In Pursuit of Paradise

Koh Kong Island - Paradise!

The journey to paradise

Whilst travelling west through the largely unspoilt landscape it was possible to push aside the recent history of the country and take in the stunning scenery.  Rather than heading straight to the coast we decided to avoid the chaos of Chinese New Year and headed west, jumping on the public bus to Koh Kong.   In contrast to the region north of Phenom Pen that is flat and quite arid in the dry season the plains in the west rise up into a mountainous region (by Cambodian standards) carpeted with lush jungle. This would have made for an enjoyable journey had a baby not decided to empty her bowels with the force of a 30 stone man on Boxing Day just after the lunch stop, leaving us trapped on a bus with no windows.  The smell seamed to rise exponentially with the heat outside creating grim conditions for those unlucky enough to be travelling to the final stop.   I survived by stuffing orange peel up my nose but this became as painful as the smell as the acid from the orange began to burn my nose - it was the lesser of two evils.  As the five hour journey hit the nine hour mark we finally rolled into the border town of Koh Kong.  Although it is an apparent haven for questionable activities it is also a useful base to explore the nearby islands and mangroves.  After the painful journey we were at least rewarded with another of Asia’s spectacular sunsets as we sat and recovered with an Angkor Beer looking across the river to Thailand.

Sunset over the border

A fish BBQ with Frankie

After the slightly intoxicating bus ride we decided to take a trip down the river to the coast for fresh air (and we hadn't been to a beach since Lithuania!) to visit a deserted Island in the Gulf of Thailand.  Accompanied by a slightly autistic American, a stereotypical 60 year old scouser (Frankie) and a young family we set off on the two hour boat ride down the river and into the open water.  With an array of colourful language Frankie managed to teach the young girl on our boat a whole new set of vocabulary but he kept us entertained, particularly me as he had followed Liverpool F.C home and away for 40 years across Europe.  Unfortunately for him he looked a little bit like Jimmy Saville with long bleached blonde hair and in a country renowned for its sex industry he was quick to stress that he had been in Vietnam to visit the sites of the war rather than any other motive!  The anchor was finally thrown overboard in a bay that looked like a picture perfect post card of an Asia that existed before tourism.  The deserted beach had a backdrop of thick green jungle and calm turquoise waters lapped around the sides of our small boat.  After four hours we unfortunately left the island and headed back for a short walk through the mangroves that protect the estuary. After Frankie had established that mangos didn't grow in mangroves we finished the journey up the river in time for sunset.  The day confirmed to us that a hike through a jungle in soaring temperatures seemed like a lot of hard work and learning from our past experience we paid the extra $2 each to take a taxi south to Shanoukville and some more beach time.