Cambodia: Koh Kong

We had an almost equally interesting journey leaving Koh Sdach as we did arriving there, but we were lucky enough to have met See, a Khmer guy who also spoke English, while in Koh Sdach. He helped us arrange a boat back to Poi Yopon and told us when the car left from there for Koh Kong. Apparently, one leaves every morning so there was no real problem there. It did get exciting when 8 adults packed into the 5-seater sedan and set off for the 2 hour ride.

Driver sitting on the cupholders with a woman to his left
and two passengers on the right.

We stopped at a rest stop for some breakfast halfway through. All of the Cambodian rest stops have the same food offerings - some meat mixed with veggies over steamed rice or a cup of ramen noodles (here, called "mama noodles") if you're worried about how the room-temperature meat dishes might affect your stomach. There was a whole line of stalls with the same pots set up, but our driver pulled into one and we all ate there.

Rest stop.

We had a friend in the car - a French man, Diedier, who runs a fantastically delicious seaside restaurant on Koh Sdach - who makes the trip monthly from Koh Sdach to Koh Kong in order to visit his bank. Sam asked him why we stopped at that particular stall to which Diedier answered that it's likely run by the family of the policeman who patrols the area. They are not technically allowed to transport passengers on the Chinese road, but if he brings customers to their restaurant this offense is apparently overlooked. We have been told and seen that money can get you out of anything over here and this is a small example.

Roads in the rainy season make the journey twice as long.

Koh Kong is a border town on the Cambodian side next to Thailand and it seems they are making a big push to make it a destination rather than a place to pass through. They have lots of natural beauty - the Cardamom Mountains, numerous waterfalls and a large mangrove forest - and are advertising ecotourism to get them on the map.

Development in Koh Kong's city center.

Motorbike parking outside the market.

We made a trip to visit Rainbow Lodge, a set of jungle bungalows at the foot of the mountains along a river. They promote responsible and sustainable tourism and also do a lot of community work in Tatai village across the river from them.

The only way to reach Rainbow Lodge is by boat.

Cardamom Mountains.

Seen along the river.

Official document from the Tatai school principal thanking
Rainbow Lodge for their community support.

As we returned from Rainbow Lodge, we stopped to go to one of the waterfalls along the way. We were soon reminded of the effects of the rainy season and saw a river crossing where we should have been able to walk the path to the waterfall. We returned to the town and saw some more slight flooding which the locals are accustomed to, of course.

Flooded path to the waterfall. Our guide said it was waist deep.

Flooding in the restaurants.

Koh Kong was a nice town with a surprising number of expats living there and an unsurprising number of crazies who seem to have lost a bit of their minds since moving to southeast Asia. The development seems to be taking off in Koh Kong just as with the rest of coastal Cambodia as we have seen and I am curious to see what it will be like in 10 years.