What Could Koh Rong?

January 8^th, 2025 

This morning, I was taking a bus (van) from Phnom Penh to Shihanoukville (named after a former king of Cambodia) and then a ferry to Koh Rong (“koh” means island).  It was a bit tense in the morning as I took a tuk tuk to the address of the bus company, and I should have left the hotel 15 minutes earlier, but according to the Grab app, I would arrive 9 minutes before the 9:45 departure time.  However, as we arrived at the designated location, all that I could see was a hospital on one side of the road, and a garage on the other.  Thankfully, after showing my online ticket to the driver, he turned around and drove around the corner and located the transport company’s office.  Whew.  If I had had to walk around aimlessly, looking for the bus, I likely would have missed it.

 

Four hours later, we arrived in Sihanoukville (named after a former Cambodian king), and it was a bit of a weird city.  There is/was quite a Chinese presence there which was obvious from the number of signs written in Mandarin.  Strangely there are a number of partially completed or abandoned 10-20 storey buildings that were were just concrete shells.  Later I found out that Chinese investors had poured money into the place pre-Covid, turning it into a 24-hour gambling mecca.  Unfortunately for them, a ban on gambling by the Cambodian government caused most investors to pull out.

 

The small ferry left an hour later for the 45-minute ride to the island.  The boat stopped at Long Beach, where the majority of the passengers disembarked.  It made me wonder if I booked a place at the wrong beach!  It did look a lovely, sandy, semi-crescent shaped beach.  Oh well, it is what it is.

 

Waiting at the ferry terminal in Shinahoukville.

Five minutes later we arrived at the tiny town on a beach around the corner called Koh Touch.  It was smaller and looked more densely packed with buildings and people than Long Beach, but it still looked decent.  My accommodations were only 400 meters from the pier, but it took me a little while to find it as there wasn’t a sign for it.  As often happens, the pictures of my bungalow on Booking.com certainly seemed different than reality…but the place will do for three nights.

Arriving on Koh Rong, specifically Koh Touch beach.

The view from my little bungalow.  That's Koh Rong Samloem in the distance, where I will go to in a few days.

My place is the one in the middle at the back.  They were interesting...with full floor to ceiling windows on three sides,

Walking down to the beach.

Koh Touch beach.

I went out for dinner at a place called Coco’s and chatted with an Aussie guy in his late 50s or early 60s who was sitting at the table next to me on the beach.  He was married to a Cambodian woman who was off buying some seafood for their dinner.  He stated that it costs a lot more if he’s present during the purchase.  Without him, she gets the “local price”.  Meanwhile, I enjoyed a good, wood-fired thin crust pizza before retiring.

For my first full day on the island, I decided to walk the three and a half kilometres over to Long Beach.  The first kilometre was a dusty road, and I had a few passing tuk tuks check to see if I wanted a ride as it was hot, and they wanted business, but I wanted to get some exercise.  Getting onto pavement made the walking more pleasant and the reward was worth it as it was a gorgeous beach.  I had some lunch and hung out for the afternoon before taking a motorcycle taxi back.  I did have to haggle from an initial price of $15 US, down to $10 and eventually $5…which was still too much but I wasn’t going to sweat it over a few bucks.

Walking towards Long Beach.

Getting there...

A little mangrove swamp area.

Long Beach was lovely.

Hard to see unless you zoom in, but there's a guy on a Flyboard just to the left of the boats.

The "fancy accommodations" on Long Beach.

Outside of the Onederz Hostel...lots of people lounging about.  Sadly, most of them were scrolling on their phones.  Onederz is a chain of of 4-5 hostels and I'll be staying with them on Koh Rong Samloem in a few days.

Evening Karaoke on Koh Touch Beach.

The next day I rented a scooter to check out more of the island.  Apart from the initial dusty bit by Koh Touch, the rest of the roads were nice pavement.  In the middle of the island, the land has been cleared of trees in preparation for an international airport, which will be Cambodia’s fourth airport.  I imagine the island’s tourism will increase a lot once that’s completed.

I woke up early to see sunrise...I just need to get a phone with a better camera, even though this looks pretty trippy.

My steed for the day...it was a fancy scooter that wouldn't start if the kickstand was down.

Starting to head across the island.

Where an airport is being build in the middle of the island.

The road signs were terrible on the island.  How close do you need to get to be able to read that?!?

Looks like a recently built temple as there was still some construction going on.

At the north end of the island, the paved road finally ended.  Backtracking half a kilometre, I decided whether to take a sandy/dusty road to “Lonely Beach”.  Reading some reviews online, the road was not for beginners on a scooter…and it was right.  About 500 meters down the road there was a section with deep sand.  I took a line to the right that detoured around that part but coming the other way were a couple of Russians, driving way too fast, and the first one bailed into the sand.  He wasn’t hurt, but I think out of embarrassment, he got up super quickly and got back on the bike.

A desolated beach near the north end of Koh Rong.

A small wooden bridge crossed a little river with some locals hanging out at what I would describe as a shanty bar.  A little further on, the “road” narrowed to a path and there was a sign saying that no cars should continue past that point.  In the odd spot along the route, a plank of wood had been strategically placed to make it easier for a bike to make it through.

The start of the challenging "road" to Lonely Beach.

Arriving at a covered parking area for scooters, I stopped the bike and contemplated whether to continue to the beach.  On one online review I had read, the writer mentioned that if you made it that far, you could make it to the beach.  However, there were signs stating no bikes beyond that point, so I decided to park as to not piss off the locals.

 

You may wonder why I titled this entry “What could Koh Rong?”.  Well, mainly for the pun, but I had about 15 minutes of “trouble time” here.  The scooter was a newer, modern one that requires a FOB.  As long as it is within 1.5 meters of the bike, you can start it.  I turned the ignition dial off and then attempted to turn it to the position to pop the seat to put my helmet inside.  The dial wouldn’t move at all.  I tried all kinds of things, even pressing buttons on the FOB, but nothing worked. 

 

Meanwhile, there was another couple who were trying to leave on their rented scooter but the main kickstand, that runs under the bike from one side to the other, was stuck in a partial down position.  It was low enough that they wouldn’t have been able to navigate the bumpy path out of here.  Seeing them struggle, the man who owned the place came over and tried to help.  He got a hammer and smashed at it, which didn’t help.  After 3-4 minutes however, he was somehow able to get it retracted and they headed on their way.

 

I put up my hand and said “Sostei” (hello), and asked if he could help me.  He hardly spoke any English, but it wasn’t difficult to show him my issue.  He tried all sorts of things, mostly what I had already tried…to no avail.  He then said “Phone” (the owner).  Damn.  When I rented the bike at Koh Touch, at the other end of the island, I had asked the guy if he had WhatsApp and he said, “Don’t worry, I’m always here”, thinking that my worry was whether I would find him when I returned.  There was no sticker on the bike with a number.  Oh dear, I could be screwed.  I didn’t even have a phone number for the place I was staying at…

 

Luckily, the man fiddled around for a few more minutes and he got the ignition switch to turn.  Whew.  Crisis averted.  I thanked him profusely.  “Arkoun, arkoun, arkoun.”  Tried to off him 5000 riels ($1.25 US), but he declined.  I walked over to his wife who was the money collector for the parking fee of 2000 and insistently gave her the 5000.

I started to walk and saw a sign stating 1 kilometre to Lonely Beach.  It was a lovely walk through the forest and when I arrived at the beach.  I was stunned, it was spectacular…like being stranded on a stereotypical desert island!  In fact, I later learned that an episode of the French version of Survivor was shot on this island (but not specifically this beach).  Nearby there was one couple sitting in the lovely turquoise water and further down the beach I could see three other people swimming.  Other than that, it was quiet.  I strolled up and down the beach but decided that it was time to find some lunch. 

 

That difficult to see hanging sign says "Lonely Beach".

Some rudimentary buildings as part of the Lonely Beach Resort.

It was a pristine beach.

Lovely Lonely Beach.

Like a deserted island.

A few people heading to their huts...they did like quite basic.

Gorgeous!

The restaurant at this Lonely Beach rustic resort was set back from the ocean, so I decided to take a chance and walk back a fork right at the start of the path near the parking, and head to another restaurant called Lily’s.  I was happy with my decision.  It was a new, also rustic place but it had a little restaurant close to the water, with a friendly Spanish man as the waiter.  From what I gathered, he was helping family or a friend and had only been there three days, but he was a good server.  It was kinda nice to get some Western-like, prompt service.

 

Even though there was no electricity, amazingly I was able to tether my laptop to my phone and order some paragliding equipment and answer some emails from this remote location!

It was definitely a different walk to Lily's Guesthouse/Restaurant than to Lonely Beach as the coconut trees were planted in a grid, and there wasn't that much shade from the sun.

A hut at Lily's.

The tiny restaurant bar.

It was a lovely spot.

This was an amazing place to be doing some work.  I ordered some paragliding gear for clients from this spot.

I took a slightly different route to get back to Koh Touch so that I essentially circumnavigated the island, as best as the roads would allow.

As I was scootering back, this building, which was for some Chinese land development caught my attention.  I looked up at the dragon statues as I motored down the road from the right side of this picture.  I didn't even see the road had split to the left and I wasn't supposed to continue straight.  I was about to pass in front of this building and at the last second I saw this thin black and faded yellow striped boom barrier (a gate you can raise to let vehicles through).  I stopped about 3 feet before it, and the bar was at the height of my neck...I could have been decapitated or at least crush my larynyx had I not seen it at the last second.

I saw over 10 of these red roofed, abandoned homes along the road...not sure what the story is about them.

Almost back to Koh Touch.

There's Koh Rong Samloem, where I will go tomorrow.

Riding back into Koh Touch.

I enjoyed my stay on this island and my next stop with be Koh Rong Samloem, which my current bungalow faces.  It is a quieter and less developed island with no cars on it…should be interesting.