Koh Rong, Cambodia
Koh Rong
I had high hopes for Koh Rong. An island off the coast of Cambodia, it's supposed to be beautiful. Unfortunately, we decided to visit during the rainy season. Luckily, our first day wasn't rainy! Our ferry got in around 3:30 and we had a couple of beers on the beach while we waited for our hostel boat to pick us up. Our hostel is a bit away from the main "town" and is on a private beach a couple miles away. When our boat finally came it was Laura, me, 4 dogs, and a slew of workers from the hostel with all the food and supplies the hostel needed. We got to the hostel after dark and realized ate dinner and hung out in the main area all night. Then later on we went snorkeling in front of the hostel and saw bioluminescent plankton! It was so cool - it looked like a million little stars in the water. That was probably the only cool thing about visiting Ko Rong.
The next day, which was our only full day on the island, it rained all day long. We are stuck at a hostel which is an hours walk from town, has no wifi, and the only activity is the beach and it is pouring down rain. We were basically stranded along with everyone else staying in the hostel. All we did the whole day was lay in hammocks and read. It was pretty boring. Then to make things weird everyone except Laura and I were moved out of our 8 person dorm. Semi creepy. Especially at night in the rain when the dorm is down a little path in the jungle and chickens are running around everywhere. When I was ready for bed I discovered two giant lizards on the outside of the cabin. So cool! I was so excited about the lizards UNTIL I discovered a giant lizard right by my bed. He looks like a small dinosaur and he likes to make eye contact. So tonight I am sleeping with a lizard and my pillow smells like mildew. All of our clothes are wet because of the rain and they won't dry because it is THAT humid. And in the morning I will discover that my bed had bed bugs and I will wake up with ~325 bites and feel like I have chicken pox.
The next day we couldn't leave fast enough and what do you know, bright and sunny. That all sounds miserable and maybe a bit dramatic....it really wasn't that bad. But now we're off to our last stop in Cambodia, Phnom Pehn!