We are travelling through the night in Cambodia and we see nothing in the dark. But every now and then, swarming insects smash against the front windscreen of the bus.
After three hours of travelling, we stop in the port city of Sihanoukville, a dull and rather identity-less city. It’s midnight so we are glad that the hotel has sent a man to pick us up. We even have time for a pizza and a beer at a nearby pub before we fall into bed well after midnight.
PIER IN SIHANOUKVILLE HARBOUR, TRANSFORMED INTO AN ENTERTAINMENT PALACE
The next morning the same friendly man returns to drives us to a ferry terminal for further transport out to sea.
The weather is unsettled with alternating sun and rain showers, but somehow we manage to avoid most of the rain. By the time we reach the island of Koh Rong Sanloem, it has rained so much that the primitive roads have turned into muddy puddles in several places. A man with a primitive tractor picks us up and we sit on the lorry. Fortunately, it is not raining.
After half an hour on the bumpy road through mostly jungle forest, we arrive at ‘Lazy Beach’, a resort with bungalows and a reception/bar/restaurant. And a perfect beach. An oasis where we can let the hectic pace of the previous weeks sink into oblivion.
It is lovely but completely without luxury. Electricity is available most of the time but no hot water. Sometimes there is no water at all. But our bungalow which has AC, and which we share with a family of little ants, is lovely. And the beach is only a few metres away.
We stay here for a few days, take it easy and do mostly nothing. Just some snorkelling in the bay along the rocky northern side. There are plenty of fish but the water is not so clear.
One morning we see some young men from the neighbouring village looking for food from the sea. They haul up a net but the catch is meagre. Nothing is wasted though, everything goes home in a small plastic bucket.
Suddenly a dark circle appears in the water a little way out from the shore. We have seen this before, in Cuba. It’s a way for small fish to protect themselves from larger predatory fish. When those attack, some of the small fish jump straight up in the air, but they quickly reform into a circle again.
Lazy Beach is located on the sparsely populated western side of Koh Rong Sanloem island in south-west Cambodia. And even though it would be possible to get to restaurants on the east side where most hotels are located, we never do. Because Lazy Beach has a very cosy restaurant and a fantastic chef who fixes Asian dishes with perfect spice and balance. An ice-cold Anchor beer is never far away and the AW, or rather the AB (After Beach) is a perfect end to the day.
One morning I’m sitting on our little balcony waiting for V to finish so we can go to breakfast. Suddenly there is a rattle on the roof and a black squirrel slides down the trunk of a nearby tree. It is quite large with a white tail tip, and it starts chewing on the tree’s bark. Of course, I don’t have a camera with me, not even my mobile phone, and I don’t even have time to think about it before the squirrel has disappeared back onto the roof. Afterwards I check that it was probably a specimen of the species Finlayson’s squirrel, with some colour aberration.
The shore crabs here run around like small wind balls. They dig holes in the sand, holes that they quickly rush into in case of danger. Sometimes they jump in the wrong hole, where there may already be someone… They barely touch the ground when they run away.
We have heard a croaking among the treetops and I hear it again the last morning on Lazy Beach. We are up early to catch the morning ferry and when I go outside there is a large bird sitting just three metres away. It gets scared and immediately flies away. At the same moment, the squirrel scurries across the roof again. Now I rush to get my camera to chase after the birds, which turn out to be a whole flock of Oriental pied hornbills. They flutter around in the trees all around where I manage to get some pictures. But unfortunately I never see the squirrel again.
When we have rested up enough after a few days, we take the boat back to Sihanoukville and then the bus back to Phnom Penh. This time in daylight and bright sun. Now we are ready to see the horror that awaits us.
