Bangkok - Flights and Visas

A random statue in a restaurant

We had booked a sleeper bus from Sihanoukville to Bangkok.  What we had actually booked was a nightmare from hell but that was not to become immediately apparent.

In fact, the beginning of the trip was very promising.  We had never travelled by sleeper bus before but, as Cambodian buses (or buses in general) were, in our opinion, one of the most uncomfortable modes of transport for Paul in particular because of his size, we figured that a sleeper bus couldn’t be any worse.  At least, if he couldn’t stretch out fully (which we knew was unlikely, he would at least have more leg room than you get on an average bus.

Koh Rong - Liveaboards and Diving

Our home for 4 nights altogether

It was with some regret that we left the peaceful seclusion of Koh Rong Samloen and Robinson Bungalows but we were looking forward with excitement to our Liveaboard trip arranged through The Dive Shop.  Paul was also going to do his PADI Advanced Open Water course during the trip and I was assured there would be plenty to occupy and entertain me as a snorkeller.

For anyone who doesn’t know, and forgive me for stating the obvious, but a Liveaboard diving trip where you live on board a boat for 2 days stopping off along the way at various sites.  The main incentive for shelling out for one of these trips is that you are able reach dive sites and coral reef that you wouldn't be able to on a single day.  You spend a lot of time cruising from one area to another but you get to visit some rarely visited and spectacular spots and when we went we saw no-else but the fish. 

Koh Rong Samloem - The Scopion Incident and Paradise

Sunset Beach

I shall begin with the scorpion incident.

We were packing up to leave Koh Rong to head out to the smaller island of Koh Rong Samloem, where we were booked in for 6 nights in yet another beach hut on the almost deserted Sunset Beach. Although Koh Rong wasn’t anywhere near as busy as Sihanoukville, the peace and solitude promised at Koh Rong Samloem was, for us, alluring and we were looking forward to a bit of isolation.

It was during our packing up at Koh Rong and before we headed to Koh Rong Samloem that we had said scorpion incident.

Koh Rong - On the Beach, Diving and Snorkelling

The veranda where I spent
rather a lot of time doing
not very much

In order to be transported from the mainland to the island of Koh Rong we met at the Dive Shop at 7am.

The first leg of the trip involved us all piling into the The Dive Shop's industrial tuk tuk with our luggage which took us as far as the harbour on the other side of town and from there we caught the boat which would take us on the 2 hour journey to the island.  The Dive Shop has 3 boats, rather unimaginatively called Dive Shop 1, Dive Shop 2 and (you guessed it) Dive Shop 3.  We were catching boat number 1 to Koh Rong.

The standard fare for the boat ride to Koh Rong is $20 return and this service is provided by lots of businesses in Sihanoukville, particularly those with bungalows to rent on the island.  On our trip there were about half a dozen passengers, plus a couple of the guys who work for The Dive Shop and the Cambodian crew.

The two hour trip, after all our horrendous coach and minibus ordeals in Cambodia, was absolute luxury.  On the approach to the village the sight of the pure white sand against the turquoise/light emerald sea was stunning.  It all looked rather picture perfect and so much quieter than Sihanoukville.  After a very pleasant and cool trip we moored at The Dive Shop’s pier in the main village at Koh Rong.  

Sihanoukville - New Friends in a Mad Party Town

View from our bungalow
at The Mango Rooms

Another long bus trip from Phnom Penh transported us to Cambodia’s south coast where we were going to mainly chilling by the beach, visiting a couple of island paradises and Paul was going to do his PADI Open Water scuba diving course.

The Serendipity Beach area of Sihanoukville is very quiet, almost sleepy, during the day.  This is mainly because all the teenagers and mad party people, who are the main visitors to this area, go to bed when the sun comes up and remain asleep during daylight hours, crawling back to the bars and clubs when it gets dark so they can start partying again until the early hours.

There are 3 or 4 beaches in the Sihanoukville area and although it is only a new town (building began on the port town in 1950), it still manages to have a colonial feel about it.  The other beach areas are not quite so manic but as we did not intend spending much time here, and everything we needed was located in the Serendipity beach area including The Dive Shop and travel agents it was convenient for us to stay here.

Kratie - Mad Cambodian Buses and Dolphins

This little fella is about a foot long

I will start with the journey from Sen Monorom to Kratie.  We arranged tickets through Nature Lodge and Paul decided, in his wisdom, to purchase 2 tickets in order to provide him with a little more comfort/leg room.

A short discussion followed between us and I suggested that buying 2 tickets would not necessary guarantee him 2 seats – we had heard stories of 25 people (plus luggage,motorbikes and livestock) being squashed into an 11 seater minibus so buying a ticket didn’t seem to guarantee any seat to yourself at all never mind the luxury of space for a very tall man to stretch out but Paul thought it was worth a short and decided to shell out the extra $7.