One of Koh Rong's pristine, white sand beaches.Koh Rong is perfection. Turquoise waters, white sand, beer (cold: thanks to a daily ice delivery from the mainland). With no internet and no electricity (until the generator switches on at dusk till 11PM) there’s not much to do but relax and enjoy the serenity of the island. A far cry from the insanity of the beaches of Sihanoukville, Cambodia. We brought a bottle of rum ($7) from the mainland which helped us save a bit of money given that beers and Cokes are a $1 a can on the island.
We didn’t realize that the boats to Koh Rong ($15/2.5 hrs) are associated with the guesthouses on the island and they take you to that guesthouse only, not a central pier like we assumed. So book the boat with the guesthouse that you want to stay at. We ended up at Song Saar Bungalows. For $20/night we had a rustic bungalow with a lovely view and a couple of visitors.
Sylvia the Snake taking a nap.
The view from the deck of our bungalow.
Gertrude the Gecko in our bathroom.
This price is pretty standard for the island but there are a couple other places that we think would have given us a better bang for our buck. That being said, the positive side of Song Saar was that they didn’t seem to give a shit. Want to set a fire on the beach? Go right ahead. Want to subsist on a diet of fried noodles and rice? That’s good because you have to. What’s that? You’ve caught a monkey and want to chain it to your bungalow? They’ve done it, so why shouldn’t you? The poor monkey that they kept chained to a bungalow.The best part of Song Saar, over a place like Monkey Island, is that it’s small and not as popular, so we almost always had a kilometre of white sand beach to ourselves.
Ryan looks for the perfect spot.We ran out of cash by night three so we had to leave the island, which was bad planning on our part but we were a little tired of the food choices anyway. We ended up back in Sihanoukville for Ryan’s 30th birthday where we drank copious amounts of cheap alcohol and drowned the blues of being an adult.
We booked the boat only. We thought we’d be able to see a couple guesthouse options, but the boat takes you to only one guesthouse. The size of the island and the lack of roads, make it too hard to get around without a boat. We were lucky that the guesthouse had openings, but I’d recommend booking the guesthouse first and they will arrange for the boat. Most guesthouses in Sihanoukville will have information for at least one of the guesthouses on the island, but do your research and find the one that’s best for you, because once you’re there and the boat leaves, you’re kind of stuck. Good luck!
March 10, 2014 @ 3:12 am
Hi, just an information about your bungalow.
Did you book your boat before or with the bungalow?
Where is the GH on the island?
Thanks!
March 10, 2014 @ 1:26 pm
We booked the boat only. We thought we’d be able to see a couple guesthouse options, but the boat takes you to only one guesthouse. The size of the island and the lack of roads, make it too hard to get around without a boat. We were lucky that the guesthouse had openings, but I’d recommend booking the guesthouse first and they will arrange for the boat. Most guesthouses in Sihanoukville will have information for at least one of the guesthouses on the island, but do your research and find the one that’s best for you, because once you’re there and the boat leaves, you’re kind of stuck. Good luck!