Koh Rong Island is a 45 minute boat ride from the mainland. It's the biggest island in Cambodia. I knew it would be scenic, but I did not anticipate the pristine wilderness. There are no roads, no vehicles, no modern convenience. The power stops occasionally. So does the running water. You can walk across the island on the few trails that lead to secluded beaches.
Cambodia is so flat that every small hill is called a "mountain. But here, real mountains rise steeply from the beaches. A small row of guesthouses and restaurants line the beach. Again, there was that invisible line. Turn left off the pier, and you are in Cambodiaville. Turn right, and you are in Foreignerville
The doctor on the island is also the receptionist at my bungalow. He's a Cambodian man, mid 20's, and unclear medical training. But, he has bandages and medicine. Therefore, he is the doctor.
I loved it! The lifestyle on the island was slow-paced, peaceful, and very casual. It is the kind of place where you walk around barefoot all the time. At one point, I was wearing flip flops, but took them off without thinking and walked all around. When I realized that I did leave my bungalow with shoes, I retraced my steps until I found them scattered in the sand.
I stayed in a traditional thatch bungalow at Coco's. It was spacious, peaceful, and about 100 meters from the beach. Since my room was up on the highest point, I didn't need to use the mosquito nets, and there was a cool breeze at night, so I didn't even need a fan. It had a private bathroom off to the side and a large patio with a hammock in front. It is definitely one of the nicest places I've stayed in a while.
The beach on Koh Rong was beautiful, had blindingly white sand, and was swarming with sand flies. I already had a big gash in my right knee from attempting to play volleyball at school, another gash on my left knee when I tripped on some towels, and a sore on my left foot from my sandals. Add 3 dozen sand fly bites and swollen ankles to that, and you get the picture. I looked like some kind of accident victim. I didn't want my big cuts to get infected in the water, so I carefully applied bandages and wrapped packing tape around them. It was not ideal, but, as they say in Honduras, "Pero como?" (What can you do?)
The water was the same on Koh Rong, only calmer. Waves were virtually nonexistent.
One day a group of monks arrived on a boat. They sat in the big room on the pier and chanted for hours. Then, the younger ones explored the beach and waded into the ocean very cautiously, testing out the water with their feet. They probably don't know how to swim, so they only went ankle deep.
The Khmer New Year celebrations take place over three days, and the Cambodians were practicing their usual traditions of slapping talcum powder on your face or spraying people with Super Soaker water guns. One day, this Cambodian guy hooked up a hose to the ocean and started spraying water on everyone. It didn't matter who you were, you got wet. One white guy went totally mental because it broke his phone. He got so pissed that he ended up hurling it into the sea. I got the impression he was not familiar with these traditions.
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