Following the hectic pace of Phnom Penh and the intense day we had learning about the genocide, we were ready to have some quiet time and enjoy some beach days. We had decided a long time ago that we just wanted to relax after 5 months of being on the move constantly, and what better way to do that than by the sea?

We’ve ditched the dollars and are just sticking with the riel. It makes it so much easier to calculate what change we need, and we only need to carry one currency. Prices are still listed as dollars, but it’s easy to work out the amount in riel.

📍 Sihanounkville, Cambodia 🇰🇭

The main reason for visiting Sihanounkville is to get to the islands. It’s a city much bigger than I was expecting, and it is very expensive – even more expensive than the capital city, Phnom Penh. It’s also casino central, and there are more in Sihanounkville than in Vegas. Apparently, it used to be a really lovely place, but with the Chinese coming and introducing the casinos, it’s lost its charm.

We stayed for two nights, though one would have been perfect. However, we knew we would need to book tickets to get to islands, so we gave ourselves an extra day to sort it out after travelling from Phnom Penh. It rained when we were there, so we didn’t really do much.

📍 Koh Rong, Cambodia 🇰🇭

We purchased our ferry tickets the day before we wanted to travel, as the office was just down the hill from our hotel. On the day, we went back to the office, and we were taken to the port via a tuk tuk. We were dropped off and told to walk through, but it wasn’t made clear to us where we had to end up. Once through the barrier, we saw a few warehouses, our ticket was checked, and we found the warehouse that matched the boat company. Inside, we waited for around 20 minutes before our ferry was announced, and we walked down. I was surprised at how small the boat was after expecting a ferry. It was actually a speed boat, and we got over to Koh Rong in half an hour.

We had found out through our own research that there are no ATMs or card machines on the islands, so before we left for Koh Rong, we made sure to take a large chunk of cash out. Our guesthouse did end up offering a ‘cash out’ service that we didn’t know about, but we were prepared anyway.

Our plan for Koh Rong was just to relax and soak up some sun. We hadn’t enjoyed Phnom Penh and Sihanounkville, and I was quietly worried that we would be disappointed with the rest of our time in Cambodia.

The weather on Koh Rong was mostly lovely, despite a few patches of rain, but everything was cheap and it had a nice, relaxed vibe. The locals rode their mopeds along the beach and sang karaoke. There was music every night and beautiful lights that lit up in the bars as soon as it got dark. We did like it on Koh Rong, however there were a lot of younger people there to party, and it was quite dirty. We preferred the second island we went to, but more on that later.

The second England game was at 2a.m. our time, and we had found a bar on the beach that was going to be showing it. It was very weird to be leaving the guesthouse and walking over at 2 a.m., just starting our evening. Whilst the game was boring, it was an amazing experience to watch a football game directly on the beach. Our plan had been to stay up for the sunrise, despite it being two hours after the game would finish. The bar ended up staying open, and we had a really beautiful evening/morning.

📍 Koh Rong Sanloem, Cambodia 🇰🇭

We took a slow boat over to the second island and instantly knew there was going to be a much more chilled vibe on Sanloem. Our hostel was very basic, but it was directly on the beach, so we stayed outside as much as we could. There is no way to get cash at all on Sanloem, so we had to be careful to make our cash last us for the remainder of our time there.

We had met a couple on Koh Rong during the England game called Jess and Evo. If you’ve seen the Instagram story I posted of Luke running into the sea, Evo is the other guy with him (it’s on the Cambodia highlights if you haven’t seen it). We arranged to meet up with them when we were all on Sanloem, and we joined them on the other side of the island for one day where they were staying. To get there, we had a 40-minute walk through the jungle, during which we saw a snake!

It was a beautiful day, we had a fantastic time. As well as swimming, we snorkelled, played boules on the sand, and ate fresh calamari.

It was even more remote on that side of the island and incredibly peaceful. It felt like we were the only people in the world. There wasn’t even WiFi – their accommodation host keeps a router in a bucket that is hung in a tree. They use a rope to pull it down so that they can connect and check out their upcoming bookings.

We met up with Jess and Evo again the following night, when they moved to our side of the island. We went for dinner and later watched the third England game together at our hostel.

📍 Kampot, Cambodia 🇰🇭

After watching the game and going to bed at 4 a.m., we were up early to get the fast boat back to Sihanounkville, and then the train on to Kampot. Jess and Evo were moving on to Phnom Penh, so we made plans with them to get on the same train.

The train station in Sihanounkville was very random – just a large building by the side of the road with nothing going on. There is one train that leaves a day, but to call it a train would be an overstatement. It was one carriage with about 30 seats inside, but it was fun to travel on something a bit different.

Once in Kampot, we said goodbye to Jess and Evo and took a tuk tuk to our accommodation. We stayed in a cute hobbit hut with a natural pool, hot tub, and a very calming atmosphere. It was a bit like camping, with just your place to sleep and communal bathroom facilities. Normally, I’m not a fan of camping, and maybe it was because we were in a hut and not a tent, but it turned out to be one of our favourite places we’ve stayed. The novelty was starting to wear off by the last night though, when things felt damp and ants appeared in the hut, but it was fun until then!

There wasn’t a lot going on in Kampot, so we spent most of our time where we were staying. We ventured out to explore one of the days and found it to be a charming town with plenty of charismatic buildings, even if there’s not a lot to do. It was full of ex-pats as well, probably the most we’d seen in any other Cambodian town/city.

Instagram vs Reality

Certain parts of Cambodia have really surprised us. We don’t know a lot of people who have been here, so we never really had a lot of expectations. Some places we haven’t enjoyed, but Cambodia does have plenty to offer. The islands are a must for stunning beaches and Siem Reap for its charisma.

We’re now back in Phnom Penh for one night. We send all our love to everyone at home, but that’s all from us for now! Lots of love, Caitlin and Luke