Paradise Island, also known as Koh Rong.

So after several days of wonderous temple ruins, great food and quality time with Boyfriend's family we decided that we needed a break from central Cambodia's red dust and we should head to the beach. It took a long and uncomfortable bus ride to get here, and when we arrived in Sihanoukville we were exhausted. First couple of days we slept a lot and wondered at the sheer number of tourists and establishments to serve them. I guess we expected something a lot smaller. So we were certain we had to get out to the islands, and as we had heard good things about Koh Rong, that's where we went.


We stayed at the Broken Heart Guest House, at the end of a 5-km white beach without any other guesthouses, and the closest village was an hour's jungle-hike away. So it was very secluded, and it was very basic, as there was no running water or electricity. But it was such a heaven! When we arrived by the boat the first thing to notice was how incredibly clear and turquoise the water was, and how long that almost deserted beach was. Then we realised that all of our belongings, and we ourselves, would be ferried to the beach by massive basket as the beach is very shallow.


When we arrived it was close to the sunset, and we rushed to our bungalow to get changed and get that first swim as the sun sets. Luckily we understood to get out of the water before it got dark, as there was no lights except in the restaurant and candles in the bar. Also, we came to learn that you would not want to walk anywhere without a flashlight, as there were quite a few typical residents of jungle about. My absolute least favourite were the dozen-or-so species of lethally poisonous snakes that luckily never materialized, whereas there was not much harm done by the rats eating our soap and food or sandflies biting us (edit: oh those sandfly bites itch now, five days later).

There was something absolutely magical about the style and pace of life. Wake up, go for a swim, eat some tropical fruit, read a good book, go for a swim, eat some barracuda, look at the sunset, sit in a hammock in candlelight, have relaxed conversations with lovely people, look at the stars, go for a midnight skinny dip to look at the luminescent plankton around you. Magical, I say, magical.

We planned to stay for four nights, ended up staying for six, and still wished we would've stayed longer. It was such perfect cure to so many weeks of hectic sightseeing and running from place to place trying to see it all. It truly felt like a holiday, removed from everything else except the nature and yourself. And the handful of people, luckily very interesting and friendly, who were there with us.


The unfortunate reality of this little paradise, however, is that the whole island has been re-sold by the government to the Royal Group. They plan to develop it to a five-star "eco-tourism" paradise with golf courses and an international airport (very ecological!), in the process relocating the four fishing villages on the island into one bigger one. In some sense it would be silly not to cash in the natural resource they've got there, but having had such a pleasant week on Koh Rong it just seems wrong to destroy the nature, the quiet, the lack of light and music, the absence of the rowdy tourists... The building work hasn't started yet, so go now before the magic's gone!

Water buffalo pulling (illegally?) freshly-cut wood out of the jungle.

(c) all photos by Boyfriend.

The return to civilisation was a bit of of shock after a week in the sticks, and we've finally gathering momentum to return to sightseeing mode. Since that week away, we've taken everything slower and we like it this way!