a bit. But there weren’t more than a few restaurants, a shop and a few resorts.

In the evening there was a really beautiful sunset over the island. The sky was bathed in pink, orange and yellow colors. After sunset I had dinner in the hostel. The food there was relatively expensive for Asia. However, there was no restaurant nearby that was cheaper.

I spent the evening on the hostel terrace. Usually, Mad Monkey hostels in Asia are known for their many parties. In the hostel on Koh Rong it was relatively quiet. But there weren’t very many people there either.

Before going to bed I definitely had to take a shower because my body looked like a sandbox. No matter where I sat down in the hostel, everything was covered in sand. After the shower I had to go straight to bed otherwise I would have had all the sand all over my body again.

Exploring Koh Rong with a scooter

I started the next morning with breakfast at the hostel. Since the cheapest food on the menu was rice, I had rice for breakfast.

After that I went to the scooter rental at the pier, where the ferries leave and rented a scooter for the day for $12 USD. $12 USD is pretty expensive for a scooter in Asia.

As soon as I had my scooter and my Hello Kitty helmet (they are probably very popular in Asia) I made my way to my first stop, Coconut Beach. I expected the streets on the island to be very pretty and surrounded by palm trees. In the end they weren’t that spectacular.

To get to Coconut Beach I had to drive the last 600 meters off-road. After another 300 meters the path ended and there was only a construction site and a lot of forest around me. The path that was shown to me according to Google Maps did not exist. So I turned around again and refrained from finding Coconut Beach. I then drove a little further down the road, but there was only one port.

The beautiful beaches of Koh Rong

My next stop should be a Fishing Village. This was only 3 kilometers away from my hostel. But since the way there was supposed to be quite poorly developed, I was recommended to drive there from the other side. Of course it took a little longer to get there. In the meantime I passed a really beautiful beach where there were hardly any people. Of course I immediately stopped at the beach.

After a while I drove on towards the Village. Shortly before that, however, the road ended in a construction site and the path that was supposed to lead to the village was not developed either. Since Google Maps doesn’t show me anything anyway, I just decided to drive to the Village from the side of my hostel.

So I made my way back. I stopped again at the beautiful beach I had seen before. But before I made my way back to the hostel, I drove further north of the island. On the way I saw a sign that said „Palm Beach“ which sounded very promising.

There was a small off street parking lot to park your scooter. Then it went down a narrow forest path to the beach. I had to look for the beach first, but finally I found a really nice resort which was located on this beach. Palm Beach was really nice, but I liked the beach I had seen before a lot better.

A little accident with the scooter

After a while I made my way back to my scooter. I knew as soon as I pulled into the parking lot that getting out of there would be a challenge. There were two ways to get back on the road. Either the same way I came, but I had to turn the scooter first, but since there was so little space, this was almost impossible. The other way was right in front of me. However, the path was so steep and rocky that I was sure that I would never make it without an accident. So I had to rotate the scooter somehow.

Since the small parking lot was narrow, unpaved and went down a slope, I really struggled with the scooter. Simply driving was not possible because there was hardly any space for it. So I had to push the scooter. However, the scooter was much too heavy for me on the slope and especially on the slippery stones. It was also not possible to park it temporarily, otherwise it would tip over. At some point I couldn’t hold the scooter anymore, which is why it fell on my foot and I also got a scratch on my leg. Of course it wasn’t bad compared to a real scooter accident, but it was still quite painful.

I was just glad that I swapped my flip flops for sneakers before the ride, otherwise I would have had an injury worse than just a bruise.

With a lot of effort and frustration I eventually managed to turn the scooter around and get it back on the road. Having seen pretty much everything there was to be found on the island, I decided to head back. Just before I drove back to the scooter rental, I tried to get to the Fishing Village. In fact, the road was really as bad as I was told. I drove about a kilometer but then I gave up. The road was just too dangerous for me and I didn’t want to risk a second accident.

So I turned around, returned the scooter and made my way back to the hostel. I spent the rest of the afternoon there, had dinner there and then sat on the terrace.

Beach walks

I started the next morning with a walk on the beach. Even if the stretch of beach in front of the hostel wasn’t very long, I was out and about for quite a while. The turquoise water in the bright sunshine was just too beautiful.

After my walk, I had breakfast in the hostel. I spent the rest of the day mainly on the hostel terrace. There is not much more you can do on the beach than enjoy the view.

In the evening I had dinner with a British guy and two Swiss boys. Later we played beer pong and cards. We also signed up for a beer pong competition where you could win a beer tower. This is simply a four liter keg of beer. But I lost the first round together with the British guy. Admittedly, I wasn’t that sad about it. A few teams had signed up for the beer pong competition, which is why the game dragged on for quite a while throughout the evening. Since I’m not the biggest beer fan either, winning wouldn’t have done me much anyway.

The last day on Koh Rong

The next morning, after getting up, I actually wanted to fly my drone on the beach before I left, but it was very cloudy. That’s why I couldn’t have taken the most beautiful shots. So I first started packing my backpack.

Later the sun came out a bit, which is why I decided to let the drone fly. After taking some cool shots, I finally had breakfast. Since I couldn’t eat rice for breakfast again, I ordered fruit and muesli. Of course, these were twice as expensive as the rice and the portion was only half the size of the rice.

From then on, I actually just waited for my ferry. In the meantime I went to the shops again and bought some fruit for the journey. Later I wanted to fly my drone again. It was a bit windy, but I thought my drone would have to endure the wind. It had also been a bit windy in the morning, but that wasn’t a problem.

However, I quickly realized that the wind was far too strong for my drone. The wind blew my drone further and further across the sea and further and further away from me. Coming upwind was a real struggle. At some point I actually managed to get the drone back to me, but just before landing there was another squall and the drone blew over the water again.

It really took a while before I was finally able to land the drone. Of course, I was more than just relieved because mentally I had already said goodbye to my drone. I was lucky that the drone was only blown over the sea and not between the palm trees or trees. I think then I would never have seen my drone again. In any case, I have now learned what wind speeds the drone cannot withstand.

At four o’clock my ferry went back to Sihanoukville. From there my overnight bus went to Battambang at 5:30 pm. If you would like to know what I experienced during my time in Battambang, please read my next blogpost Driving the bamboo train in Battambang – Cambodia Travel Diary. Coming soon.