Friday 31 to Koh Rong

Friday 31st

Up early and ready to get the 9am ferry to Koh Rong Saloem. It absolutely poured with torrential rain for a couple of hours overnight and stupidly Jim had left his sandals out on the porch of the hotel room overnight so they were as sodden as if they had been chucked in a swimming pool.

The ferry ticket included a hotel pick up at 8am. We left the majority of our stuff at the hotel as our plan was to walk over the island of Koh Tong Samolem to a tidy paradise beach which had a total of 14 huts so therefore a maximum of 30 people sharing an entire 1km long beach. However as the rain beat down we started to wonder if we may instead find accommodation at the slightly busier (but still quiet white sand Saracen Bay)

The hotel pick up minibus arrived at 8.30. Our boat was going from a different pier because of the weather conditions. We  dropped most people off at  Serendipity  pier as they were going to the larger and more developed Koh Rong (including full moon parties and trying to be the Cambodian equivalent of Thailand's Koh Samui Island)

After various stops for no discernible reason we arrived at a chaotic pier and found our boat. Getting on was not for the faint hearted, grabbing two rails and swinging into a boat 5 foot lower. We managed to get our bags and Joseph in without sacrificing him to water.

Fortunately by this time it had stopped raining. The ferry took around 45 minutes, we saw loads and loads of fishing boats on the way before it arrived in sweltering heat at the white sand Koh Rong Samolem Saracen Beach. The beach was swelled (but still very quiet) by day trippers from the mainland.

As the weather was good we decided we would hike the 45 mins across the island to Sunset beach and found the jungle path. Quite a good path, but we were soaked with sweat by the time we arrived at the other side. In the main the path was dry, the steeper parts were a bit slippery needing us to hold onto trees as they went past.

There are 2 places offering huts Robinsons and Huba Huba both run by French people who are making their living over here. We chose Huba Huba. Despite being the low season it was full with us taking the last 2 huts - it would have been a nightmare if we had to trek back across the island for something to sleep.

It was as predicted an excellent beach with almost no one else on it. A bit more debris washed up on the beach (bottles fishing debris) than for our liking but still excellent and the sea was lovely and warm too. e and K a bit sceptical about the very basic huts consisting of a bed with a mossie net. The family room did have an ensuing toilet and a trickle of a shower, but the toilet cisterns and filled up by hand with a bucket. Lots of signs around about conserving water in the dry season. The huts are open to the elements, so we shared with a few mice, loads of geckos and a few mossies. We also saw black tree squirrels, a snake and monkeys. Best of all were the jungle sounds of crickets, frogs etc.

The accommodation was a bit more pricey we paid 30 U.S. Dollars for each of the 2 huts and food was a bit more than the mainland but not extortionate.

The rest of the day was "hitting the deserted paradise beach". In the evening we swim again in the dark because of phosphorus phytoplankton. As you swim you see stars from the electrical impulses in the sea