3am seems insanely early, but I’m awake with no problem—sometimes jet lag comes in handy. The cheapest route to Sihanoukville where we’ll catch the ferry to Koh Rong Sanloem is a hired driver for $130 round trip. The city is quiet, but the driver isn’t wasting a minute and quickly jumps on a phone call and starts chatting. His loud talking can’t keep my tired eyes awake though, and soon I’m drifting off to the tunes of Lana Del Rey spouting from my headphones.

7:30am puts us right in the midst of Sihanoukville and we’re boarding our ferry out to the island. Two hours pass—which seems like a lifetime after our long morning drive and lack of sleep—before I can see a white dock made from weathered boards sitting in the bright blue water. We pull along side and hop onto our new territory. We quickly find our temporary homes in the form of grass-covered bungalows and discover that there are only two other people staying at this resort. Heaven is real.

Level One

January 11th, 2018

Six days of paddling

January 11^th, 2018