Koh Kong and Kayaking

This week Sarah and Will arrived for their two week Cambodian holiday which was wicked.  I met them at Phnom Penh airport and then we headed to Koh Kong in the South-west of Cambodia, a totally new province for me.

Despite them being a little bit jet lagged, we managed to fit in quite a lot in our 2 and a half days in Koh Kong.

 Koh Kong has both rivers and the sea so our activities tended to revolve around those.

On the first day we visited the beautiful Tatai Waterfall...

 ...where you can also go swimming.

On the second day we took a boat trip to Koh Kong island which is a protected area and very beautiful and secluded.

We swam and snorkeled and generally enjoyed our beautiful surroundings

The guide and boat driver cooked us a delicious lunch of BBQ-ed chicken and vegetables.  It was a great trip apart from the fact that I got bitten by numerous sand flies and have been incredibly itchy ever since.

 On the way back to town, we glimpsed a dolphin in the distance as we went up a river to visit the mangrove forest.

Views of the mangrove forest from the watch tower

 The mangrove forest as we walked through it

From Koh Kong we headed back to Phnom Penh for a day and then onto Kratie. Luckily for us, Suzanne has just moved to Kratie and opened Sorya Kayaking Tours so we were able to take advantage of the launch of her business on the Friday afternoon along with Gordon and Claire, VSO volunteers in Phnom Penh who were also visiting Kratie this weekend.

Getting our briefing from Suzanne before we set off

On the way to the starting point

 

Ready for action

 Me and Sam (fully covered up from the sun in true Cambodian fashion) attempting to coordinate our strokes (this was after about 5 minutes on the water and I was already tired - god knows how my brother managed to do this for 10 days)

 Coline and Greg looking cool and composed in their kayak

A brief stop for some pictures and a bit of swimming to cool off

Sarah and Will with Coline and Greg in the background going in opposite directions. I think it's safe to say that none of us really knew what we were doing!

 Claire and Gordon sailing off into the sunset

We all had a great time and would definitely recommend it to other visitors to Kratie.

We've had action-packed days with lots of swimming, walking, and kayaking which have left me realising that I'm really not that fit!  Sadly Sarah and Will have set off yesterday on their own to visit Siem Reap and I am left with the daunting task of adding the final touches to my dissertation and handing it in.  Freedom here I come, just in time to make the most of our holiday in Cambodia in December and our big trip starting in January.