Koh Rong Sanloem

ជំរាបសួរ you couch potato.

With Lena as a new member of the Chaos travel group, we continued to the sister island Koh Rong Sanloem. However, the day started with a heavy rain shower, which is short but very heavy here in Asia. During the rain we heard a puppy howling behind our hotel room. He was no more than 4 weeks old and was standing alone in the rain. Without further ado, Julian climbed out of the window and brought the little one into our room, where we wrapped him in towels. The little one fell asleep within seconds and we puzzled over what to do with him. We finally took him to a woman who looks after the street dogs. She brought the little one back to his mom, which broke our hearts a little because you live more or less in a garbage dump...

We met Lena at the pier and waited for our boat to Koh Rong Sanloem. We walked through the water to a small boat powered by two engines that looked like converted machine guns. When we arrived on Koh Rong Sanloem, we stayed in a guesthouse that was basically just made of boards, but was sufficient for the bare essentials. In between swimming in the crystal clear, beautiful blue water we also went hiking, which as expected was pure chaos. We wanted to hike to Clear Water Bay, but we got lost on the way there and walked around a mountain that we should have crossed. However, we were adamant that this wouldn't have happened if our friendly host had given us clearer directions. Despite our getting lost, the hike was really beautiful and we had a lot of fun together. The water at Clear Water Bay wasn't much clearer than at the beach where we stayed, but at least there was less going on. On the way back we looked for the trail again, but with our luck we didn't find it and wandered around for 30 minutes before three very friendly local women led us to the path. They also gave us something strange to eat that tasted a little like a mixture of kidney beans and a potato.

Our absolute highlight of Koh Rong Sanloem was the Plankton Swim on the last evening. We have never seen anything as wonderful and magical as this glowing plankton in our lives. The four of us took a tiny boat out to sea, where we were given diving goggles and a snorkel. It was like swimming among the stars. This is how fairies or mermaids must feel. My inner child screamed and clapped her hands for joy and jumped in place. We could have spent hours in the water looking at this wonder of the earth, but our legs eventually gave out. It probably would have gone even longer with fins. I will burn these wonderful memories into my brain as firmly as I can. Oh man, the world has so many magical and wonderful things to offer. Where should you even start...

We are now heading to Kampot together with Lena. The trip there will of course be another catastrophe... let yourself be surprised.

លាហើយ