At 7:30am we boarded a dive boat with the destination of Koh Rong. After two hours of rough sea we arrived at what was recently only a little fishing village. A few simple beach bungalows have been built along the beach next to the village. Within the last two months three small restaurants run by locals have also been opened. We had definitely found our paradise.
A ten minute walk from the village we found another long white sand beach where we spent a day all on our own. Our only company were little crabs running up and down the beach looking for food. In front of our bungalow we each had a hammock where we could relax in the shade and read our books. When we got hungry the local restaurants provided good authentic Khmer food. On our last day before heading back to the main land we went scuba diving and had the chance explore more of the underwater world.
The beaches on Koh Rong are just too beautiful for this island to stay as undeveloped as it currently is. The day we left was also the day that the new airport in the port town of Sihanoukville opened. Our feeling is that we got there just before this deserted paradise will be turned into another tourist hot spot. But who can blame them, a poor country like Cambodia cannot let a paradise pearl like Koh Rong stay untouched. We just hope that the locals living on this island also get a chance to benefit from the future development.
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