This past Monday was a holiday, so my first weekend off in Cambodia was a long one which, coincidentally, ended up being the same as the May 24 weekend back home. I took a 5 hour bus ride south to the coast. I heard that the coast of Cambodia was as beautiful as Thailand but with fewer tourists. Though I haven't been to Thailand yet (that comes at the end of my trip), I wasn't convinced once I arrived at my guesthouse on Serendipity Beach. The Markara guesthouse was nice, and the beach across the road was good too, but it just wasn't as impressive as I had heard it would be. The water wasn't amazingly clean or clear, and there were very pushy beach vendors patrolling the area for tourists. Luckily, most of them did something called 'threading' which was a technique used to rid women of leg hair. Since I was neither a woman, nor did I need my legs shaved, I was safe for the most part.
I found out about some of the islands off the coast on my first evening, and I wish I had done some research and learned about them before even coming to Sihanoukville, as I would have gone straight there instead of spending the first night on the mainland. I ended up choosing Koh Rong Samloem (Koh means island - it's the same for Thai islands) because it sounded more secluded, and it was the furthest away. Since many of the tour companies and guesthouses were trying to steer me towards Bamboo Island, I decided to go against their judgment, which ended up being the right decision. After the 3 hour ride in a cargo boat through rough waters, I made it to Koh Rong Samloem. Some of the waves were taller than the small boat and I found out, quite happily, that I am not prone to seasickness. I had been sitting on an icebox the entire time because the boat had no seats, so I was glad to be mobile once again.
Now THIS was a beach. I will post pictures soon that hopefully convey just how beautiful this island really is. Apart from 5 other tourists staying in the beach huts and the few staff members, this secluded bay was almost deserted. It was perfect. The sand was so white it hurt to look at it, and I swear it even squeaked when walked in with bare feet. The water was a perfect hue of turquoise and as clear as spring water. After dropping my stuff off in the beach hut, I immediately went for a swim. I got drunk with the other tourists and even the manager of the place that night. We had a great time watching a kitten frantically chase a crab, and listening to one of the girls eerily realistic animal noises. When I was sufficiently loaded, I very responsibly went for a swim (I stayed in the shallow part!) and observed one of the most stunning things nature has to offer - phosphorescence. So from what I learned, there are very small, luminescent organisms not far from the shore that are present in extremely large numbers. As I splashed around in the water, they would light up. At one point I started waving my hands underwater, and it left a dazzling trail of light behind them. I started treading water and my entire body lit up underwater, it was amazing. I can't really describe it in words, but maybe someone has filmed it - go youtube it! It was like seeing millions of little fireflies.
I went snorkeling the next day and regrettably had to take the boat back to Sihanoukville. A 5 hour bus ride back to Phnom Penh, and I was ready for bed. The bus played a Cambodian movie for the first 2 hours at max volume, which is just so annoying when it's night time, when you're trying to sleep, and when you can't understand a word of what they're saying. Rambo 3 was up after that, which piqued my interest, but when I realised that everyone's voice was dubbed I just got more annoyed. Oh well, I made it home safely and that's all that matters :) Headed to bed as soon as I got home.
