Sun, Sand and Party Hostels

Leaving Kampot was bittersweet, but I had to move on. The next place on my list was Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloen. I was still of two minds on whether I would be going to Samloen however. Back on the bus I went, and I made my way to Sihanoukville to take a ferry to the first island. I was slightly nervy and a bit apprehensive. The last time I had been on a ferry within Asia (Philippines) I had horrific food poisoning, that was made that much worse by the wild swaying of the ferry and the lack of AC. I had no idea what to really expect. This time, I was in better health, but I knew all too well that in my time so far in travelling, I had somehow developed awful motion sickness that manifested itself on longer bus journeys.

The trip was surprisingly pleasant. The ferry was mostly empty, it was clean and had large windows in which we could enjoy the outside view. We were dumped in the main town of Koh Touch. I was vaguely irritated as I had been told that the ferry would be dropping me at Long Set Beach. Staying in the main area of Koh Touch held no attraction to me, and as I walked around looking for a taxi boat (yes, a taxi boat) being there only solidified my decision to go to Long Set. Koh Touched was packed full of people, most were wearing less clothes than more (and not a good way) and I could spy empty beer bottles washing up along the beach. I needed to get out of there. After running around the town for a good 20 minutes, I finally found a fisherman that was willing to grant me passage to Long Set Beach. Success.

Reef on the Beach

I finally broke my ‘no party hostels rule’ it was a long time coming, and I had gone 8 weeks so far without going to one.. but I was curious. What would it be like, was it as awful a people were leading me to believe? At the suggestion of Sacha, a Swiss guy I met in Kampot, I chose Reef On the Beach because he swore by it. I looked it up online and it seemed ok. At $3 per night in a tent overlooking the beach, there wasn’t much room to complain.

Well. I felt awful crippling loneliness here for the first time during my trip. After checking in and dropping all of my gear in my beachfront tent, I ventured out to the common area for food and drinks. I don’t really know what I was expecting. I felt very awkward in just ordering food, opting to sit at a table in the corner by myself than to join crowd of people who already seemingly knew each other. I wanted to join in, but my own social awkwardness just didn’t know what was needed from me to connect with them. After eating, I ventured out onto the beach to do what I do best; laying around and reading to escape. While reading the crowd eventually came out onto the beach to play a variation of a drinking game. I’m not sure what the rules were but it involved running and downing a can of beer. I watched on, then continued reading.

Eventually I got hungry again, and dragged myself unwillingly to the main house. I just felt way too awkward and out of my comfort zone. I really didn’t want to be there. The beach was absolutely beautiful yes, but the tent was passable at best and at the very worst I could catch something from the black mould that I could see lurking at the unwashed corners of the tent. The beach was not enough to keep me here for more than one night. After ordering and spending time gazing into my phone, studiously avoiding eye contact with those around me, I heard it. My name.

‘Barbara??’

Huh??

Quite obviously I whipped around to find out who had called me. I was on a more or less secluded beach on an Island in Cambodia. Who knew me? I found the source to be from Lauren, a girl I had met in Kampot, on that initial tour to Bokor Mountain. I feel almost ashamed at how relieved I was to have someone know me here. That shyness and awkwardness that can be part of my personality was manifesting itself at the wrong time, and at this point for me, I was dreading trying to make friends here on Koh Rong. I joined her and Ashley (he was also on the tour) for dinner and drinks that evening. I eventually managed to loosen up (with the aid of a few gin and tonics) and mingled with the rest of the people in the social area.

A day passed and eventually, Kim joined me at Reef on the Beach and I continued to socialise and make friends with others on the Reef. I left, probably sooner than I should have, but I didn’t feel like staying longer would add anything to my experience here. I spent my days mainly lounging by the beach, hanging out with Kim and others, watching the world cup and drinking. Each night I would drag myself into the beach front tent, and every morning I would haul ass out of there around 6 am because it got hot as hell in those things.

After 4 days here, I was just beginning to feel unclean. I was in sand all the time (there were no paths), the bathroom facilities left much to be desired (I swear at times I came out of the shower feeling dirtier than I did when I entered it) and to be honest, after travelling and hostelling it for nearly 9 weeks straight at this point… I was craving a little private time. My time at the Reef was brief but it taught me a little bit about myself and how I interact with others. It was also the first lesson in what I would later term the ‘Solo Travellers Alcoholics Anonymous Club’. Not a great thing to learn, but sometimes… to be social? You have to drink. I checked out of Reef and booked passage to Koh Rong Samloen. here I had booked myself into a private room on a resort for 2 nights and I was absolutely ecstatic.

I made it to Samloen in one piece and proceeded to flake for the next two days before heading back to the mainland and up to Siem Reap.

Until next time..

Barbara