Rabbit Island, a memorable trip!

Memories from one month ago are still amazingly fresh when I look at the sky and still see the same arrangement and combination of stars that can also be found high above the Rabbit Island. It was an exclusive trip with friends, and I found it the most memorable one of all.

The trip was planned months ahead by Theary, a UC student from weekend class. It was finally scheduled on 2nd and 3rd of July, 2011 for a totally two-day-one night trip to Kep and Rabbit Island. We gathered in front of UC at around 6 a.m. and kicked off at 7a.m. Only one bus was hired and 45 participants were included. The number of boys and that of girls were moderately equal. Breakfast was served on the bus, and on the way, there were not many activities but mostly focused on Karaoke. Despite this, the atmosphere was still great.

At around 11:30 a.m. the bus arrived at Kep Cave, where was our first destination. Kep Cave is actually a cave where we had to go through a dark cave to see a great view at the other side of the world. There were little guides who are the young local boys and girls and who were trying to explain to us about the resemblance of rocks to some significant things. Of course, it needs imagination to visualize the said images. Unfortunately, I’m not that imaginative and creative person. After the visit at Kep Cave, we continued our journey to the next destination—Kep Beach.

After going through the dark cave.

Group picture at Kep Cave (after the visit)

Surprisingly, I was not informed that Theary’s house is just directly opposite to the pavilions where visitors relax and have their lunch. It would be very convenient if I had a house in this location. We went to Theary’s house for around 10 minutes and then prepared to have lunch at the pavilions opposite the road. The pavilions are only around 100 meters from the beach. Notably, the food was tasty; now I miss it.

Some food for lunch; not all are included here though.

It was around 2 p.m. when we hit the road toward the fantastic island that was highly recommended by some participants who used to be there.

The boat we took to go to the island.

To go to the island, boat is the only transportation means. Each boat is allowed to be seated with only 10 people. It is said that it takes approximately 30 minutes to reach the island from the Kep Beach, but I didn’t feel that long. During the boat trip, one of the magnificent views was a moderate-sized fish jumped across the sea and splashed the water around it. From one minute to another, we could see the island bigger and bigger, clearer and clearer… The outstanding coconut trees on the island were swaying resembling to people who were waving their hands to welcome our arrival. When reaching the shore, the seawater was crystal-like clean and sparkling which allowed me to see through the water under which schools of small fish were swimming but were frightened and scattered when the boat approached them.

Going near the island!

We got off the boat and for the first time I stepped on an island! The first thing we did was to head to our rooms where we had to stay over the night. They were not actually rooms but small separate houses which were designed for couples because only a double-sized bed is offered and a bathroom is equipped. The houses were built of wood and coconut leaves—a traditional but natural shelter for visitors who wish for an experience of countryside life. Different from others’, my house was bigger and with two beds, so six people were arranged to stay in it; three people were arranged to stay in each house for other participants.

Houses where we stayed over the night on the island.

The beach is much more beautiful than that in Kep Beach. Sea waves were not very big so that it was quite safe to play around in the water. No matter how many times will I go to sea, I still can’t learn to swim successfully. Do wish to be able to swim some day! In the late evening, Visal, Lak, Virak, Vy, Sandap, Sreyvoat, others, and I played some games in the water which was one of the wonderful times during the trip. After that we had dinner together and enjoyed the dancing time. I was not there for long but lied on the chair and looked at the clear sky with dozens of stars scattering around. That’s romantic and relaxing!

Dinner on the island.

The night in the small house was a bit long since the bed was too small for 3 people. It was difficult to move around and to stretch. However, I still managed to sleep at least 5 hours, I think.

In the morning of the second day, I got up at 5:30 a.m., a bit earlier than the time I usually get up at home. Without changing the pajamas, I headed to the beach to see the morning view of the island. The sun hadn’t got up yet, and the sea water had receded from the shore which made the sea farther to be reached. These two people, Sophorn and Pisey, were picking up some seashells. I found some as well as I joined the activity for a few minutes.

The sun is rising in the morning of the 2nd day.

Phorn and Pisey are picking up shells.

The island has a source of drinking water from the mountain far behind the beach. Vutha and I went to search for it, but we dare not to go farther as it’s dangerous to travel up to the mountain without a guide. Other groups had found it, I think, as I found a picture of Virak nearby a pond of water. In the following picture is another part of the island where seaweeds are planted. The sand there was whiter and finer. I do wish to know how they are planted.

a small path toward the other side of the island.

The morning was quite fast to go by. We waited for our boats at 11 a.m. to take us back to Kep Beach and to have lunch there before we set off our return journey to Phnom Penh. We had lunch at a different location which is hundreds of meters away from the previous one. The food was as tasty as the one we had the day before. After lunch, Visal, Vutha, Lak, Virak, Ratha, a few others, and me went around and took several pictures nearby the big rock crab which is a symbol of Kep City.

while waiting for the boat to take us back to Kep.

At the Rock Crab after lunch.

Certainly, it didn’t end in this point of time. Before going back to Phnom Penh, we headed to the Kep Market to buy some souvenirs, food in particular. Crabs were the priority. I bought some crabs and had it cooked before taking it home. Because of the drop-by, we had to set off from Kep at 4 p.m., which was later than planned.

My crabs are in it!

On the bus, people were less active as normally they were exhausted after the active one day and one night. In contrast, Visal and I seemed to converse much compared to the going-trip. Some of us got off on the way, while many got off at the Caltex station of former Bokor Cinema. Lak, Visal, and I also got off there.

I guess this post has been the longest one I have ever written in my blog. There may be too much description and make the readers feel dull. If so, please accept my apology here. I wish to describe every activity in details so that I could come back to it which is the happiest time I have ever had with friends. However, the description here is not really enough to show my in-depth feelings as many things are still left unmentioned.

All in all, I love nature. The Rabbit Island will be my starting point to further travels. I wish to go around Cambodia before I set off to overseas trip, and I hope that it will become true. To take this opportunity, I do feel thankful to Theary and her plan coordinators (Sandap and Sophorn) who had worked hard to organize this memorable trip for all of us. Although she is not majoring in Tourism and she is not experienced in trip organizing, she did a great job in this trip, and everyone did enjoy much and wishes for another visit to either the same place or another resort.

Group picture on the Rabbit Island!

Hurray, trip to Rabbit Island. Farewell!