Friends, all I can say is that life is good! After a monumental temple experience at Angkor wat, we booked a six hour bus ride to sihanoukville Cambodia on the coast. Twelve hours later we arrived after a short ukelele playing stop in Phnom Penh to switch busses. The roads in Cambodia are a bit bumpy and take great care to maneuver, glad I'm not driving. We arrive after dark and negotiate our tuk tuk driver to our guesthouse. For those ho don't know tuk Turks are like rickshaws pulled by motorbikes, at least in Cambodia in Thailand they are a bit different. They are like little taxis and they are everywhere and you at always being offered one! Tuk tuk abundance overflows! We checking and head for the beach. Sihanoukville is a smelly bad spring break vibe shithole in my humble opinion. I'm feeling a bit worried that the island won't be that great. We shoot some pool and watch some fire spinners. I refuse free shots a nearly topless girl is pouring out of a tea kettle. We buy our tickets to the ferry and go to bed.
The ferry to Koh Rong is a big diving boat with a shaded empty platform up top and I sprawl out and draw pictures. Karthick plays ukelele and the sea unfolds endless blue depths all around
us. I had no idea what koh rong had in store for us. After about two hours we reach the pier, the water is electix turquoise the sand is blindingly white and the jungle lush and pristine. Wow, traveling serendipity,
thanks for takin us to the most beautiful place I have ever seen.
We wander the shore in search of a place to stay, we were hoping for a treehouse bungalow on stilts overlooking the ocean, but they were all booked, dang! So we wandered til we found a local csmbo owned room right on the beach. They had a restaurant next door that made me my favorite, mussaman curry! Okay I'm in heaven! We stroll the gorgeous sand. It's so soft and so clean and so
fine that it actually squeaks when you walk on it! We jboth plop ourselves in the cerulean majesty of rhe gulf of Thailand as quickly as we can. Floating in this luxurious paradise I am so amazed! After a uke concert on a big rock in the sea we continue to stroll the beach until it turns into fun stones to climb over. It's so fun! We reach the next beach, somehow it's more breathtaking and there's nothing over there but a bunch of spaniard topkess hippies playing melodica. They call us over and we jam a bit. They invite us back in the evening for a campfire. Okay! It was a lovely evening on a deserted beach the sky gleaming with stars, chatting with excited travelers from all over the world.
I woke with the sun the next day and we hired a boat to take us "snookling" so the sign said. Ukles snookling trips. Almost ukelele! We puttered out to a tiny island off the shore and I did the best snorkeling of my life! I've snorkeled Catalina, Costa Rica, Mexico,and the Bahamas, but nothing comes close to this. Shocking coral in geometric fractals! Fish in such electric patterns that it would make an acid trip jealous! Feeling so lucky and so grateful! On the island I see a staircase, of course I'm going to take it! The bannister if the staircase is a huge snake that stretches all the way uphill to the peak of the island. There are several shrines and a temple, oh yeah, and one stunning view! My backside is fried from do much time in the water so we head back to shore with big shit eating grins on our faces. Another magically mellow evening in paradise!
The next morning we take a yoga class on the dock, fun asanas practiced with waves of sound beneath the hard planks of wood. Afterwards Karthick and I meet Bara from the Czech Republic, and we agree to meet up for done acro yoga play, if you don't know what this is, YouTube it! We plan the next leg of our travels, we are both sad that we had already booked our flights to Malaysia, we didn't know koh rong would be so perfect! We heard that there was another beach called long beach, and there's a hike in the jungle to get there and you have to watch the sunset! So we trekked into the thick cambodian jungle, machetes in hand ready to toil with anacondas
and yetis...... Okay there was a nice clearly marked trail, though we did have to repel over some boulders! The beach is stunning there's only one restaurant and bungalows. Other than that it's the most pristine untouched stretch of beach I've ever seen, it just goes on and on! I always dreamt of finding an island like koh rong, and I can't believe I found it within three days of my travels! Unfortunately all the plans for developing resorts gold courses, etc are all in the works and within a few years it will be another crsppy typical island for rich a holes, do go see it now, please, I beg you!
The sunset is unspeakable in it's beauty and we pay a boat two dollars to drive us right to the front door of our bungalow on the other side if the island. One more bowl of mussaman curry before I go! We see Bara at dinner and play acro yoga a bit, much to the delight of other diners, and the curious cambodian restaurant owners. A great night topped off by mediocre Spanish reggae dancing. The next morning brought goodbye, I spent it eating muesli and playing uke with some local kids. Oh yeah and drinking strong coffee with sweetened condensed milk in it,yeah! That made for an excellent boat
ride, I could not stop smiling as I watched ko rong disappear, I promised myself, I'd be back!
Another great cambodian bus ride to Phnom Penh where we checked in to our unusually smelly guesthouse. We strolled the cambodian streets along the Mekong river. We had good Indian good and an hour long foot massage. Life is grand. Up early we took a tuk tuk to the airport and took off for Malaysia! A nice nap later and we are there! We transfer via taxi to another airport that flies us to the jewel of kedah! Otherwise known as langkawi island!
So ko rong was a bad way to start my island adventure because it made langkawi a big letdown,
it was okay, not really my kind if a place. I love the culture change to Malaysia though, after Buddhist thsiland and Cambodia it's nice to see the Muslim and Hindu influences here. Especially in the food! Oh we ate so much roti and Dahl, I loved it! Best part of Malaysia I think! Oh and we rented a motor scooter, Karthick loves them! The next day we drive all over the island, found a magical Hindu temple in vibrant colors, a nice change from the guildedThai style temples. I wanted to see the seven faerie wells waterfall. It was an intense bit of stair climbing! At the tile were seven pools and a view of dense trees in a valley looking out to the sea. You can use the rocks like a slide here and slip from one pool to another, wonderfully fun! But we are bored and decide to leave langkawi early and head back to thIland to koh lipe. Travel is so easy here, there are travel agencies everywhere that will pick you up from your room and arrange all your transport. It's amazing, so we book out ferry to koh lipe Thailand! We eat more roti and Dahl! And pack for Thailand! Woo hoo, from the gulf of Thailand to the andaman sea, and three counties in three days! I have south blogging to catch you up on hope you're still enjoying, I sure miss you all!
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