A decade ago you wouldn’t find much on the island of Koh Rong, and much less on the neighbouring Koh Rong Samloem. Even today the beaches are quiet, the wifi is minimal and you’re hard pressed to find a cash machine. Either your idea of hell or your idea of bliss, depending which way you look at it.
Getting to the islands is a $10, 30 to 60 minute ferry from the city of Sihanoukville, which itself was a six hour minibus journey from Phnom Penh; the latter was another hot, unpleasant trip.
We only had one night in Sihanoukville, which was lucky really. The place had completely changed from my friend’s positive visit three years prior. Now it catered mostly for Chinese tourists, with more than 71 casinos and construction works everywhere, continuing long into the night - presumably building more casinos.
Getting to the islands is a $10, 30 to 60 minute ferry from the city of Sihanoukville, which itself was a six hour minibus journey from Phnom Penh; the latter was another hot, unpleasant trip.
We only had one night in Sihanoukville, which was lucky really. The place had completely changed from my friend’s positive visit three years prior. Now it catered mostly for Chinese tourists, with more than 71 casinos and construction works everywhere, continuing long into the night - presumably building more casinos.
But the place couldn’t support them. Power outings happen all the time, including thrice during our evening meal. I think the ‘no spitting’ signs plastered everywhere complete my summary; safe to say I wasn’t a fan and wouldn’t stay again in a hurry. Alhough I can’t really complain about Onederz Hostel, aside from it being next to a building site.
The boat to Koh Rong was 45 minutes of calm, basking in glorious sunshine on the top deck. As we approached the pier at Koh Touch (Tui) village it was remarkable how different it looked from anywhere we’d been before, even Phi Phi. A small strip of simplistic, mainly wooden buildings greeted us on the promenade – with a tiny strip of beach in front.
The boat to Koh Rong was 45 minutes of calm, basking in glorious sunshine on the top deck. As we approached the pier at Koh Touch (Tui) village it was remarkable how different it looked from anywhere we’d been before, even Phi Phi. A small strip of simplistic, mainly wooden buildings greeted us on the promenade – with a tiny strip of beach in front.
Not many hotels are listed for booking online, so it was just a case of rocking up and finding what’s available. We wandered around several, which were essentially just ramshackle huts, before deciding we should break off into smaller groups.
Three of us seized the only vacant room in a beach-front hostel, which meant us having to rotate between two double beds and climb a ladder to reach it. The name escapes me, though I remember it ironically having ‘paradise’ in the title. It was no luxury, and it got awfully hot, but it only cost $25 (between us) for three nights.
Three of us seized the only vacant room in a beach-front hostel, which meant us having to rotate between two double beds and climb a ladder to reach it. The name escapes me, though I remember it ironically having ‘paradise’ in the title. It was no luxury, and it got awfully hot, but it only cost $25 (between us) for three nights.
The other four got lucky with one just off the promenade called Sunflower, with hammocks and an owner who pretty nonchalantly announced he sold weed.
After unburdening it was straight to the beach for a beer and game of cards. Sadly it wasn’t long until the rain paid a visit; while the weather stayed mostly glorious, random heavy showers were never too far away. So we trekked up a narrow alleyway of 200 or so steps to the tallest structure in sight – Sky Bar.
After unburdening it was straight to the beach for a beer and game of cards. Sadly it wasn’t long until the rain paid a visit; while the weather stayed mostly glorious, random heavy showers were never too far away. So we trekked up a narrow alleyway of 200 or so steps to the tallest structure in sight – Sky Bar.
The bar was very open plan, but sheltered, and perched above a section of jungle. You couldn’t see much of the beach below, but it offered an amazing view of the sea and neighbouring islands. A pool table and two-for-one cocktails were plenty to distract us until the sun came back.
Sky Bar became one of our most frequented spots on the island. We quickly got acquainted with the staff and the owner, a German guy called Eddie who’d lived there for several years.
Eddie was partial to sharing questionable anecdotes, with many of them centring on his self-acclaimed potato salad recipe and attempts from other bar owners to steal it. Almost like some sort of real-life Mr Krabs, defending his Krabby Patty from an army of Planktons. A tasty enough dish but I don’t think I’d go insane trying to recreate it.
Sky Bar became one of our most frequented spots on the island. We quickly got acquainted with the staff and the owner, a German guy called Eddie who’d lived there for several years.
Eddie was partial to sharing questionable anecdotes, with many of them centring on his self-acclaimed potato salad recipe and attempts from other bar owners to steal it. Almost like some sort of real-life Mr Krabs, defending his Krabby Patty from an army of Planktons. A tasty enough dish but I don’t think I’d go insane trying to recreate it.
On the whole the food up there was actually pretty good, and kept us going back. Which is more than could be said for some places on the island; including one which sold ‘breakfast burritos’, a blasphemous mixture of cold baked beans and white rice. I suppose it did fill my stomach for $3 though.
In the evenings I was content with just kicking it and watching some live Premier League football, which is played much more than I’d assumed before we arrived.
One night we joined in with an organised ‘Richie Rich’ pub crawl, though I didn’t fall for the ruse of paying for a vest this time. There aren’t that many bars so it wasn’t hard to guess where people would end up. Besides, I made up for it by paying several bucks per bottle of Guinness export in the last place.
There seemed to be a lot of emphasis on various $10 raves at the bottom end of Police beach, or at least that’s what those in the promo hut always tried to push. I didn’t actually go to one, though we did chance a party at another part of the island - on the advice of two guys we met in Siem Reap.
In the evenings I was content with just kicking it and watching some live Premier League football, which is played much more than I’d assumed before we arrived.
One night we joined in with an organised ‘Richie Rich’ pub crawl, though I didn’t fall for the ruse of paying for a vest this time. There aren’t that many bars so it wasn’t hard to guess where people would end up. Besides, I made up for it by paying several bucks per bottle of Guinness export in the last place.
There seemed to be a lot of emphasis on various $10 raves at the bottom end of Police beach, or at least that’s what those in the promo hut always tried to push. I didn’t actually go to one, though we did chance a party at another part of the island - on the advice of two guys we met in Siem Reap.
It was getting close to midnight when we boarded a boat with roughly 12 others, setting off into the pitch black ocean. We obviously had lot of trust in the captain, who kept asking us to move about to keep things balanced. I couldn’t possibly tell you where we ended up, but the place we moored had literally just a bar with seating scattered about on the sands.
All said there were probably about 30 people there, but the DJ was playing some house bangers. Plus one of the gang met his ‘Cambodian Princess’ there so the excursion paid off for him.
All said there were probably about 30 people there, but the DJ was playing some house bangers. Plus one of the gang met his ‘Cambodian Princess’ there so the excursion paid off for him.
The next boat was a few hours later and the journey was a bit of a blur. I do recall bombarding Liverpool fans with plenty of Man City songs which, now I think about it, could easily have seen us dumped in the sea and left for chum.
We made it back from the sketchiness around 3am to find a place still selling pizza. Now Cambodian pizzas aren’t terrible on the whole, but we’d grown quite fond of loading them with Tabasco sauce to add some zhoosh.
There had been a lot of promising talk about Long Beach, which was on the other side of the island, so we decided to take a midday excursion. The route starts with the steps up to Sky Bar, where the staff told us to continue walking for 20-30 minutes through the trees.
We made it back from the sketchiness around 3am to find a place still selling pizza. Now Cambodian pizzas aren’t terrible on the whole, but we’d grown quite fond of loading them with Tabasco sauce to add some zhoosh.
There had been a lot of promising talk about Long Beach, which was on the other side of the island, so we decided to take a midday excursion. The route starts with the steps up to Sky Bar, where the staff told us to continue walking for 20-30 minutes through the trees.
They were right about the distance, but undersold the difficulty. It was more of trek through dense, humid jungle, along a narrow path. Most of it spent pressing through the foliage with baited breath, in anticipation of a guest appearance by a snake or some mad insect.
At the end of the path was a steep decent over boulders and uneven terrain, somewhat of an abseil in honesty. A few of the party had nothing but sliders or flip-flops on their feet. Trainers are a must.
We weren’t exactly rewarded for our efforts after arriving at the beach, dripping with sweat. The place was absolutely strewn with rubbish and detritus of all kinds: plastics, paper, rubble, bits of wood and the sort.
It was called Long Beach for a reason and eventually the sands started to clear, revealing one of the most pristine, white beaches I’ve seen. A little further along was a resort made up of lots of luxury beach huts, with hundreds of deck chairs along the sands. All vacant.
At the end of the path was a steep decent over boulders and uneven terrain, somewhat of an abseil in honesty. A few of the party had nothing but sliders or flip-flops on their feet. Trainers are a must.
We weren’t exactly rewarded for our efforts after arriving at the beach, dripping with sweat. The place was absolutely strewn with rubbish and detritus of all kinds: plastics, paper, rubble, bits of wood and the sort.
It was called Long Beach for a reason and eventually the sands started to clear, revealing one of the most pristine, white beaches I’ve seen. A little further along was a resort made up of lots of luxury beach huts, with hundreds of deck chairs along the sands. All vacant.
There were barely four or five other people in sight, so we took a seat to enjoy the beautiful surroundings. But it wasn’t long until the fun police showed up. A security guard insisted we moved as they were all reserved for the empty resort.
We asked if there was anywhere to buy water or food, with our supplies running low, but the guy just continued to smile and ushered us back towards the debris filled part of Long Beach.
Somehow I stubbed my toe while getting up, badly enough to turn it black for a few days. Funny that would be my comeuppance after completing the treacherous journey there unscathed, but it certainly ruled me out of the climb back up – or walking with any ease at all.
Our lack of water was ruling out staying much longer too, so we headed to a few boats further down the beach. A guy on a moped rode out to meet us, with the bad news that the next boat wasn’t until 6pm, at sunset. It was barely 3pm.
We asked if there was anywhere to buy water or food, with our supplies running low, but the guy just continued to smile and ushered us back towards the debris filled part of Long Beach.
Somehow I stubbed my toe while getting up, badly enough to turn it black for a few days. Funny that would be my comeuppance after completing the treacherous journey there unscathed, but it certainly ruled me out of the climb back up – or walking with any ease at all.
Our lack of water was ruling out staying much longer too, so we headed to a few boats further down the beach. A guy on a moped rode out to meet us, with the bad news that the next boat wasn’t until 6pm, at sunset. It was barely 3pm.
With some haggling we found a boat to take us back around to Koh Tui for $5 each; along with the last drops of drinking water we had, to stop the engine from overheating. It was good to get back to civilisation, and a shop, much longer and the sea water would’ve been tempting. Note: If you trek to Long Beach, take a lot of water.
Despite some heavy showers and an injury, Koh Rong was among the highlights of the trip so far. After three days and nights, three of us decided to go on ahead and catch a boat to Koh Rong Samloem. But would it match up? From what we heard it was even less built up, the beaches were quieter, and wifi didn’t exist.
Despite some heavy showers and an injury, Koh Rong was among the highlights of the trip so far. After three days and nights, three of us decided to go on ahead and catch a boat to Koh Rong Samloem. But would it match up? From what we heard it was even less built up, the beaches were quieter, and wifi didn’t exist.