I paused and asked myself: “Am I dreaming or awake, right now?” Be serious, really try to answer the question to the best of your ability and be ready to justify your answer. Coz this can’t be true! This is stuff of dreams…
Let me walk you through my dream!!!
This is how it all started….
An Overnight Journey to The War Zone!
High on life, walking to catch our overnight bus to Phnom Penh is how our journey started. These overnight buses are the most convenient ones. You get to Phnom Penh before you know it, waking up to the gorgeous pink sunrise and not so soothing voice of the tuk tuk drivers waiting to take you somewhere.
After two hours of ignoring the tuk tuk drivers, we depart to Sihanoukville in a small van trying to catch up on sleep for the next 4 hours!
A total of 11 hours by road to get to Sihanoukville did not seem that much, knowing that we were just a ferry ride away from the island. But that’s when our true journey began!
Entering South East Asia’s most Dangerous City!
Sihanoukville: A City that looked like had just survived a war and is still dealing with its repercussions. Sihanoukville is suppose to be the most dangerous city in South East Asia, a fact we were blissfully unaware of and only found out on our return trip!
As our tuk tuk driver drove us to the port on the disastrously unkept road, our eyes patiently hoped for a sight of beautiful ocean surrounded by pretty houses, restaurants we could stop and grab a quick bite in. But hell to the no!!!
We were told that the Preksway supply boat departs around 2:00 PM and is one of the cheapest ways to get to the island apart from the other two options mentioned in my previous blog. We chose the supply boat for experience! We had an hour to kill before the boat departed, so we decided to look around for food! Pretty much to our disappointment there was nothing around the pier. Luckily we found a small cafe with decent food and coffee.
A long Interesting Ride in a Supply Boat
With minimal food in our belly and no insight into the time it was going to take us for the next meal, we had no other choice but wait for the ferry to depart.
While enjoying the whole experience of watching a variety of people boarding the ferry, we observed some interesting ones!
1) A Woman who had just delivered a baby!
2) A woman who had left her daughter on the boat to guard their stuff for the longest time and the little girl patiently waiting for her mom, almost at the verge of tears .
Her Mom Finally showed up!
3) Four bad-ass women who were having the best time smoking and gossiping with each other, who also happened to be with us till the end of the journey!
4) And a bunch of muscular young lads stocking the boat with supplies!
Our ferry finally departed at 4:00 PM!!!
It took around 3 hours to get to the southern tip of the island which was our first stop as informed by our Airbnb host. We were shocked!! It was only a first stop to unload the supplies.
Unloading took around an hour and a half at the first two villages each. We made our peace with a beautiful sunset and the chaos around us. It was interesting to see that these lads did laborious work everyday! #islandlife
Entering Preksway village – The Hidden Gem of Koh Rong Island!
4-5 stops and a boat change in the middle of the ocean later, we were in PrekSway village, the Northern most part of Koh Rong Island.
With stars shining upon us it didn’t feel that tiring after such a long journey! We were terribly hungry when we finally entered a small, quaint village. The next task was to find our floating house among all the other houses! Our host Johnny guided us and soon we were in what I have been mentioning about. The dream that I’ve been talking about 🙂
Our Pretty Airbnb!
Right by the ocean, this not so tiny Airbnb was a find! With great food and beautiful small room, it was a minimal life at its best! The room had a queen size bed with a net for protection from mosquito’s and a small bathroom with a toilet. The electricity wasn’t very consistent, but we didn’t feel the need to charge our phones in a paradise like this!
Our Airbnb was probably one of the last houses on the north side. It had a small store, from where you could easily buy drinks, coffee and small snacks. You only get beer on this side of the island. Southern part of the island is more touristy and has all the amenities in the world!
Morning After: Welcome to Paradise!
Now that’s the site that made the entire journey totally worth it! I would do it all over again, every single time I go to Cambodia, in a heart beat. I woke up to the sound of rooster roosting, wind gushing, making me curious to go explore the world outside at 9:00 am in the morning. It was beautiful! It was love at first sight, something I never believed in but only hoped existed!
It was magical, I found myself a small corner on the side of the beach to lay on the hammock and take my time to believe this was real!
Days of Immersing in The Paradise!
A coffee and decompressing time on the hammock became my morning routine on the island. Time would just fly relaxing, devouring simple and delectable food, walking around watching minimalist lifestyle, engaging with humble people, exploring the island, getting mesmerized by nature, sparkling stars and much more! There was never a dull moment on the island.
Some days were all about a beer and a dip in the water for as long as we wanted, followed by scrumptious meal cooked by Johnny’s mom and some were about exploring the unexplored that put things into perspective in terms of what’s important in life, to live for moments like these!
Our Super-host Johnny!
Johnny is an ambitious man with a big dream and a good cause! He was working on Song Saa private island resort near Preksway. After working for a couple of years in the resort, he decided to quit his job and do something for the village. He started with just one house in the beginning and was trying to spread the word through people.
Along came a German lady who helped him get on booking.com and Airbnb, his business saw a boom soon enough. This helped him create 4 more houses which can accommodate around 4 people each. He also welcomes volunteers to help teach English in the village and collect plastic waste. I wish him the best as I would love to visit the village again!
Bike Ride With a Kid!
Legal age to get a license for driving/riding in Cambodia being 16 years, it is very common to find teenagers riding around. Especially on the island where the demand for taxi rides are very high, they waste no time for some side hussle. We were amazed to see young kids driving on these rugged roads which I would be super scared of riding by myself.
And that’s how our ride to Long Beach began! We were ridden by the kids to the other side of Preksway village to the south. That was the moment we actually got out of our comfy cocoon and into the wilderness of the Island.
Dreamy Sunset on The Long Beach
After our adventurous ride, it was time for another one! Walking on the beach in scorching heat :/ Long beach has the most dreamy sunset! That’s the beauty of Cambodia, every sunset is unique and beautiful. We stayed in Long beach resort enjoying a few drinks and taking a nap on the hammock while the sun was setting in front of us.
Triple Seat Ride Under The Moonlight!
We were curious about the triple seat ride back home with johnny, especially after seeing the road conditions. I was scared but open for yet another adventure. We went back like a big happy family, took a few stops on the crazy streets of Koh Rong Island. It was insane to see how people ride on such bad roads. I definitely didn’t expect the triple seat ride to be a joyous one, yet it was.
On our way back we stopped by a bridge near the village to see the plankton’s. Moonlight was too bright for us to be able to see anything in the water. Johnny tried to put some coconut leaves on the bridge to cover the light coming from the crevices and we went under the bridge to see the plankton’s. We could only view a few but I am pretty sure the view would be more gorgeous in the dark!
A Questionable Airport in Sihanoukville!
It was soon time to snap out of it all to catch an early morning ferry back to Sihanoukville and a flight back to Siem Reap 🙁 While sitting at Sihanoukville’s tiny airport amidst the chaos surrounding the flight delays, all I could think of was the beautiful experience and when could I get to do it again!
I can only wish to come across more such dreamy places in my travels to introduce them to you!!!
Ever been to your dream place? Let me know in the comments below.
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