Koh Rong, a tropical island in the Sihanoukville Province of Cambodia, is an extremely attractive destination with its white-sand beaches, jungle full of waterfalls and wildlife, and its weekly parties on Police Beach. Though the island is about the size of Hong Kong, most of it is undeveloped so it feels like an untouched paradise. Most of the villages here only stretch for about a mile so everyone recognizes one another and knows each other by name. I compare a lot of the islands that I’ve traveled to The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker, but this actually felt like an island straight out of an RPG the way it was laid out. There are tons of places you can freely explore on foot, and you can also take boat taxis to access more remote parts of the island. Or just stay in the main village and enjoy drinking with the locals every night on the beach!
Similar to Koh Phangan in Thailand, there are Full Moon Parties thrown here that attract a lot of backpackers, but the atmosphere of this island is truly rural and more off-the-grid than any other island I have ever traveled to. Most of the people I met here had already been to Thailand and were looking for a different experience. I learned a lot from the observing the life of the villagers here and am extremely excited to share my experience!
Getting to Koh Rong
In order to reach Koh Rong, you must fly or take a bus to Sihanoukville and take a ferry because there are no airports on the island. I opted to take an overnight bus from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville that I booked through 12goAsia for $25. The journey was 10 hours, but I actually slept quite well on the bus because I was exhausted from exploring Angkor Wat and the floating village.
When I first booked this bus, I was expecting to meet some strange people (like those you see riding the MegaBus in America), but I was surprised to see that actually everyone riding this bus was quite normal. Everyone around me were international backpackers trying to save money, so we opted for the cheaper route. I even cheersed the guy that was holding a beer beside me with my tiny bottle of wine. After about an hour, almost everyone was asleep so it was a pleasant ride.
Sihanoukville itself is a strange town full of construction and Chinese-owned casinos. The roads are absolutely chaotic, and though it has beaches, the ones in Koh Rong are much more beautiful so I would not recommend staying here. Go straight to Koh Rong and experience life in paradise instead! The ferry ticket there was only $11 and the ride was about 30 minutes long. Though the overnight journey took a while, everything I was about to discover on the island would make it worth it.
Staying in a Treehouse
Since the village of Koh Touch is near the weekly Police Beach parties, I opted to book a private room at Treehouse Bungalows. I paid around $50 a night for this room, but in my opinion, the stay was worth it! Not only is it quiet and more private than other hostels, but it also has a great view of the beach. I enjoyed playing music from my balcony and being up in the trees. There is a wonderful restaurant down below, and a massage place on the beach that I went to nearly every day. For those looking for cheaper options, please check Hostelworld (some dorms are only $5 per night).
I made a somewhat funny video to commemorate my treehouse stay which you can watch below:
Chasing Sunsets
During my first day at Koh Rong I decided to explore the beach nearby my treehouse called 4K beach, and I also hired a motorcycle driver for $30 to take me to some of the other remote beaches. What amazed me is how truly undeveloped this island is. Most of the roads are made of dirt and some twist through the jungle, so I would recommend hiring an experienced driver or a boat taxi your first time. These can easily be found within the village, and the bartenders can also recommend you where to get a cheap ride. There is also a lot of abandoned property on the island. I really hope it is put to use someday, because the atmosphere of this island is lovely.
Sweet Dreams Beach was the first place that we ventured to. It was extremely gorgeous with its swimming pool and paved road to the beach. I saw a few families staying here because this is a safe and relatively quiet location away from the main village:
The next place we went to was Long Beach so I could go swimming and watch the sunset. My driver told me that in the fall season this is the only place where you can clearly watch it, so I was grateful to see this on my first night. I think this is one of the most beautiful beaches on the island because it is extremely quiet and pristine.
In addition to the beaches that I visited, you can find a fantastic Koh Rong Beach Guide here. There is also a nearby island called Koh Rong Samloem with a nice vibe that I will be covering in my next post. Overall I really loved staying on the main Koh Rong island due to all of the nice people that I met and the privacy of my treehouse.
Finding Happiness
Throughout the main village of Koh Touch (and other locations in Cambodia) you will see signs advertising “happy” consumables that you can buy, but also signs reminding you that you cannot buy happiness. What do these things all mean, and what is happiness to Cambodian people and travelers on this island?
Happiness is Khmer is “សុផមង្គល” (so ph mongkol), but rarely will you see the word written in anything but English. Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world, and many of the country’s people were slaughtered by their own kind or forced into slavery during the rule of the Khmer Rouge. The country is still rebuilding itself from those times and the devastation from the war is very apparent. However while traveling here–especially on this island–I saw nothing but smiles from all of the local people. As a fellow traveler examines in The Happiness Plunge:
“When you live through a genocide, life is kind of like a miracle. And maybe the people here live each day like it’s a miracle.
I suppose when every day is a miracle, you see things you wouldn’t otherwise see – things that make you smile.”
A lot of backpackers come here to escape life and party on the beach to find happiness, as well as consume psychedelics and cannabis to forget their worries, but the miracle of happiness and life that Cambodian people have cannot be replicated by this. However, staying on this island gives everyone a chance to connect with one another and appreciate nature while learning about the culture of this country. This feeling cannot be bought because happiness is not a concrete thing or consumable, but it can be shared a celebrated with others and found within yourself. Though the horrors that Cambodia has faced in the past cannot be erased, we can do our best to pay our respects and look forward to a brighter tomorrow.
Happiness is both a journey and realizing to be thankful for what you have in life. Whether it takes a happy cookie or a long journey to realize this depends on you. But if you make it all the way out to Koh Rong, likely you will find happiness in some way or form. Life here is so different than living in the city or a first-world country. People have simple lives and because of it they are relatively carefree. You can learn a lot by simply spending a few days here. If you are living a high-stress life, then coming here may simply be the cure.
In my next article, I will be writing about the techno rave in the jungle I went to while I was here for my birthday and re-examine happiness once more. Thank you for reading.