Blogs from Banlung, East, Cambodia, Asia - page 5

What I expected was to see a society totally different from Cambodian culture, known for their carved totems of deceased family members. What I got was an amazing river trip on a unique boat, views of Vietnam, a $1.50 ramen meal and also a glimpse at a Chinese village over 100 years old! It was hot, the river was cool. I bought a hat that barely fit my head. We were exhausted on the drive back to Ban Lung, as the sweltering heat, tropical sunshine and 120 decibell boat engines deafened us the entire way. It was an amazing trip and a perfect way to end my time in Ratanakiri. With a few more years of tourist dollars, proper preservation of the forest and some more tourist promotion- Ratanakiri is poised to be the outdoor capital ... read more

North by north east Our week in Phnom Penh put to rest our dreams of motorcycling around Cambodia. With only six paved highways, any ride would have to be undertaken on dirt bike to manage the dusty stretches pockmarked with crater-sized holes. After speaking to every bike shop in the capital, we resigned ourselves to the fact that unless we were willing (ahem - able) to double on a dirt bike (with our packs), we were getting the bus. Our first stop was Kratie, a sleepy town on the banks of the Mekong. Our reason for stopping here was twofold. The first was to see the endangered Irrawaddy dolphins harbouring in this part of the Mekong. A quick moto ride through rural, riverside villages flanking the road, surrounded by palm trees and sugarcane, and soon ... read more

Before Ratanakiri I first went to Kratie. I had found out about a dolphin conservation homestay there that was starting to sound less and less appealing the more I read about it. But at that point, I was still doing it and had time to kill in between. The plan had been to go to Stung Treng, but I was warned by my moto driver as we were driving to the dolphin observation park that there was nothing in Stung Treng, it was just used by people to go to Laos. Plan B was to take a boat up to Ratanakiri and look around the waterfalls and lakes for a few days before coming back down. The man looked confused and told me the boats hadn't been running for many years. That's a 12 year old ... read more

Fuel Efficiency - Cambodia Style We arrived in Banlung after a 6 hour journey through some non-paved roads from Kratie. We took a 'shared taxi' to get there. When we booked it, we were told there would be 4 in the front and 4 in the back and so we weren't sure what type of vehicle it would be - perhaps a mini-bus, we thought. We were wrong. A toyota corolla turned up and we jumped in. We were the only passengers and thought to ourselves 'nice one' - we've got loads of space and Chris managed to bag the front seat to himself. Anyway, 30 minutes later, there were 4 people in the front, 4 adults in the back, two children and three birds. There were two people in the driving seat - one driver, ... read more

Anyway as i was leaving Vietnam i got this mad idea to do some touring of north east cambodia on a bike. As Will had left i needed a new partner in crime for this trip so i put up a few posters in some local bars where all the tourists hung out with travel and contact details......not a fecking word from any of the chickens did i get!!! I did meet a guy from Oldcastle in Meath who said he would come then pulled out due to expenses and then a guy from melbourne who pulled out due to him imagining every possible dooms day scenario that could happen on the trip(which is alot if you think about it!) So after much consideration i decided to head off on my own and plan to meet ... read more