Morning trek
I had a lie in this morning (as is the norm) and had breakfast at the place where we had pizzas last night. Of course, I had muesli with fruit and yoghurt. I’m not ashamed to say I’m a fan and/or addict of it now haha. It was a nice day already, and we sat and chilled at this restaurant, in a couple of wicker basket chairs. We just spoke and stared at the ocean and horizon, watching the waves slowly creep in, and then recede. Both of us felt truly at peace in this moment. However, we had to make a move as we were exploring some more of Koh Rong Samloem today!
After breakfast, I went for a quick swim to freshen up. Once I was good to go, I returned to my dorm room. We started by donning our hiking gear and began our morning trek to the other side of the island to begin exploring Samloem! I must say, it seemed a lot easier going back to the main beach (especially without backpacks!) than when we came to Sunset Beach. Once we had conquered the climb and the jungle, we reached the main beach. We had a walk down to the far side of the beach as this is where the boat back to the mainland sets off from, not the pier we arrived on.
Contacting civilisation
So we walked all the way down, and we knew where we’d have to get the ferry from now. It’s always good to be prepared like this when travelling, just so nothing unexpected happens. I mean, it wouldn’t be the WORST thing, to be trapped for an extra day or two on an idyllic island. We began our walk back up to the centre of the beach, but stopped to have some food. There are plenty of places scattered along the coast which are cheap and cheerful. We took a punt at one of the restaurants, and it turned out to be pretty good!
The pair of us were also thankful that 4G was possible on this side of the island. Thanks to us exploring Samloem, we had achieved contact with our families. We could now inform them that we were still alive (it’s only been 1 day since last contact). To be honest, there’s a great appeal to being cut off from the internet/communication. If you don’t have a choice, then you just have to embrace it. Besides, I bet many people want the break from communication with the rest of the world. I sure can’t blame them.
Evening trek
After having chilled for some time, and walking back to the centre of the beach, the dreaded moment was upon us. The downside to us exploring Samloem…the trek back to Sunset Beach. It was still baking hot, and the humidity of the jungle really does me in. Not to mention the warm water…yuck! Once we had finally made it back to our beach, we were just in time for the sunset, woohoo! We got back to our hostel, and lied down on some propped up deck chairs. Again, everyone stopped what they were doing, and embraced the glorious sunset.
It turned out that on this day (and perhaps a couple of other days of the week) they have a barbecue at our hostel. The meal sounded really appetising: chicken breast, chips, vegetables. Neither of us could believe the price either, the equivalent of £7! It was an astronomical bargain. The meal also turned out to be one of the best we’ve had in Cambodia; this place really is a gem.
Dodging bullets in the bathroom
After we’d devoured our meals, we stuck around and played some Connect 4. There were loads of books and games at the hostel, so we thought we may as well partake. During the late hours of the night, Mat and I turned in for the night. That was, after we had to follow our bathroom ritual whilst being peppered with crazy ass cicadas in the bathroom cubicles once more. Mat and I are always in hysterics, listening to the other one getting bombarded by insects.
For another wicked island adventure, check out my time on Cat Ba Island here.
