Koh Rong Island

I am awake at 5.50am and jump out of bed to make sure I have not missed the sunrise.  The usual flask of hot water and cookies are on the table at the front of the tent and the sky is just starting to turn to orange and purple.  I wake Corinne and we both sit outside with a cup of tea and watch the sun rise fully over the hills and forest beyond. 

There’s no back to bed this morning though; we have an early start to get on the road for Koh Rong Island, the last new stop for our tour – we are back to Phnom Penh for the final night.  We are at breakfast by 7am and packed ready to leave at 8am for the boat back to the road and our driver waiting for us to take on to the port at Sihanoukville, where we will catch a speedboat to our hotel on the island.

Unfortunately, we have to go back down the same road that we came on to get to the Tathi River. It’s another 2-3 hours of uncomfortable rattling around in the back of the car before finally hitting the only motorway in Cambodia that takes us the last half hour of the journey into Sihanoukville. The road has been built with Chinese investment and it is fairly evident, on entering the city, that there is much Chinese investment here to.  It seems that a lot of the main strategic infrastructure here is now being supported with Chinese money and they also seem to have a grip on tourism too.  I am not sure Cambodia will retain its traditional identity and remain unspoilt for too much longer and whilst I can understand it represents advancement for them, it does seem like it is en route to becoming just another big money, big hotel, tourist hot spot.

We arrive at the port in Sihanoukville with an hour and half to kill before our speedboat takes us on to the island.  We finally board the boat and end up chatting to the only other couple coming with us, a doctor and his wife that live in Brunei but used to live in Isleworth and Manchester, whilst he was a cardiologist for the NHS!  The conversation took my mind off the fact that I don’t like boat travel and within an hour we were docking at the landing stage surrounded by crystal clear sea and white sand beaches.

We were whisked away by golf buggy, up the jetty and into reception where a welcome drink awaited and we given a quick run down of the facilities.  We were then shown to our rooms, where we find ourselves in a beachfront villa with our bed facing the sea and a shaded deck where we can relax for the next few days.  Corinne thinks she has now found ‘actual’ paradise and we settle in before heading off to explore the facilities.

The sun set shortly after 6pm here today and we both had our cameras out to record the event unfolding over the Gulf of Thailand.  It was not as spectacular as it could of been but it was colourful and more engaging than watching it set over Windlesham!

We change for the evening, although everything here is very relaxed and after an early evening cocktail, we head off to the restaurant and sit at a table overlooking the sea and big statue of Buddha presiding over the beach!  Corinne had Barracuda for dinner tonight, a first for either of us and I had squid in a Kampot peppercorn sauce.  We were both in bed by 11 tonight as we had been in the routine of getting up for the sunrise whilst in the floating tents!