Koh Rong. The un-photographable Cambodian Island

Sometimes I visit a place that’s so lovely, with such a fierce kick of natural beauty, I forget to take out my camera. I can’t explain it. I was so smacked by the charm of this tiny remote island off the coast of Cambodia that it never occurred to me to walk the beach or jungle with an eye to the lens.

There were no landmarks to see, no places to go. I rose each morning with the sun, swam when I desired, ate when I wished and read and read and read.

It rained every day, as May in Southeast Asia tends to do, but I think that was what made Koh Rong shine. The daily storms cautioned me to the wild side of this unadulterated paradise. There are no hotels here and electricity is intermittent.

Perhaps, on some level I felt that I couldn’t do Koh Rong justice, and a photograph couldn’t illustrate what it felt like to be there; the taste of salt on the air, the sound of a page turning on a good book. So instead I studied the Island and committed to memory what I could. What stays with me the most are the warm and stormy afternoon swims, the ever so tasty amok curries every lunch and some strange conversations with fellow travellers over an Ankor beer.

However, as I took in my last sunset on Koh Rong I was seized with a sudden fear that I needed to take something away with me. So I took this with my phone; the dreaded cliché sunset photo.

If you want more info on Koh Rong, Alex in Wanderland captured the island much better than I did.

Pin it to your Asia travel board:

#cambodia #beach