17.-19.10. Mad Monkey

Unfortunately, I didn't have internet on the 'lonely' island for the past few days, which is why everything is happening all at once now.

We arrived on the island Koh Rong Samloem on Wednesday by ferry. However, to get to our hostel, the 'Mad Monkey', we had to transfer to two other small boats, with the railing on the last one not necessarily balanced and it tipped over into the water when I stepped onto it. Somehow I managed to pull myself up at the pier, otherwise I would have fallen into the concrete pillars filled with sea urchins. But fortunately, everything turned out fine.

Other than that, the island greeted us with endless long and white beaches with jungle behind, a wonderful reception. The hostel itself had a large open space as a lounge and reception area with a view of the sea. And the dormitories were simple 'shelters' for the actual beds and open to the sea, so you could always hear the sound of the sea and the jungle and look out onto the bay from the bed.

At midnight, half of the hostel went out a bit to witness a special phenomenon: bioluminescent plankton. Every movement through the water with this plankton triggers a chemical reaction and it starts to fluoresce as small light points, making you feel like you're swimming through a small universe.

After a nice night in the open dormitories, where you wake up early because they face east, we took part in a snorkeling trip the next day. We went to a neighboring bay and then had time to dive through the reef there to admire the fish and the underwater world. After that, somewhat ironically, we went fishing with fishing line, weight, and hook. While everyone on the boat caught something and our guides caught a fish every two minutes, I didn't catch anything after an hour. Luckily, the boat had a communist structure, so everyone could eat the fried fish and I didn't have to go hungry.

The afternoon consisted of lounging around with a book and playing card games, which turned into a travel duel. Let's see who ends up with the fewest points in rummy. The evening ended with our bartenders putting on a fire show on the beach, with many torches falling to the ground, but the 'performers' had fun.

After a rather stormy night, the sun woke us up and said goodbye the next morning, and we had to leave this beautiful place. We were actually a bit relieved because when so many backpackers start drinking from noon, you eventually start feeling uncomfortable. But there were always places to escape to.

On the ferry, a torrential rain started, which was not as short as the previous ones and is still going on here in the bus. The streets were flooded after just half an hour - now we've experienced a 'real' rainy season downpour as well.

Tomorrow, hopefully, we will go to Vietnam. We couldn't book the bus yet and hopefully our visas are still waiting in Phnom Penh, where we are heading back now, as there was no connection to Vietnam from the islands. Hopefully, the blog will be more regular again, thanks for reading again after the break.