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Published: December 7th 2013
The First Road Block
This was the first big obstacle of the day.The ride to Bousra Waterfall is fun and easy. Most of the drive is along dirt roads that are in decent condition. As always there are a few patches that have eroded or deteriorated. Sometimes there is a large rock just randomly sitting in the middle of the road. At one point while having a conversation with Dima, I don’t notice a rock in the road and just narrowly avoid it at the last second. The drive is beautiful as we pass mountains and farms all along the way. At one point we pass a large coffee plantation and you just smell them roasting the beans. We decide that we are definitely stopping there on the way back for lunch and a cup of coffee.
After about 40 minutes or so, we arrive at Bousra Waterfall. It is gated and they charge each of us $1.25 to enter the park area. Once inside it seems as if you just park your car in any random place you want, so I pick a little out of the way spot towards the back of the area. There is a curving stone walkway that leads down to the falls. The sides of the
Dirt Roads
These little dirt roads criss cross all over the mountains in this area walkway are lined with vendors selling a variety of items from tribal shirts and scarves to gemstones and honey. We just take a quick look but aren’t really interested in buying anything yet. We are ready to go down and check out the falls.
We are surrounded by jungle as we walk down the path leading to the falls. At the very bottom is a flat wide area with mats spread on the ground for people to sit and have a picnic. The first look at the falls is impressive. The falls are probably about 80 feet high and it almost looks man-made because of a series of natural steps at the bottom of the waterfall. The steps actually give it a really cool effect and make the falls seem impressive even though they are not that high.
As we wander around to observe the falls from different vantage points and see what else is around the area, Ellis realizes that there is another waterfall not far behind us. It turns out that while we are at the bottom of one waterfall, we are at the top of another; and this one looks to be much higher.
“Dal now kroam tuk ________ banh dthay?” I ask as I walk up to one of the vendors.
“Banh Banh,” she replies and starts blurting out directions quite quickly.
After thanking her politely for the help, I turn to the guys.
“Okay so we can walk down to the bottom she says. Now she had a lot to say and I was only able to catch a little bit, but it sounds like we have to go up and around the road and over these falls. Once on the other side it sounds like there are a couple of options, but I believe she said they all lead down.” I tell them.
We head back up the stone walkway and Ellia decides to do a little shopping on the way. He winds up buying a matching shirt and skirt, a small backpack, and a purse for his daughter. At this point all of the vendors are extremely impressed with my Khmer as I have been translating for Ellia during the whole transaction.
At one point Ellia looks at me and says “ask her what the shirt is made out of.”
“Well here is the
problem with that,” I reply. “I can ask what it’s made out of, but I won’t be able to understand the answer. “
“Ko’at ta aigh?” The vendor says asking me to translate what Ellia has said, so I tell her he wants to know what it is made out of. She says some word that I have never heard so just I turn to Ellia and repeat what she said.
“What’s that?” He asks.
“I have no idea. It’s some Khmer word I don’t understand,” I respond and laugh.
As we are walking away I hear the ladies talking about us. “Ta mech,” I say asking what they said.
“Ss’att,” she replies complimenting somebody’s looks.
“Ss’att nea na?” I say, asking which person is handsome.
“Nea,” she says referring to me and laughs shyly. I thank her politely as we continue on. If there is nothing else I can say for Cambodia, it’s certainly a confidence booster. In just three days I have been offered my pick of wives, I have been complemented on my nose, and told I was handsome. I think the fact that I speak Khmer is what makes
them find me more attractive. Not many foreigners bother to try learning Khmer when they come here. In fact, most of the older expats that have been living here for 5 or 10 years have never even bothered to learn more than a phrase or two.
The walk up around the first falls is easy and there is a nice wooden bridge over the river. The surrounding area is beautiful with lush green vegetation everywhere. You can hear secada beetles, which come out of the ground for one or two days to mate before they die, making a high pitched squealing sound screaming to find a mate before their imminent demise.
When we arrive on the far side of the river, we can see a couple of paths that lead into the bush. We just decide to take the once closest to the edge of the cliff. We figure staying closer to the edge should hopefully be a less roundabout and shorter way. The trail leads through dense foliage with roots hanging from large trees above and a variety of mosses, orchid, and vines growing on everything. As we follow the trail, there are places where we must
climb over or under fallen trees and there are many areas where we climb down big rocks hanging onto tree roots to keep from falling or slipping.
As we are walking we see a stairway up ahead the goes about 40 or 50 feet down at what must be a 70 degree angle. It’s actually more like a wooden ladder than stairs.
Dima and Ellia look at me, so I just say “well boys, it’s not an adventure if you don’t fear for your life,” and start climbing down the stairs.
It’s hard while fearing for your life, but I try and take note of the beauty of the rock wall I am descending. There are banana trees growing on little outcroppings and areas near the top where the tree roots have burst through the rock wall. After I get to the bottom, I walk another two hundred feet or so and break out of the tree line. At this point I am greeted with a view of one of the most magnificent waterfalls I have ever seen. To me, it’s not even the 200 hundred foot height or swirling mist at the bottom creating a rainbow
Small Bousrsa Falls
The smaller waterfall that makes it so beautiful; rather it’s the surrounding canyon. The river at the bottom of the falls is located between two lush moss and vegetation covered mountains. It’s the type of scenery that makes you think that a giant pterodactyl will come flying by at any moment; just an ancient untamed and untouched land.
After spending 30 minutes or so just admiring the area, we decide it’s time to get moving. We still have a lot to see today; the coffee plantation, another small waterfall, and the sea forest. We hit the road and are back at the coffee plantation stopping for lunch by 1:30.
At this point I take a damaging blow to my growing sense of confidence in my Khmer speaking ability because the waitress can barely understand a word I say. I can’t even order a hot coffee with milk. Instead we received iced coffees with no mile, almost the complete opposite. Overall the coffee plantation wasn’t that impressive. The food was over-priced and just so-so. The coffee, while being tasty, was the same coffee they serve all over the town. The only nice thing about the place was the garden and farm areas.
Wandering through rows of coffee or banana tress was enjoyable.
Our next stop is the small waterfall near town, but after seeing the big and beautiful Boursa Falls it’s not all that amazing. Perhaps we should have gone to the smaller falls first. At least they have elephants here for us to play with for a little while. I have always liked elephants ever since riding and wrestling them in Laos a few years back. They are like big giant dogs; and smart as can be too. We grab a couple of beers to take with us before heading off in search of the sea forest. The plan is to end the day there, enjoying a beer and watching the sunset from high up on the mountain.
After driving down a few interesting dirt trails and leaving a piece of my bumper on the ground next to one particularly large dip in the road, we arrive at the sea forest and the view is just breathtaking. It is a full panoramic view, from high atop a mountain, of a completely untouched and uninhabited area of forest. Free from the footprints of man, you can tell how wild
Hmmmm....
How do we get down there? the area is even from up here.
Unfortunately the wind is really kicking up at this point and it has begun to drizzle a bit. We also notice that all the other tourists have made a quick exit.
“Maybe they know something we don’t,” I mention to Ellia and Dima. We all kind of decide that perhaps we should also head out. The road up here could be pretty scary on the way down if it is wet and muddy. On the way back to town the rain has cleared up and it is sunny out again, albeit still quite windy, when we notice a little temple on top of a mountain, and unlike the view from the sea forest, this mountaintop is in a perfect position to view the sun set over the town. We take a seat on a bench in front of the temple and crack open our beers. After cheersing to a good day of exploring and adventure we quietly watch the sun go down, each of us lost in our own thoughts enjoying its beauty in our own ways.
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Mommy Gail
non-member comment
Great Story
I so enjoyed this story.....it takes me on the journey with you....I have not seen much of our world but I do get to see it through you eyes. Thank you so much! Love you Mom