Taking time to relax

Seeing that it is our honeymoon after all, Jeff and I decided that it was time to relax and take some time to ourselves. After 3 weeks of moving every 2-4 days, long bus trips, and constant activities, we needed a little down time.

We left Phnom Penh for the beach town of Sihanoukville. We arrived on a weekend when the local population also had holiday time, so it looked like it was going to be very busy for a few days. That, and the fact that we didn't really take to the atmosphere of the town, lead us to look elsewhere. Friends had recommended we head out to Bamboo Island and book a bungalow with a place called Koh Ru, so that is exactly what we did.

Koh Ru is pretty much the only thing on Bamboo Island. It sits on a beautiful, empty beach with no sun lounges, no vendors, no tuk tuk drivers. Heck, no roads. You rent a bare bones, wood plank box called a bungalow and then you do nothing. Blissful nothing. Bathrooms are shared and showers are cold. Koh Ru has one main gathering area that is also the restaurant and bar, so you don't even have to make the choice of where to eat each night. Papasan mattresses that have seen better days are thrown everywhere for your comfort. Your daily activity choices include taking a swim, reading in the hammock, eating, and drinking. You could throw some sunning on the beach or a game of chess in there too, if you wanted. No internet. It was wonderful to be so unoccupied and amongst other similarly minded souls.

Bamboo Island beach

Beach

Chilling

Our bungalow

Proof that I too am on this trip

We stayed on Koh Ru for three nights. Today, we decided the relaxing should continue, although on an entirely different scale. Koh Ru was what you could politely call rustic. If you have serious issues with sand, dirt, or bugs everywhere, then it wasn't for you. While we didn't mind, we did find ourselves facing a necessities day (when you literally have no clean clothes left) so we splurged on a treat and checked into a resort just off of the beach on the mainland. We now find ourselves in the nicest hotel we've ever stayed in, for just $30 a night. It's huge, with a super comfy bed, satellite flat screen tv, wifi in the rooms, granite and tile bathroom with rain style shower head shower and a separate bath tub. The bath tub is huge, and is my dream. It was the first tub that I've ever been able to lay out completely in. Plus, it's next to a window into the room so that I can luxuriate and watch tv at the same time. Oh, but for privacy, it has a remote controlled curtain! The hotel also has a gorgeous pool. It's a great place to wait for our clothes to get back from the wash, especially since we don't have anything to wear other than our swimsuits!

Hotel pool

Our room

Our bathroom

 Now the only thing left to do is to figure out where we're going from here. Find out next time!