Sihanoukville and Koh Rong

     Sihanoukville and Koh Rong are the beachy town and island that draw backpackers for a usually longer than expected number of days spent in the salty sea and warm sandy beach. I didn't enjoy Sihanoukville that much, it was a bit too busy and crowded for my liking. I stayed one night. At a hostel called Utopia which is great for cheap food and a cheap bed but beware of bed bugs!!! The next day I got onto a slow boat to Koh Rong and upon arrival my friend Claudia was waiting for me on the dock. She preceded to tell and show me about the island. The "main strip" is just the beachfront lined with little beachy hostels and restaurants, which is mostly the only accommodation on the island. After being reunited with her and a couple other girls I'd traveled with for awhile in Laos, Claudia and I decided we wanted to go and get a tattoo! So after some contemplation and running around asking local Khmer(Cambodian) people what we wanted we decided. The word we got was described to us like this, "You are from America and I am from Cambodia but still we can come together and be friends and share peace." Best explanation I can think of :)

     The next day was spent out on the beach playing with my waterproof camera, enjoying the beautiful view and lounging on the sand.

In the afternoon Darcy and I hiked across the island to Long Beach where we planned to stay the night. We walked down along the beach, passing sunbathers and campers alike till we reached a strange setup that we found out was part of the set of Bulgarian Survivor and we made it into a hut to sleep in. We were giddy! The sun was setting and we rushed around through their discarded planks and wooden crates making something sufficient to sleep inside. A couple came and asked what we were doing and they ended up helping us make a wonderful fire! That we didn't use that much that night because we went to a bonfire down on the beach and made some new friends.

Survivor course

Our finished home!

   Our hut made a perfect shelter. In the morning we walked with our new friends all the way to the other end of the beach for some breakfast, after which we all passed out in some really comfy chairs listening to the sounds of the ocean.

On the walk back we walked past another set where they were filming the show. We collected our few belongings and hiked back over to the other side and then walked further down, reaching "4k beach" just at dusk. We set up our hammocks in the trees and made a big fire. There were probably 6 or 7 hammocks all strung out in the trees right on the beach. Was some of the best sleep I had gotten in ages! But before sleep we decided to make some spaghetti, thinking a little salty flavor would be a good idea, we used salt water. Oh it was awful!! It looked amazing and tempted us but the salt water created the most disgustingly salty food I have ever tasted. We passed it around and the light from the fire perfectly illuminated the repulsed look on each persons face!
     The next morning we headed back to the main beach to get the boat back to Sihanoukville. I had heard good things about Kampot so I got a bus there and Darcy said she'd meet me there the next day. That evening I found out she went to the doctors and was told she had dengue fever! So as early as possible the next morning, I got back on a bus and went to the hospital. The next few days Darcy, Claudia, Lisse and I stayed at the hospital (nicest accommodation we had stayed in :p) watching movies, sunbathing, and just chilling. Luckily the symptoms that she had weren't too bad. Each day Claudia, Lisse and I would make a run into town with a motorbike taxi, and we would fit all 3 of us on one scooter plus the driver! We felt truly immersed in the culture at that point as you see that constantly all over the place. I would sit on the back and barely even be on the bike but it was fun! We also met a girl at the hospital who had randomly gone blind for a few days, nobody had any idea what happened to her. Scary! But we all became friends and it was actually quite a good time. The last night they took her IV out and she was so happy she could move that we had a good dance sesh in the hallway!

Ambulance took us to town to get food!

      After they released her, we all took evening buses to different locations. Me to Ho Chi Minh, Lisse and Claudia to Siem Reap and Darcy to Bangkok. Great end to my adventures in Cambodia :)