Koh Rong

 

I was not expecting much from this little, still undeveloped island. To my surprise it was lovely tropical island with small town and harbor, white sand beaches and turquoise water and jungle. There are no roads on the island. Imagine! No cars.... no motorcycles... no tuk tuks..

The weather changed and it rained almost every day. Watching the lightning at night was one of the best activities to do.

 

 

 

 

 

I kayaked to the small inland you could see from the beach and enjoyed the feeling of being the only one there... I checked out the temple , snorkeled and look for a place to bury my treasures.

 

 

There is a beautiful white sand beach on the other side of Koh Rong. It is tough hour climb up and down to get to it. It is said to be the best place to watch sunset. I didn't get to spend much time there as the boatmen who take you back by boat warned us from storm that was coming. So no sunset for me. The waves were huge and getting onto the boats was a fun challenge.

If I was to change anything on this lovely island. I would take away all the trash that is washed out on the remote beaches and than kill all the sand flies!

 

 

 

Cambodia, Kep and Sihanoukville

Cambodia..alas... how to cross the boarder the hardest way

I woke up early in the morning, finished packing and went for a swim. It was still raining, but I really wanted to get some exercise before the trip. I swam for few minutes when I crossed paths with jellyfish and ... she won.... I got stung on my legs. That was the end of the swim, getting stung is rather painful. Now I wonder if it was a sign, or a warning.

I had a ticket for boat and bus to Kem in Cambodia for noon ($16).
I met my friends at 9am for breakfast. Just around 10 am the guy from tourist office showed up, saying I had to leave right away. So I grabbed my backpack and hopped on the back of the motorcycle to go to the harbor.

When we got there the driver looked nervous. Bit of waiting and another guy who could speak English showed up to tell me that the boat left already at 10 am ( 2 hours early!!!). It also was the last fast boat for the day. I told him I needed to leave, I was on the last day of Vietnamese visas. He found slow boat that could take me , gave me all my money back and send me on my way all by myself.

 I knew this will not be any good.  He said the boat would take 2-3 hours, and is going to harbor not far from Ha Tien ( border town), he said I could take motorcycle taxi from there. He said the boat will cost 100000 and the taxi 50000-70000. I had not choice ( didn't want to have to pay fine of $20 or more for overstaying visa).

So there I was, on a stinky boat with only few passengers, few motorcycles and boxes and boxes of fish and seafood. There was a wooden  island where we all sat. Some people had hummocks. Nobody could speak English. Waiting , waiting, more boxes of fish being loaded... We finally left at noon.
The boat was SLOW, what takes the fast boat 1 hour, took us almost 5. It was getting late and  I still hoped I would at least make it across the boarder and stay there in a hotel.

 

 

When we got the the harbor ( note I had to pay 150000 for the boat), someones girlfriend was waiting for me to take me to Ha Tien. No English again. We drove the motorcycle for some 30 min, maybe more to the town where she took me to her house , where I waited, still don't know for what ( i think a  friend to take me to Kep). I guess they didn't find anyone, so I was dropped off at the boarder, 5:55 pm, driver asking for 200000 ( $10)... I gave him 100000 and just walked away to the border.

It turned out that they close it at 6pm. The friendly Vietnamese officers stamped my passport and told me to rush as fast as I can to the Cambodian side..... I took a moto taxi, for dollar. The boarder was already closed, but he took shortcut around the fields (!!!) and got me to the Cambodian officers at 6:05pm.
The officers told me it was too late, but I explained I got stamped out at the other side, so I have no place to go now... and unless they let me sleep on that spot.... They were rather friendly the whole time, even gave me a cigarette ( yes I needed one).

So they made a call and the officer who does the visas came back. He was not happy. He gave me hard time. Made me cry ( not hard after day like this). Told me it is his dinner time...  I told him that last meal I ate was breakfast and that I did my best to get there on time. He said there are no hotels in town and I will have to go all the way to Kep and it is dark and it is dangerous.... GREAT!

 When I tipped him $3, as I had no exact change to pay $22 for my visa, he was smiling again, saying I will be fine. The other friendly officer asked for $5 as a tip too, but I smiled at him and told him no ( it would be a bad Carma trying to get more money from poor lonely traveler anyway).

One of the motorcycle taxi guys agreed to take me to Kep for $15, that was the rate they have in LP. So we hopped on his motorcycle and we drove on shitty roads, in the dark, for over an hour.

The land was flat and I watched the lightning far away, we passed little villages, where man were sitting watching tv in little cafes. I could hear the thunder and frogs. It was almost nice, night riding. ... except the road was very bad and I was worried about my safety. Just hoping my driver is a good man and good driver and will take me all the way to Kep without accidents.

At around 7:30 pm, we made it to town. It took a while to find the area with inexpensive hotels. I payed my driver and even gave him tip, poor guy had to drive all the way back.

I was happy to be in Kep, in a nice hotel, that made me good food for  dinner.  The final cost of my trip to Cambodia was around $30, I guess still less than overstaying my visa.

Seems like the really bad days make for really good stories at the end....

Kep

It would be hard not to enjoy this little, mellow town, with red blooming trees along the main street and nice water front promenade with monkeys waiting for tourist to feed them and the most beautiful sunsets.

The town is missing a downtown and a beach, but has nice green NP with 8km trail around it with stunning views.

I met my Californian friend Ken here, we traveled in Burma together. It was nice to meet up for few days again.

We rented a motorcycle and went to visit Kampot, town some 30 km away. The ride was unpleasant with dusty roads and extreme heat. Our motorcycle broke down at some point and Ken had to push it for a while to the repair shop. We were lucky and got it fixed rather fast ( for a $1). We only spend little time in Kampot, rushing back to hike in the NP for the sunset.

Sihanoukville and Otres Beach

Resorty town in south Cambodia with nice beaches and bunch of undeveloped islands around it. It is also the young backpackers hang out spot, so expect lots of drunk youngsters and loud music in the evening to wee hours. There is also a lots of "working girls" in the bars and you are constantly harased by the tuk tuk drivers.

I took a walk 4 km south to the Otres beach and fell to instant liking of this little place with clean beach, just few restaurants and bars. I found a hut on the beach and arranged to move there the next day.

I spend few days swimming, walking on the beach and perfecting my sun tan. If you wait till it gets dark at night , you can experience the magic of swimming with the fluorescent algae. The little sparkling dots... like a fiery dust. That and the stars make for unforgettable moments.

 

 

Mekong Delta and Phu Quoc Island

Mekong Delta

Can Tho
I was really looking forward to getting near Mekong again, remembering the excitement from crossing it on boat to get to Laos and watching the amazing sunsets over the river in Luang Prabang.
I picked the town of Can Tho. Nice town with a waterfront, little market and not many western tourist visiting.

I booked a boat trip to the floating markets. It was hard to wake up at 5am, but absolutely worth it! I had a boat with nice boat lady all to myself.  The sunrise over the river was lovely. It took about an hour to get to the first floating market. What a treat! Big boats loaded up with fruits and vegetables, selling to customers in smaller boats. Chaos, colors and smiles. People in Mekong Delta like to smile!

Load up those watermelons!

We kept going down the river for few more hours, to get the the second market. This one was smaller and had more stand up paddle boats. I bought a watermelon for 10000 ($0.50).  We spend some time there resting and people watching.

Late morning was good time for exploring the smaller narrow canals with lush bushes and palm trees along them . My guide was taking us away from the town, towards the rice fields and gardens. It was hard to believe how different this area was from the big town.... quiet, green, with only few people passing us on little boats.
We stopped near one of the farms and I took a walk on a trail along the river, passing rice fields and fields with watermelons and squash.

Few more hours on the boat and we got back to town. Just in time for me to get on a bus to Rich Gia. Coast town 4 hours away, with ferry to take me to the Phu Quoc Island the next day.

Phu Quoc Island

I saved the last week of my time in Vietnam for this island. Somehow I have managed to spent 6 months traveling without spending more than few days  on the beaches. It was about time to get some tan and work on improving my hammock swinging skills.

Phu Quoc is mostly undeveloped, with most of the accommodation being bungalows along the Long Beach. Few hut style restaurants and bars that are empty most of the time. I am enjoying the off season time, with empty beach and low prices.

It wasn't hard to meet new friends and soon I was part of a group of 7. We all rented motorcycles one day to go explore the North of the island. Most of the roads are still unpaved, with red dirt. The views are spectacular. The beaches up north are deserted. It only gets spoiled by the amount of trash on them. It is so sad to see how badly local people deal with trash. They just dispose of it into the see and it gets wash out. It is nicer to stay near the restaurants and resorts ,as they clean their beaches every day.
We visited the cutes fishing village up north. Driving through on the narrow paved path was so much fun, with kids greeting us and people smiling and calling HELLO to as.
We drove by the border of the NP on the way back. The road led us though green jungle. So green and lush.  Close to 70% of the island is part of the NP.

Fish sauce factory... imagine the smell!

More drying fish..

Pepper Farm

Green Pepper

We explored the south of the island on the boat. I wasn't too excited to see that the trip was rather overbooked and touristy as can be. Never less it was fun to snorkel for little and spend the day on board, cruising around small islands.

Most of my days here on Island were in order of swimming, eating good food and having fun with my new friends.