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koh rong
This stunning island was like no other island we have visited, only a small section of the island is available to tourists with no tuk tuks or roads so other parts were accessible only by boat. Like some say, it’s Thailand 20 years ago since there are tourists but it hasn’t been completely westernised yet. There was a small local village to the left of the pier and to the right there were guesthouses and hotels. On arrival a women escorted us into a bar and gave us an ‘introduction to staying on the island’. She informed us about the importance of applying coconut oil to prevent sand fly bites as there was a high abundance on the beaches and that electricity is cut off from 11am-1pm and 2am-8am, amongst other things. Even though far from it, it reminded me slightly about the private community on the island in the film The Beach. We ended up paying $8 for a shabby room in a hostel which we were sure was actually one of the family rooms and shared the bathroom with the owners family.
As our time here was limited we opted for an afternoon boat trip to Long Beach on the other side of the island which apparently was a must and it most definitely was!
As it’s name suggests it was an extremely long beach of white divine fine sand, which squeaked as you walked (similar to the sound of snow), crystal clear water and a majestic green mountainous back drop. It has to be one of the most prestige beaches we have been to and being so quiet was a bonus. It was so untouched that there was only a small cafe at the end of the beach and a few men selling drinks from a fridge at the back of the beach. Boat drivers chilled together on their boats and played volleyball. We watched the sunset and then headed back.
All hotels and restaurants were on the beach front right on the sand. Dinner was similar to Sihanoukville, BBQ meals on tables or loungers on the white sand. The following day we walked to another beach which oddly had brick coloured sand in comparison to the beach right next to it. Here we found tree houses available for tourists looking for a different experience. We enjoyed a few hours of the beach before we hopped on to the catamaran back to Sihanoukville where we arrived just in time for a shower and dinner by the beach front again.
