Islands and coastal cities in Cambodia

Day 124

Hello dear people❤️

I hope everyone is doing well. Everything is fine with us, enjoying our last day in beautiful Cambodia before continuing to Vietnam.

What happened in the meantime?

So, from the capital Phnom Penh, we continued our journey with the minibus. After about 7 hours of driving, we finally reached our destination, Sihanoukville. In advance, I read that the main town of Sihanoukville is loud and full of sex tourists. That's why we booked our room a bit off the beaten path at Otres Beach. After we settled into our comfortable bamboo bungalow, we walked to the beach. The last time we were at the sea was probably two months ago, so we were very happy to be back here. We really liked Otres Beach: small, cozy, but still with enough bars and restaurants. If you walked long enough, you could have the beach to yourself. We spent a total of four days at Otres Beach. Every day looked more or less the same, sleeping in, eating, beach...

After that, we went to Koh Rong island. Backpack on, bus, speedboat, and in just 3 hours we arrived at Koh Rong, specifically Coconut Beach. We booked 3 nights in a tent right on the beach. The prices on Koh Rong are fantastic, you have to spend at least $100 for a nice bungalow. That was too much for us, so we decided to go for the cheaper option, and also the most beautiful one. The resort was very inviting, there was a restaurant, countless hammocks, a beautiful beach, and our tent. It was very cozy, even with a mattress. We had to share the bathroom and toilets with the other guests who were also staying in tents. The boss, Robin, was in a great mood and came up with great activities for his guests. In the following night, he woke us up at 4am to see the bioluminescent plankton in the sea. Plankton are tiny organisms that live in the water and are invisible to the naked eye. They only start to glow when they are disturbed, for example, when you swim. It had been a dream of mine to see this spectacle for a long time. So we walked sleepily to the ocean at 4 o'clock in the morning and couldn't believe our eyes. We swam through the sea and it started to glow all around us. I can only say it was an incredibly amazing experience. After that, we went back to the tent and tried to sleep for a few more hours. In the afternoon, we spontaneously decided to go snorkeling. The spot was not so good, we saw a few fish but the reef was quite damaged. Then we tried our hand at fishing. Well, Lars and I weren't very lucky and didn't catch anything. But the captain was pulling fish after fish. So dinner was secured. The highlight came next, the boat headed to the most beautiful beach on the island. There we had a few hours of free time. The Longbeach was absolutely fantastic, the sand was like powdered sugar, and the beach seemed endless. After that, we had grilled fish and a cool whiskey. On the way back, we enjoyed the sunset on the open sea. In the night, Robin came up with something for his guests again, this time it was releasing lanterns into the sky. With Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey cheesy music in the background, Lars and I released the lantern into the sky together. Robin said, 'Make a wish' before we let it go. Oh, it was so romantic, although a little cheesy at the same time. The next day, we took a little hike to a small fishing village. So we set off, uphill, and the sweat was already pouring. When we arrived, we walked around the quite typical Cambodian village. We gave some candy to the children that we still had in our backpack. More and more children came, and they all wanted to play with us and be carried. They were so cute. After we returned to the accommodation, we relaxed and enjoyed our last evening in this unique place.

The next morning, we continued our journey to the next island called Koh Rong Samloem. After a short boat ride, we reached the island. The first impression was disappointing, the village was not nice, littered, and not comparable to Coconut Beach. We stayed in a wooden bungalow there. After meeting a guy who we already knew from Laos, he gave us some information and said that if we walked a bit, we would come to an even more beautiful bay. We had to check it out immediately, and indeed, after about 30 minutes of walking, we came to a really beautiful stretch of beach. So we spent the next three days relaxing, reading, swimming, and eating. Although the food wasn't that great, on the last day I even got a stomach ache. After three days, we were glad to move on. Maybe it was just this part of the island that we didn't like. Other travelers who were staying in other parts of the island had heard great things.

The journey continued to Kampot. First, by boat back to the mainland and then a 2-hour bus ride to the city. The accommodation was great, and the boss and his family were incredibly friendly, all for just $8 per night. We had planned four days for Kampot. We immediately explored the city and were pleasantly surprised. Kampot is so cozy, relatively clean, and there was very little traffic, which was different from the Asian cities we were used to. There is a beautiful river flowing through Kampot, where you can enjoy the sunset on one of the ship bars in the evening. The next day, we rented a scooter to explore the surrounding area. Kampot is famous for its pepper, so we visited a pepper farm. We drove 20km through the beautiful countryside and small villages until we reached our destination. We were greeted very nicely and could take a free tour of the farm. They explained everything about the different types of pepper, cultivation, and processing. On the way back, we passed a beautiful lake, the Secret Lake, where we took a rest. Since we had the scooter for two days, the next day we went to the Bokor National Park about 20km from Kampot. We drove up the mountain on a fantastic road. The roads were in top condition, you could really compare them to Swiss mountain passes. Lars had a lot of fun driving and occasionally stepped on the gas, while I screamed behind him. The national park didn't have much to offer, except for a lake, the rest was more or less a construction site of several resorts, Chinese investors. So we enjoyed the rest of our time in cozy Kampot. We also found a German cafe with Leberkäse (meatloaf), pretzels, and Weisswurst (Bavarian sausage). We also found a Swiss restaurant for Lars, with Raclette and good beef fillet. We met a nice guy from Bern, Simuu, in the restaurant. He spends the winter months in Asia every year. We had a fun evening in the pub with him.

Then we headed to the last stop in Cambodia, Kep. Kep is known for its seafood and especially crab fishing. The bus ride was very short, Kep is only 30 minutes away from Kampot. Here we found the cheapest accommodation of our trip: $6 per night. Since the guesthouse is a bit out of town, we preferred to ride the bike to the center, which took about 10 minutes. Everything revolves around crab there. We strolled leisurely through the Crab Market and watched the sellers. They went into the water with bamboo baskets and caught the animals. We continued towards the beach, it was great to ride the bike, the route runs right along the sea. The beach is nothing special, but not bad for a short break either. In the evening, we enjoyed some crab in one of the many seafood restaurants. Since we wanted to see more, we rented a vehicle. We went towards Kep National Park with the scooter. There we took a short hike, but got lost, so we ended up walking through the forest for 4 hours. We saw monkeys, spiders, and other reptiles.

So today, on our last day in Cambodia, we are organizing flights, bus rides, and hotel rooms. We look back a bit melancholy on a month in Cambodia. A country that has had to endure a lot but whose land and people are simply fantastic. Tomorrow morning, our bus will take us to Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City. It will take us 9 hours by bus. Our friends Corinne and Caro are waiting for us there for two weeks. Thank you for coming, and we are infinitely looking forward to seeing both of you.

Best regards,

Anita❤️