From Kratie, we went to the coastal town of Koh Kong, adjacent to the Thailand border. We had to go through Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, which acts as the country’s main transportation hub; however, we’ll write about that later, combining it with our second trip to the capital city.
Koh Kong is a laid back port town with a lot to do around the area and delicious food. At night, along the river, food venders line the street and serve delicious seafood dishes and cheap Cambodian beers. Strangely, though, this area also turns into a strange riverside fair with rides and games for kids.
Because Cambodia is so affordable, we were able to book two very different excursions. On our first excursion, we took a 2-hour boat ride to the island of Koh Kong. There’s pretty much nothing on the island but stretches of beautiful white sandy beaches. Once our boat anchored, everyone spread out, choosing their spot in the sand. There were only about ten people in our group, so it felt like we had the whole beach to ourselves. One of the reasons we loved this excursion so much is because it was so relaxed. If you wanted to snorkel, they had masks and fins available for you. If you wanted to go fishing, they had poles and bait ready. It was great! The water was spectacularly clear, and though the snorkeling wasn’t fantastic, it was fun and we saw some pretty fish. The crew spent most of the time preparing our huge lunch of barbecued fish and veggies, rice, bread, and fresh fruit.
In the afternoon, we boarded the boat and headed back towards the mainland to explore the mangrove forests in Botum Sakor National Park. We got out of the boat for a bit to walk around a nice boardwalk through the mangrove forest preserve. As we walked along the path, the trees and their tangled roots gave us an eerie sensation. Â On the way back to the boat, we watched the sun setting through the trees.
The next day, we embarked on our second excursion, an overnight jungle trek in the Cardamom Mountains. Sally, an Aussie, joined us for the day. The three of us and two guides were dropped off at a trailhead, barely visible from the road. We hiked through the jungle, stopping along the way to eat lunch and to learn about the many fascinating plants and animals. Our guide, Sopia, knew so much about the jungle and with gestures accompanying his broken English, we were able to learn about the vegetation and wildlife. We ended our hike at a campsite by the river and swam in a small waterfall. After a quick swim, Sally and her guide hiked back, as she was only spending the day in the jungle. Our excursion, however, had just gotten started.
After swimming and laying in the last bit of the day’s sun, Sopia got started building a fire. We had fruit and coffee while he showed us how he was going to prepare our barbecue dinner on bamboo skewers. As dinner cooked, Sopia taught us some puzzles with pieces of bamboo to help keep us entertained. When our chicken and veggie skewers were ready, Sopia laid it all out on palm leaves and we toasted to the day with homemade rice whiskey. After dinner, in the dark, we went searching for frogs, tarantulas, snakes, and fish. Sopia caught a small fish with his makeshift pole and roasted it over the fire. Bear Grylls who? Once enough rice whiskey was drunk and we had completed all of Sopia’s puzzles, we went to our hammocks to sleep under the stars.
In the morning, Sopia had coffee and toast waiting for us. We  ate quickly, packed up, and set out back through the dense jungle seeing more of the region’s interesting vegetation. By mid-day, we had nearly hiked out of the jungle when we stumbled across a large group of Great Hornbilled birds. We saw about 15 of them flying through the tall, dense trees. Even our guide was excited to them in such large quantities. Unfortunately, no photos were captured as there was too much excitement and movement. After the Hornbilled birds left the area, we eventually made our way to the main road, where a truck was waiting for us. We picked up our lunch, hopped on motorbikes, and drove down to see the Tatai waterfalls to eat lunch and have a swim, ending our jungle excursion.  We had such a good time on our excursion and highly recommend Koh Kong, especially if you want to experience a lot of Cambodia on a small budget and in a short amount of time.
TravelingMantor 