Last weekend, my fellow new Pepy interns and I headed off to the Cambodia coastline in search of good snorkeling (and diving, for the more adventurous,) and tanning.

After a pleasant night bus to Sihanoukville, Cambodia’s premier (and only) commercial beach city, we went straight to our diving company, where they took us to the harbor and we boarded a giant former fishing boat now used for diving and snorkeling day trips to Koh Rong island and its neighboring isles (seen below)

Pirates of the Caribbean, anyone?

Contrary to these pictures’ seemingly pristine quality, it was actually quite windy, so the snorkeling and diving were poor visibility. Still, it was a fantastic opportunity to see these remote islands. Due to their considerable distance from the mainland (approx. 2 hours), they remain relatively untouched by modern ways.

After a long day in the waters of the Gulf of Thailand, we retired to our hotel called the Snake House. True to its name, there were snakes, in cages, everywhere. Suffice it to say, I was much happier with our next hotel in another beach town down the coastline called Kep, owned by 2 Belgians and operated by a lovely French couple. It was a true change of pace from the past few weeks of accommodation in Cambodia..