Backpacking in Cambodia — Day 7— Koh Rong
Day 7— Koh Rong [November 25, 2022]
Head here for Day 6
Jaane tu … ya jaane na
Up and about at 5:30 AM with the dawn breaking, I headed down to the beach to catch the sunrise. Ethereal as the horizon dramatically put on a show changing the emotions every few minutes as the rising sun hit the sky differently through it’s ascent. Apart from a horse looking for his Jai Singh Rathore from Ranjhor, there wasn’t a single soul in the vicinity. The sea shelf here isn’t deep so one can walk out atleast a half a kilometre or even more without worrying about swimming. After spending about half an hour with me and my tanhai, walked back through the warm and soft white sand , washed my feet at the tap placed next to every doorstep and checked in on Jagnoor who was up and about to hit the beach for a swim. So we headed back to the beach for a lazy morning swim. A couple of locals zoomed by in their bikes doing up and down rounds but that was literally the only folks we saw around whilst we crashed against the peaceful waves. The sand being heavy or the waters not being too torrid, the waters are very clear and when you get out of it, you aren’t baked with sand like some of the other beaches.
Not kidding around
One thing we did realise was that there were probably about 150 odd tourists on the island and maybe another 300 odd villagers and a high proportion of kids. Not sure if there is a correlation with the fact that we barely saw folks watching TV. Most of the time we saw families hanging outside chatting, (trying to) singing, leisure fishing or chilling. No one was plugged into their mobile phones. Also didn’t seem like the kids were going to school for anytime of the day, we’d spot a lot of them playing around. They were extremely friendly and curious but appreciated your space and privacy. My guess is the older kids probably move to the city to study and these would have been the pre school kids that we mainly interacted with.
The sun rose so did the White
After freshening up in the room, we headed along the beach, sandals in hand walking across the high tide to the main market area around the pier. Since our boat tour started at 12 noon, we decided to go for a heavy brunch at our new favourite “White Rose” restaurant. As we discussed our return journey and needed to check the ferry timings did we realise that Jagnoor and I had booked return tickets for ourselves one day apart — I’d be staying a day longer in Cambodia. Depending on how we liked Koh Rong, I’d figure if I stay a day longer here or in Phnom Penh. Since the boat tour would be an all day affair and possibility of decent food low, we dug in deep at White Rose. I ordered the vegetarian burger which they first heard as chicken burger and had to go back and make it afresh. The vegetarian burger felt like a pakoda burger — filling but too dry and crunchy. The hot sauces on the table and the accompanying garlic bread balanced it out along with the fresh veggies in the burger. Also washed it down with strong coffee. With time to kill before the boat tour, we walked around the main hostel lane where most of the other backpackers stayed at down the puddle filled winding lane which also has a pharmacy and mini clinic — the only one of the island. The sun was out in its full glory turning the sky blue and the waters emerald green with the colorful boats providing a lovely contrast against the white-ish sands.
Everything that floats your boat
A must do on Koh Rong is this full day boat tour which encompasses a number of activities — all in $15 per person. About 14 of us got into the small fishing boat that doubled up as a party boat with our energetic high on life captain and his 11–12 year old side kick. We headed to the second pier (Long Set Beach one) where 2 British boys turned up. How do you know? They indirectly tell you. The captain called on the phone and then told them there was another boat for them and he had someone else to pick up. A family of 5 Cambodians turned up with strong American accents. The mother started off with a life jacket before getting into the boat. Once settled in, we headed towards an isolated Pineapple beach which is famous for snorkelling.
Macchli jal ki raani hai …
Next to an uninhabited islands, the boat moored in green waters and our captain passed around snorkelling gear letting us know we’d be around for about thirty minutes. Most of the folks with us didn’t need a second invitation as they dived right in. Grabbing life vests just incase, we jumped in right after and boy! We were right in the centre of under water Isa Town (the educational district of Bahrain where all the major schools are located next to each other) as schools of fish swam around unperturbed by these giant harmless monsters gaping at the wonder through their eyes since the mouths were busy breathing and keeping the plastic tubes in place. If you aren’t comfortable being in water, this can be a dampener. Pulling yourself up the ladder of the boat whilst being completely drenched is another excursion on its own. After about twenty minutes of splashing around, everyone started pulling themselves up and hanging around the main deck to let the sun do its magic.
Jeevan uska paani hai …
The boat then pulled anchor and chugged its way around the island along the same path that we had driven through yesterday and moored a bit further beyond the abandoned pier we had stopped at yesterday. Whilst we skipped this part of the tour, the captain doled out fishing bait and spool for everyone to pair up and fish. Quite a few folks passed on it whilst a German girl turned out to effortlessly pull up 3 fish. But even she was no match to the captain’s sidekick who simply seemed to be pulling two fish at a time from nowhere. His aim was to get enough fish for lunch for everyone. As the rest of the group tried without luck, I moved up to the main deck away from disturbing everyone busy fishing including the Non resident Cambodian girl busy getting her arsenal of tiktok content with her dependable photographer mom.
Ek ladki bheegi bhaagi si…
There are the rare times in life when you feel like an instant connect with someone. That episode played out with this Italian girl who also headed to the main deck to sun bathe in her two piece. What started as her asking a simple “I hope I am not encroaching in your space?” went deep dive into our backgrounds, likes and dislikes. She was a trained musician — a vocalist to be precise and was wrapping up her trip and looking forward to going back home. From books, movies and traditional Italian vegetarian food to what to look forward to in India, we captured quite a bit in what was probably five minutes or so (Atleast felt like it). We spoke of the etymologies of our names , aspirations for the world and a lot more free flowing conversations till the captain announced he’d be setting up the barbeque so all of us could hit the water or the beach till he called us back.
As everyone hit the water for a swim, we strolled to the beach in the quest for her to find sea shells whilst we continued our conversations about South East Asia and the geo political outlook of past colonialism. She did manage to find one sea shell worthy of her attention but the sea spider bites were irritating her. So she decided to head back to the boat and let the captain know that both of us were vegetarians and if he could pull up something for us. Meanwhile I caught up with Jagnoor deep into the ocean where the water was still knee deep even where the boat was anchored. Another boat turned up with Brit backpackers who had brought along a volleyball and were having water wrestling matches .
Folks were hungry because our group was back in the boat much earlier than our captain would have liked but everyone patiently waited till the food was served. The captain had managed to barbeque pineapple, brocolli and carrots — paired up with rice and soy sauce. There were some skewers of watermelon, bananas and pineapple too part of the snacks.
Suraj hua Madhyam
We then hung around watching the brilliant sunset from the boat with captain doubling up as a DJ playing music from his mobile phone — interrupted everytime he got a phone call. Once the sun set around 6 PM, he switched on the disco lights on his boat and started off into the void. After a while it was pitch dark and we were racing into the void with the only other lights from another boat in the distance. He killed the motor around 7:30 PM with a cool breeze enveloping us. He asked everyone to jump into the water which seemed like a crazy idea in the middle of the ocean in pitch darkness when it was getting cold. He mentioned he’d kill the lights once everyone was in the water so that we could see nature’s wonderful creation of bioluminescent plankton. It was like watching stars in the water as the place lit up when you moved your hands and legs around. Within five minutes, everyone wanted to be back on the boat though as the tiredness of the day finally sank in.
Once settled in, the boat’s engine decided to die on us. Middle of nowhere with no network and a dead engine — sounds like fun. After ten minutes of trying with no luck, the engine finally spluttered to life and off we raced back to the island. After about twenty odd minutes, we were back on the main pier.
Roz Roz White Rose
The restaurant was now filled with regulars that we could recognise. The white top Caucasian waitress who probably was earning her stay here, the two tattooed well built men who looked like they were scouting for Netflix Narcos Season 5, the Archie Andrews and Betty Cooper couple from the boat on their honeymoon, the three German girls who were like fish to the water in the water. This time I ordered a vegetarian baguette to land up with a pakoda baguette but again hot coffee to wash it down with. The tiny Cathode Ray Television (yes they seemingly still exist) was playing the FIFA world cup in the background and no one had told the Television studio that they were showing the Bahraini flag instead of the Qatari one to millions of their viewers. Tired, we grabbed two 1.5l water bottles and decided to trudge across the white sands back to our room and call it a night.
Key Details
White Beach Bungalows — $30 per night
White Rose — $$ — $15 for a meal for 2
Local Boat Tours — Any operator on the main street will be able to get you tickets. Costs $15 per person — 12 noon to 730 PM approx duration.
1.5 litre water — Any store in the market should charge about 0.75 cents / 3000 Riel.