February 17
We woke up and checked out of Coco’s on Koh Rong. We ate breakfast and then decided to catch the 9:30 AM ferry back to Sihanoukville. The ferry was two hours late because we are in Asia and that’s what happens here. We all jammed into the ferry and we were off. Many people had to stand because the ferry isn’t very big. Like I said, this is a scuba diving island that isn’t ready for the large number of people that it will soon get. It isn’t tourist-oriented yet so transportation becomes a problem. After a stop at a smaller sister island and a two hour rocky ride, we made it back. Only a few people threw up so it was chill. We checked into our place that was near the dock. It was right on the water and in the less scummy side of the beach. We dropped our bags off and went to eat. Walking the beach was just sad because we just came from somewhere that was perfect. This place was perfect two years ago and not it’s too touristy. Along with tourism come locals selling things and bothering you constantly. You can’t drink a beer without locals and local kids in your face and not taking no for an answer. The beach was built up and restaurants took over the sand. This place is building up too fast and I can tell it lost it’s charm. It’s crazy how fast places change once it’s on the tourist map. But, food and beer were cheap and it was a nice place to spend a night before heading off to Vietnam. For dinner, we ate at a place on the beach that made delicious shish-kebabs. We had a table right on the sand in front of the water so it was a nice place to chill for the night. We then went back near our hotel for a drink and hung out in the relaxed part of the beach overlooking the water. It was our last night in Cambodia, so far my favorite country of the trip.