Sen Monorom

---

Hello everyone,

I am not sure if this is going to be my last update from Cambodia or not. In 10 days I am going home, and it saddens me to have to leave this beautiful country behind. But of course you are not interested in my heartache stories, you want to know what I have been upto. Last time I did not tell you what my plans were, even though they were in the making, but I just only wanted to tell you about my new adventure after it happened.
Even though I was a little hesitant to go, Simon let me know choice, I had to get on a taxi and head to the east to Mondulkiri, the wild wild west of Cambodia. So there I went on tuesday morning, in the taxi to Snourl, just to change to a pickup and continue to Sen Monorom. It is sometimes surprising how khmer people communicate. They told me to go and get some food, so I did, I did not know that I was suppose to have dinner for 3 hours, as this was the time the pickup was waiting. However in the end I did arrive, together with another westerner, Stuart from New Zealand, who works in Cambodia. The idea was to go to sen monorom for more or less a one day excursion and to go on an elephant trek. So upon arrival at a nice guesthouse I set things in motion. The owner said there was another person who wanted to go, and in this case the price would be half, as an elephant is shared. So thats how I met Boris, a wonderful guy from Switserland. We hit it off well, and the three of us went out to the pagoda around the cornor, because of the khmer new year there was a party every evening. The national game of cambodia is gambling, it starts at a very young age. It was great to participate, although it seems that we might be the bigger attraction. Sen Monorom is not yet over run by tourists. We returned early to the guesthouse and went to bed. In the morning we had to get up early, as we had to have breakfast before going to a near by village for the elephant track. We were taken there by moto over bumby roads, but with beautiful scenery. We were taken to a hilltribe village, wich is easy to be distinghuised as the way of dress and building is completely different. Boris and I were kindly requested to fold ourselves into a tiny littly basket ontop of the elephant. What a laugh, it was uncomfortable, our legs didn't fit, there was something poking in our backs, but both of us were impressed by the elephant, walking up and down the slippery slopes ever so gentle, sometimes stopping to eat something on the way. After about 1.5 hour we arrived at our destination, one of the many waterfalls in the area, it was beautiful, we more or less stripped down and swam in the water, and some of us even dared to jump of the waterfall. After a few hours or sitting around and swimming, we went for another 1.5 track back to the village, it was an amazing experience, yes the basket was uncomfortable, but definately worth the trip and the experience, but it is definately important to have good company I laughed my head off with Boris, upon our return we met up with stuart and after getting some drinks and snacks we walked up a hill to watch the sunset over the hills, breathtakingly beautiful. Because it was such a great day I decided to stay one more days and go to Cambodias largest waterful with the guys. Because I had the best room in the guesthouse, I had my own massive balcony we gathered there that evening, drinking, talking and listening to music, until we all fall asleep outside under the stars. After waking up we though it might be a good idea to find our own rooms. The next morning we all got up early and had breakfast together. It is a 35 km ride over dusty bumby roads, luckily it had been dry for a few days so the roads were in a good condition. Upon arrival at the waterfall, we had to pay about $0.50 to be allowed in as a 'foreigner'. The interesting part was that the money was collected by the police. The waterfall is actually 2 waterfalls, one of about 10m high and the other one 25m high. Most of the people were at the top waterfall, mostly khmer people, family gathering for the khmer new year that would start on friday. THe three of us decided to climb down to the second one, quite a climb and as I am used to walking upon flat ground, i scored no points for elegance for sure. The climb was worth it though, as noone was down there. We all swam around and jumped of the last 2 meters of the waterfall, letting the water massage and sooth us. It was our own little paradise and we had a really good time, at the end of the day we decided to go for another sunset, however instead we got a lightening show at the highest point in the area. Always the best spot wouldn't you say. We had to take shelter in the pagoda, and because the rain was practically coming in horrizontally, we and 10 others had to crouch together in the cornor, trying to get some shelther behind the buddha. Buddha was kind to us and let us go safely through the storm. After the rain we walked back in the dark, going for another dinner at our french fried restaurant for some fries noodles. It had been a tiring day, and as we were all leaving the next day we decided to have another early nights. (early nights are pretty common in Cambodia, and most of us will get up early too). I had asked Boris to accompany me to Kampong Cham for the khmer new year, and he graciously accepted. So on the bus to Kampong Cham we got, but as we were getting further and further and closer to KC I was starting to feeling worse and worse. And unfortunately my stomach had decided it was not going to digest my food properly, so a bad case of ... (fill in any appropriate toilet word here). Feeling a bit exhousted by the time we got back, we just had some rest and checked the internet. In the evening Simon took us across the bridge to a wonderful restaurant. The next day Simon left for work, and Boris and I took the bikes to cycle to Phnom Proh and Phnom Sry, unfortunately my gears did not work that well, so it was quite an ordeal, but with some advice from Boris I did manage to climb the hill, as most pagodas we had seen in the days before, it was surrounded by a country fair, lots of gambling games and people praying. We layed back in a hamock and had a drink and talked for a while. After that we decided to cycle back so we were home before lunch, on the way the paddle of my bike broke, which wasn't making things easier, but it was all good fun, specially as this time we were going more down hill than up. Simon took us to a nice restaurant and we had a fabulous lunch. In the evening we went for a nice sunset, of course the sun had to set right behind that one cloud in the sky, and we sat down and watched the stars before returning home and made some pasta with fruit salad. It was a quite evening, filled with making plans for the next day. Sunday was going to be the last day of the khmer new year, so we knew there was going to be powder and water involved. Simon decided to take us to a temple over looking the mekong and when we arrived there we realized everybody else was there too. Again a big country fair, and a lot of powdered faces, and yes we could not escape, and by the end of the day we were all more or less white, but it was great, and the khmer thought it was great that we participated too.
Unfortunately Boris left the next day, and I am still suffering from my stomach, and it is hard to go far, incase I need a toilet, its my 4th day now, and I am slightly getting annoyed, and I want my body to stop being so silly and just settle down again. Tomorrow we will head to Phnom Penh, where I will spend my last week, before returning home. Maybe if I have time I will write one before returning, but otherwise I will write the next one after I am back home.

Till very soon,

Loes

---