I have had the best few days.
First things first though, I need to address the most random incident relating to my previous post, where I had a minor (major) rant about some (not all) of the people we have crossed paths with along the way; in particular the over enthusiasts and over sharers. I based a lot of that rant on one person in particular who we met a fair few destinations ago. As my luck would have it, the day after posting the rant, that very person ended up being on THE SAME boat as us in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, in a DIFFERENT country to the one we met her in – and ended up staying on THE SAME remote island as us, at THE SAME hostel. What are the chances?! The answer is; if you’re me, and there’s a chance of something uncomfortable, unlucky or unlikely happening – the chances are high.
The reunion was as awkward as you would expect; she was over enthused to have run into us and greeted us as though we were long lost friends, while I was especially awkward during the run in knowing that I’d pretty much told the world (aka the few people who read my blog) how annoying I found her. She invited herself to join us on the first day at lunch, but luckily it phased out after that and she left us to it. James says it’s because of my resting bitch face and to be honest, if it was, then I guess RBF is both a blessing and a curse. I was in paradise and was not in the mood for screeching and unwelcome hugging and long winded stories you can’t get away from.
Anyway, back to my few days of bliss. After some chill time in Sihanoukville, where we embraced beach days, pool days and a normal sleeping pattern; we took a speed boat over to the island of Koh Rong Samleom. What I saw when we arrived, took my breath away more than anywhere we have been so far. We were welcomed by the whitest sands and clearest sea I have ever seen. The whole place looked like a desktop screen saver. I couldn’t stop staring. My bubble was soon burst though, when we had to walk an actual wooden plank to get off the boat and onto the pier. With our luggage.
From where the speed boat dropped us, we had to walk along the beach to another pier in order to catch a slow boat to the private island where we had booked to stay. (It was this boat where we met the subject of my rant). Now, those of you who have read my blogs from the beginning will know that I thought I was an absolute travel boss by deciding to bring a suitcase instead of a backpack. Well, let me (James) tell you; it’s not such a brilliant idea when you have to roll it across sand. I fear James will use that sandy, sweaty, suitcase pull (while carrying his own rucksack too) against me for a while. Fair enough.
After a short boat ride, we arrived at our destination; a tiny remote cove backing onto the jungle. The boat stopped about 10metres from land, so we all got off with our luggage and waded through the crystal waters to the island that we would call home for the next few nights. It was welcomingly refreshing to get in the water after our journey over from the mainland …not for James though; the wade to shore provided him and my suitcase with some more bonding time.
The hostel we booked is one of the most renowned in the world; it owns the entire cove and is the only place you can stay at if you want to visit this part of the island. They have swings and hammocks in the sea, good food, constant happy hours and no wifi. All you need really. Our bungalow was a four bed ensuite overlooking the beach; the shower was cold (Cambodia definitely isn’t into plumbing) but it’s exactly what you want after a day in the sun. It really felt like we were in the jungle, away from all civilisation; just some wooden beach bungalows dotted around the cove, a private beach and a bar/restaurant overlooking the shore. I loved it all. Although my fan was the only one in our room which made a horrific clicking sound with the ability to wake even the heaviest sleeper, so I couldn’t use it and instead slept in sweat.
Of course it would be my fan that’s broken.
Nothing could dampen my mood somewhere so beautiful though. We spent our days swimming, reading, hammock-ing and eating and drinking way too much. We also partook in some socialising. I know; me socialising with new people out of choice is pretty shocking – especially after my previous ranting post. But we met a few English people who we clicked with right away and spent a couple of nights over eating, over drinking and dancing to some nineties and noughties music with them. The hostel is insane and definitely aimed at people who are there with the sole purpose of getting utterly obliterated by alcohol. We took it pretty easy compared to most, but had such a good time nonetheless. I just couldn’t get enough of the beautiful clear seas and was not going to let a hangover ruin it.
On one of our days there, we went on a snorkelling trip which was all fun and games until the sea sickness set in. Before the motion of the ocean got the better of me though, we had such a good day. Us and our new mates all booked onto a boat which took us out to sea where we jumped off and snorkelled. I had visions of myself gliding through the water like a mermaid, marvelling at all the nemos and dorys …not quite how it went down though. I was more like a paddling elephant than a mermaid and was too busy drinking half the sea and emptying my goggles of water to even notice any fish. It was still fun though, and I was impressed with myself for getting straight into the deep sea without sparing jellyfish or sharks a second thought.
Next, we went to another area of the vast turquoise waters and were given makeshift fishing lines to fish off the side of the boat with …AND I CAUGHT A FISH! It was my first time fishing, and on this trip so far I’ve pretty much got everything wrong – so catching a fish before most other people on the boat felt like far more of an achievement than it was. What happened next though sent the day into slight turmoil.
First of all, it began to cloud over and it felt like the leftovers from the dramatic storm the night before would be back for more – and we were on a rickety old boat nowhere near land. Next, the driver of the boat decided we would cook the fish we caught. Cool idea, but in practise there was a high chance of death; not from eating badly cooked fish as you may think, but because he lit the hot coals with petrol from the boat engine, on the floor of the boat. The wooden boat. I’m no scientist but I’m pretty sure oil plus fire plus wood is not a secure situation to be in. The fish were thrown on the makeshift BBQ – bones, guts, eyeballs and all; I decided pretty quickly that I would not be eating lunch.
We thought we would be heading back to shore to eat, but no; we stopped in the middle of the now rocky sea to consume the undercooked and slightly traumatised looking fish. The boat was rocking more than you can imagine and sea sickness took over my entire body. I had nowhere to go to avoid the rocking boat other than the sea itself. So I jumped in. A few other people joined me; whether it’s because they felt sea sick too, or if they just wanted to avoid the dodgy fish – I was glad to have company in the waves …and was even gladder when we returned to stationary land later that day.
Overall, the last few days have been perfect. We have been surrounded by natural beauty, relaxed completely and my tan is now pretty impressive too. Tomorrow we bid Cambodia goodbye and fly to Bangkok to begin our Thailand adventure. Right now though, our main focus is flushing the food poisoning out of James’ body before our 6 hour bus and 2 hour flight tomorrow morning… wish us luck.
Amy x
amyyabroad 