I am currently in Koh Rong, Cambodia, the main island of Cambodia. It is without a doubt one of my favorite, maybe my favorite place of my whole travels. I have been here for 5 days, barely on my phone, walking with no shoes, and drinking fresh coconuts. I am going to give a recap of my first day here, Sunday March 2nd and will give updates of the rest of the time in another post. On Sunday I arrived in Koh Rong and went to a beautiful beach, named Lonely Beach, secluded on the north end of the island from everything. There is only one bungalow/bar/restaurant there. Rachel and I did not book any accommodation and were lucky that the Lonely Beach owner had a dorm room available. We slept outside on a wooden platform with 6 other beds. It was really cool sleeping out in the jungle on the beach so removed from everything. At night we swam with bioluminescent plankton. I have seen these plankton before in Florida but here it was so beautiful and amazing. These glowing organisms are a type of marine plankton, specifically dinoflagellates—tiny, single-celled algae. They use a chemical reaction to produce light, a phenomenon known as bioluminescence. The plankton contain an enzyme called luciferase and a molecule called luciferin.
When the plankton are disturbed, the enzyme reacts with oxygen and luciferin.
This reaction releases energy in the form of a blue-green glow, which is most visible in dark surroundings. Nature is so damn cool. I really enjoyed going straight to lonely beach away from all the main action. We drove a motorbike there and it was extremely hard to reach, making it even more special. The owner of the lonely beach bungalows was an old French guy born with extremely loose hips. He moved here 15 years ago, speaks fluent Cambodian, and wanted to do something he loves and caress about. The restaurant he has is really good too. I think this island is still in its infancy and would be a great place to invest.
