Sihanoukville & Ko Rong Samloem, Cambodia

Sihanoukville is a coastal city on the Gulf of Thailand in Southwestern Cambodia. I have been told by lots of travelers that five years ago, it was a backpackers paradise with beautiful beaches and a chill, laid back vibe. Unfortunately, by the time I got to Sihanoukville, it had been completely destroyed by unchecked Chinese high-rise development, construction, and pollution. It was the dirtiest, most unfriendly city with the most polluted beaches I have ever seen. I stayed in Sihanoukville for one night, then my friends and I immediately took the first ferry available to the islands in the morning.

Ko Rong and Ko Rong Samloem are Cambodia’s competition to the beautiful islands of Southern Thailand. Both islands are less developed than their Thai counterparts, and Ko Rong Samloem, the smaller of the two, is barely touched by modern development. While Cambodia’s islands don’t have the amazing limestone karst landscape common in Thailand’s Andaman Sea, they do have untouched white sand beaches with translucent water, and far fewer tourists than Thailand. I spent three nights relaxing in a bungalow on a secluded beach near M’Pai Bay on Ko Rong Samloem. There was no WiFi or signal and minimal electricity, so it was days of pure, undistracted relaxation. While the days spent in hammocks above the water were great, my favorite part of the trip was actually at night, when wading through the water would stir bioluminescent plankton that lit up the water.