Tudo Bem??? Tudo Bem!!!

After Angkor Wat I only had one thing in mind: Vamos a la playa!

Christian still wanted to spend a day in Phom Phem to see the Killing Fields, but I was totally not up for that… could only picture us both enjoying the paradise dream beaches, drinking coconut water and relaxing... So, we agreed after taking a bus to Phom Phem, just to go forward to Sihanoukville.

We arrived there in the evening, found the cheapest room to crash and went out to eat. By chance, we met again a French couple whom we met actually during the boat trip in Laos and saw a couple of times more along the way. We ate a very nice tofu barbecue with them, and went for a beer at the beach before going to bed, we were indeed tired from the busses ride and could not hang out for so long.

The next day we decided that we still wanted to spend a day in Sihanoukville, so we walked to Otres Beach… oh, the easy beach life was already taking over the stress of moving around. We relaxed the whole day at the beach, drinking beers and so on. In the evening we took a Tuk Tuk back to Serenity Beach where we were staying and went out for more beers, by chance again we met the French couple again and they joined us, we drank quite a few beers that night with them it was so cheap and we were enjoying a lot their company and chat. We said goodbye and went back to the guest house to get some sleep because on the next day we would take the boat at 8am to the Islands.

We were picked up from the tour agency and left to go snorkeling and to Koh Rong Samloem and Koh Rong. The best thing is that we had an open ticket, so we could hop on and hop off as we wanted. The first stop was a small Island only for snorkeling, Christian did for the first time of his life and liked very much. Afterwards the boat took us to Koh Rong Samloem. I really loved the place since we put our feet there. Wow, so beautiful… the white sand and clear water! We settled in very easy and decided to stay there for a night. We rented a Bungalow with a gorgeous view to the Beach, only like 20 meters to the water. We hung around and walked for the other side of the Island for sunset, Lazy Beach it was called. When we came back it was already dark, so we ate dinner and sat at the Beach until we got sleepy and went to bed. We slept with our door open, we could still see the ocean and it was also very hot. The Island doesn’t have electricity, it was runned by generators and it worked only from 6pm until 11pm. The place was so calm and only a few other turists were there.

The next day we just relaxed until the boat showed up again, then we decided to hop on and go forward to Koh Rong. We arrived and again searched for the cheapest place to stay, but unlike the last Island, it was much more crowed of backpackers and the Bungalows were really expensive. We found a nice and very simple Guest House and decided to stay there. In the afternoon we walked along the main beach and found the Monkey Beach, very beautiful and a just 20 min. walk It was almost desert. In the evening same same, eating, drinking a couple of beers, chatting, watching life around. On that night there was a party from the local people near to our Guest House… we watched for a little while.

The day after we woke up and decided to check it out Long Beach (the beach that I was dreaming about). We thought it would be an easy walk like in Koh Rong Samloem to Lazy Beach. It ended up being an adventure! We had to climb up and down, and it wasn’t so easy. When we arrived, they had big waves there because of the rain the night before. We didn’t see the dream image of Long Beach, and had to leave after 20 min or so, because at 1pm we would leave on a snorkeling trip. The way back was even harder, climbing up the Wind Stone… but we made it, and arrived short before 1pm. Then we took the boat together with some friendly Spanish guys. First we went snorkeling… it was really nice and we saw beautiful fishes and corals. Then, we went fishing. We were not so interested, but all the tours offered the same option so we had to buy the whole package. I didn’t catch any fish, and after just a few minute I got very tired of it… also felt sea sick in the small boat. Christian got 2 fishes, and one I think was the biggest one from all of the others. After fishing they took us for bbq and sunset at Monkey Beach. It was nice, and I even ate fish (was the second time that I ate fish during the trip, such a thing for a vegetarian person for so many years, indeed something difficult to keep in South East Asia). It wasn’t a lot though, they were very small and after you took all out it was almost nothing left to eat, I ate 2. When we came back we still went out to eat and I had a tofu burger, it was really good! After waking around, again we went to bed early because for the next day we wanted to go back to Long Beach and camp there.

And so we did, woke up, had breakfast, rented a tent and organized a boat to take us to Long Beach. Walking was out of question since we had this time a backpack. We found a camping area built from a group of 11 people whom were there for 3 weeks. After setting the tent there we went for a walked along the beach and to the village on the other point. It was quite of a long walk to go and come back with the sun… but as it was not raining the night before, there were no waves and the water was soooo clear, amazing! We came back, watched to sunset, Christian made a bonfire and we grilled some pineapple and a baguette. Watched the moonrise, and the moonlight was speechless. The Beach were only for us, we felt so good there. But after a while, we decided to check out if there was anything going on at only bar close to us. We got there and there was Mike (a Canadian who told us about the camping ground), Emile (a Finish guy who works in the Island for 5 years) and Schen (an australian who was staying in a Bungalow there). There we stayed a few hours, drinking and talking until we all wanted to sleep. We walked back to our tent, and sleep with the mosquito net door, so we still could see the moon, the water and the sand.

We woke up very early because it was getting hot already. Christian went jogging to the village, and I was just laying on the sand. We spent the whole day relaxing, reading, swimming… perfect Beach Life! Watched the sunset again in Long Beach and left back to the Main Beach. Got a Guest House just next to the one we stayed before and went to walk around, it was full moon, and many of the travelers left to a full moon party somewhere on the Island. We watched the sky, lightening and weather changing the ocean until go to bed. It was our last night in paradise, and we both felt a bit nostalgic about it.

The next day we just went to monkey beach and spent a couple of hours there, came back and took the boat to Sihanoukville… the feeling to leave to place was like going back to the real world. Still we got to Sihanoukville and decided to spend the night in Otres Beach since our bus to the Thai was only the next morning. We had a nice evening, chilling and chatting.

This morning we left early the Beach Life, took the bus to Thai Border, then took a minibus to Trat and from there a bus to Bangkok where we are sitting right now. Watching over our pictures it made me realize I already miss it, and it was such a beautiful part of the trip. But life has to go on, and we are very happy that on Monday we are flying to New Zeland… finally to see my beloved brother and sister in law! Ah, and of course, continue the easy Beach Life in Kiwi style!