We rode in a van for 3 hours on the first divided highway we've seen. It was a toll road. There were very few cars on it. We were going about 50-60 mph and headed to catch the ferry to Koh Rung Sanloem. Made it just in time and took off across the rather rough waters. The spray on both sides & front of the boat got many people wet. We got off at Sandy Beach & were met by Lei. We climbed in the trailer behind his motorcycle & off we went to Dreamer by the Sea. Let's just say it wasn't what we expected for the price & what we read in the reviews. But it was one of the last available rooms as it's Chinese New Years this weekend. We settle in & since it was clean & the AC worked, we knew we'd be fine. The nicer beach & restaurant was just a short walk. Lei asked if we wanted to come for dinner & we said we planned to check out our options. He came back a bit later and asked if we'd come be his guest at his Chinese celebration at 7 …no charge. So at 7, we walked to his pavilion. A more than friendly man whose wife was helping prep the meal came over & talked Rog's ear off…for the entire 1 1/2 hour we waited. Finally, we were asked to sit at the huge table along with 20+ Chinese & Cambodians and another man who looked like a Westerner. Soon we learned he was Basque. Knowing my friend's husband was Basque, I thought it would be neat if they could talk so I called her. Bingo! Jose & our new friend had a nice visit! Meanwhile, dish after dish after dish was being placed in the center of the table. Probably more than 20 dishes & none looked like anything I wanted to try. Rog's eyes were darting from dish to dish deciding which first! Our host put some rice in everyone's bowls which I then slowly ate. I call it pretend eating so it last a long time and looks like I'm eating lots. Our Basque friend ate more like me. I did enjoy watching others pick apart the whole crabs, shrimp & every chicken part…including the feet. Next to each was a pile of bones & shells. This went on for more than an hour & it looked like there was no end in sight. The Chinese man next to me spoke good English. His about 12 year old son spoke 4 languages already! Using google translated, we conversed with our Basque friend & learned his wife had died 10 years ago. He said it made him happy & lonely to see older couples still able to enjoy each other. We went back to our room around 10, and about 11, our neighbors started setting off fire crackers & fireworks lasting long into the night. Actually there were fireworks the next 3 nights too! There are large groups of Chinese enjoying the holiday. We see massive tables overflowing with food & at all times of the day. The next couple days were lazy days to read, enjoy the beach & warm ocean water, nap & eat good food. Loving the pineapple smoothies and they even stock Coke Light! The hotel next to us has a nice pool and the owner offered to let us use it…which we did! If only they could clean up the trash, this island would be ideal! One night, we hired a boat to take us out to find the bioluminescent plankton. We'd seen it in Puerto Rico…but here I got to swim in it!! I had to admit I was nervous to jump into the dark ocean water by myself but it was so exhilarating ! Rog watched as I swam around stirring up the sparks of glowing planktons. So magical! Tomorrow morning we'll catch the ferry back to the mainland thankful we had some fabulous beach days!
