Sometime you just need to get away from the hustle and bustle of the busy city of Phnom penh, even just for 2 days. Life became to occupy when you have to work 6 days per week, from 8am to 5pm then all you have left is the night time that will limited your activities, since the sun set as fast as 5 to 6pm here.
Luckily the country is not too big and everything else such as beach are not too far to reach for the weekend.
Though I have to ask an extra Saturday off and 1hour earlier finished on Friday afternoon, but it was totally worth it. Got ourselves one-way van tickets from Mekong Express (10$ each) leaving Phnom Penh at 5pm heading to Sihanouk Ville, actually you can even get an even cheaper price but I prefer this company. The only problem is the traffic at 5pm as we spent about 1h30mn from Orusey Market (which is the van stop) to about 20km from Chom Chao area. Traffic on the way are quiet busy also with big trucks, and after Pich Nil (midway) it started to rain hard, I can only imagined how difficult it is for the driver, however he keep control well. Arriving at around 10pm, we decided to retreat for the night and prepared to continue the trip for tomorrow.
A not so sunny Saturday morning, we set out to the Serendipity pier (Ochhueteal Beach) at 8am. We got our tickets for the speed boat to Koh Rong Sanleom operate by Speed Ferry Cambodia (see link for detail of their services) 20$ for round trip and for 45mn we arrived at the island.
Accommodation is not difficult to find as the island is very much open to tourist now. Depend on your budget, you can find a nice place to stay from something as low as 5$-10$ per night to an even luxurious resort (link below for more detail). We settle in at Sun Island Eco Village for 20$/night. Though if you have a budget, I would recommended to stay resort, as they would offer more access to more activities, as for us lazy butt we could totally settle for a room and a restaurant. Taxi boats are also available to get from one beach to the other, price depend on number of people as well as distance. We spend 6$ for 4 people from Sun Island Eco Village to the pier of the Speed Ferry Boat.
The best thing during our trip is that there was lots of sun and well a little rain, though the sea is really calm on our beach in which i would prefer a bigger wave.
After a lazy noon and morning getting tan understand, we left the island late noon toward Sihanouk Ville. Continue with a car back to Phnom Penh, this time we decided to book a whole car for 4 of us, 55$ as a whole and thus our trip finished. hmmm….
If you need more info of the Island go here: http://www.kohrongsamloem.guide/
Last thought of the trip: The island is very beautiful with the blue sea and white sand though I hope that the authorities, the people and tourists would really help to keep this place clean and tidy, it seem that there were no proper control or taken care of much, and without this, the island will consumed by rubbishes and pollution as seeing certain site really make me worry and sad.
Nel Pen 