Ten 103 Treehouse Bay.

If you are in Sihanoukville, and want an island getaway which truly is a getaway from everything-forget about Koh Rong and even Koh Rong Samloem. Do as I did. Go to Koh Ta Kiev (it has nothing to do with the Ukrainian capital) of the coast of Rem nationalpark. On that island you find the rustic and basic yet cosy and friendly Ten 103 treehouse bay lodge. Where you have the choice between treehouses, a dorm or something as basic as a hammock with mosquitonet under a palmleaf roof just at the beach. The water only a few meters away. The jungle around you. I went for the hammock solution as it was the cheapest option available. Travelling longtime dictates that. But i soon found it to be great. I was warm and cosy in my little nest. No other people there and the mix of  the sea flushing the beach and the frogs quaking in the forest was the perfect music for nightly relaxation. I did, however get a little wet during some of the nightly rain showers. But in the dry season that will hardly ever be a problem.

Planning my island getaway the usual way-over a meal. Grilled squid with Kampot pepper. Yummy!

We were picked up in central Sihanoukville and taken to our boat waiting at
Otres Beach a bit outside the main fuzz. There is no jetty. We have to wade a few meters out to our nautical lift. Calm weather is a good thing! Also dry weather. The trip takes an hour or so and there is no real shelter onboard. But the trip is good-pretty islands, tempting water and now and then a glimpse of the local lifestyle in the form of fishing vessels.

fisherfolks along the way. 

One of the tiny island paradises.

A sign in the reception/bar/restaurant/socialising place. I was told a Japanese tourist asking to be taken to Koh Rong was taken here instead by some Cambodians. I stayed for a week before realising "what-this not Koh Rong?"He was on the wrong island. The sign is a memorial to the event.

You are hereby warned-you can't go online. But at least you are offline without paying for it!
entertainment here is off line-the social side or the surroundings. Be it hiking or swimming. They have a loudspeaker-but no loud bom bom music.

Close to the bar, but separated from it by forest and beach. Close but secluded. The toilets-asian hole in the ground model-and showers-the bucket model, is on the same address.

One if the treehouses, with private beach and good view.

Staff. One Cambodian permanently hired, and a temporally hired volunteer from Switzerland. They hire travellers trough the work away website. The deal is free food and accommodation-but no salary.

Sneaking into the kitchen, the lovely kitchen ladies taken by surprise. The food here is the best i have ever experienced in a tourist place and is a mix of  western and local fare. And the beer is cold-chilled in a big box with ice. There is electricity part of the day-but not enough of it to run a fridge for the beer. But what is not in need of electricity is the wood fuelled oven behind the kitchen-producing fresh bread daily.

Ten 103 is surrounded by jungle, but here are several hiking options along trails. My first hike was to the Naked beach, a pretty stretch of coast which should be usable for some nakedness. The trail go trough the jungle with all its plants and creatures.

A termite mound. They are everywhere.

The secluded Naked beach, view to the left as you come out of the jungle......

....and to the right.

Another hikingoption trough the jungle goes to a small fishing village outside all tourist developement. I got here at the same tie as the rain-serious rain. Most people were either out fishing, or hibernating indoors/under sheltering roofs. Very little went on-but at least i got to see this village-so different from home.

A young boy taking care of anchored and moored boats-his own vessel somewhat low key.

A spirit house. 

Fishing traps.

Here come the rain! 

Early morning, bar not open.

BIG BIG SHAME. BIG BIG CRIME. A Chinese company builds a casino on this island-and make a road that should  be able to handle incoming jumbojets. Why?????

Rain and wind worked together to fill this boat. Somebody will experience a delay.

Koh Rung Samloem.

Saracen bays southern half. It is divided in two by a hill tongue. The bays opening is to the west, giving the whole bay a heart shaped appearance. Perfect for a romantic couple?

How the sunshine plays with the sandy bottom-below one meter of 30 degrees warm water.

Outside Sihanoukville there are a handfull of Islands-tropical paradises with all one need -green jungle. White beaches, turquoise and green water whose temperature never get too much below 30 degrees. And on several of the islands-easy access to cold beer!!

I choose Koh Rung Samloem as my getaway. Not to be mixed with nearby Koh Rung which is larger and much heavier visited.

The fast boat conveniently leave from a pier in the main tourist ghetto in Shianoukville. When it leaves, that is. I am not impressed with the level of planning to make it work-it is way to Cambodian for the western price asked for. Nor am I too impressed with the seamanship. Small details, you probably need to have some expertise in boat handling yourself to see it- and not enough to make me feel unsafe. But I question their ability to handle"a situation"-or getting their vessel safely to a pier in weather rougher than absolutely optimal conditions.

The speedboat arrives in Saracen Bay. Usually twice a day-in the morning and in the afternoon. The mid day service was suspended when i was there. And you may be stuck waiting for an extra hour if they decide on a detour to Koh Rung first. But of course you will get no information about that in advance. After all, you have already paid so who cares......

I went to Saracen Bay, with its five kilometer long beach. Part of it spotlessly clean, part of it-not so. I stayed a couple of nights at The Beach Island resort, one of the places the closest to the pier. There they have a dormitory. Ideal for people on a budget. Two people share a double mattress-with mosquito net- for 5 dollars each. I was asked 7,5 dollars-down to 6 for the privilege. It is a nice place to stay-just don't try to get ANYTHING done trough the people at the lodge. I question their ability to manage to get a bucket of sand filled at the water edge......I tried to organise guided jungle trekking and kayaking. They messed it up. They didn't have control of my payments either-that worked-or could have worked-to my advantage, though. I could have left-and maybe stayed a day extra without having paid my bed.

My first afternoon  was spent in the water, being cooled down by cold cans of beer. Next morning i went hiking in the jungle, which has a big biodiversity. But it is dense, and while i heard a lot going on in the forest, and high above in the canopies, i saw very little. A brief glimpse of a hornbill that was all. But hiking in a jungle is still a rewarding experience-all the sounds, all the smells. The vast world of green itself. all the shapes of the plants, and the natural sculptures made by trees climbing eachother.

Red wood in Green ville.

At the end of the trip, i had a bit of luck, though. A slow movement on the ground turned out to be a perfectly camouflaged small snake. It obviously knew i was there, having crossed the path just beside me. But it didn't care. Slowly it was advancing, like it was on the trail of something. Moving a bit, smelling the air, looking around. Then moving a bit again. Great.

My little snake doing her or his thing.

Some colour among all the green. 

 The good thing with a long sandy beach lined with warm water-one can walk barefoot for kilometers. And there are several places to stop for a cold beer.

A crab monitors me carefully.

A star pattern made by small creatures living  buried in the sand.

Locals out fishing the shallows with a large net.

Very home made vessels.

Beach beauty.

At the end of the beach is a Small patch of mangrove. Its a nest of entangled roots. I call this photo: "Public Administration".

A jellyfish caught in the mangrove.

It is referred to as a waterfall. A tiny one though. But a pretty piece of landscape. Several small rivers penetrates the beach, creating deep trenches. The way of beating them: walk the water well outside the river mouth as it will be deeper there-the stream forms a pool.

One of several colonial era grafittis in the river.

The forest edge.

The old lighthouse. A good turning point for a hike trough the forest.

A colonial era road leading to the lighthouse. It starts near the mouth of the river in the far southern end of the beach. Not at the "waterfall"shown above. It is midway between the river and the mangrove patch.