Koh Rong Island has left me breathless. The white sand, the untouched jungle and the crystal clear water made me question my reality. Was I really there? Or was it all a dream? I swam naked in the sea, drank tequila with a hot Aussie and smoked a joint (or two) with a scuba diver. Whether dream or reality, I'm a changed girl.
"Well girls, if this is where we get split up and sold into slavery... It's been real." Thankfully the group has the same sick sense of humor as me. So when I joked about our impending doom at the ship yard, they all laughed. We found our boat amongst the heavily polluted water and set forth toward heaven.
When my toes first touched the sand, shivers went up my spine. Never in my life had I seen or felt sand like baby powder. Ten feet from the ocean stood my bungalow. It took a bit of adjusting with the red ants, no shower and mosquito nets. However, the beach at my doorstep made it worthwhile. The first night, we drank red wine and ice cold beers while watching the waves crash. We went to bed at a reasonable hour and woke up to the sound of roosters crowing the next morning.
For breakfast I had a pancake with fresh lime and sugar. Everyone was shocked that I had never tried a pancake like that. Something to add to their big list for Americans. After breakfast, we jumped in the ocean. We looked for sand dollars and shells and admitted when we were peeing. The unspoken rule was to swim away from the group then do our business.
Yosibell from Venezuala, Nuno from Portugal and I rented snorkel gear and began our search for sea shells and sea creatures. When the sand flies became too much for us to handle, we headed back. At dinner, I brought out the tequila. Shit was about to get crazy... Fast!
Before we knew it, we were all naked in the ocean. The tequila was gone and we were drinking a bottle of white wine and a bottle of vodka. A jellyfish stung my left tit as I floated about. Interesting feeling. I guess I had started to float away into the deep sea because Lyndon from Austrailia pulled me back in. ...Lyndon has dark hair, bright blue eyes, hard arms and an accent that will make your knees weak. Too bad he was only on the Island for the weekend.
After putting our bathing suits back on, we ran to the bar. The owner turned up the music and we started to dance. Keep in mind we were pretty much the only guests. An American diver lit a joint and we passed it around. It started to rain and we danced on the tables. I lived up to my nickname, (boobs out Emily). I wanted to go in the water again, so Lyndon and I ran toward the ocean and jumped in. He told me about where he's been in California. When we met back with the group, we got stares as if we did something nasty. Psh, they were so in the dark. American diver lit another joint and we kept dancing in the rain.
The whole experience was like watching a movie. This stuff doesn't happen in real life. I was completely happy. It was pure bliss, pure fun and pure Cambodia.
Surprisingly I woke up with no hangover. I said goodbye to the volunteers that were staying and caught the boat with a few others. Something very random happened along the way. My Cambodian fire dancer was on a boat heading opposite us. I doubt he remembered me but we waved to one another with big smiles.
I'm now on a bus back to Phnom Penh. Dusk is slowly passing and slipping into dark. There is no air conditioning and my legs have fused with the seat. Ants linger by and mosquitoes buzz past me. All these annoyances and I truly don't care. I'm filled with happiness. I love Cambodia with all of its surprises.
So this is what finding yourself feels like . . .
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