Blogs from Mondulkiri, East, Cambodia, Asia

MONDULKIRI This is my new hideaway retreat, if I go off the radar and no one can find me this is where I will be. The most memorable place yet on our trip is the Mondulkiri Nature Reserve. The work they do here stems much further than parading some wildlife around, they are giving everything they can to preserve, promote and to care for the local wildlife. To start with I thought it was just some elephants but after the lovely owners taking with us one day we realised at how much effort everyone puts into ensuring the lives of all animals in the vicinity and the fight to dampen the illegal trade of Cambodia’s animals to china and Vietnam for medicine or trophies. The setting for this great escape is a few kilometres from the ... read more

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. ... read more

The answer, I found out, is 27. This is providing you squish 6 people on 4 seats at the back and drive along with the boot door open and force 3 people to ride on the luggage. Oh, and pay bribes to all the police at the checkpoints along the way, police whose job is no doubt to prevent such deathtraps traveling along the roads of Cambodia. This is how I traveled from Sen Monorom in eastern Cambodia. Initially I was quite amused by it all but then the English man sat next to me kept going on about how all the additional weight meant that the suspension was "f**ked" ( I'm guessing this isn't the technical term) and how our risk of a blow out was therefore increased. Didn't help. Still, no chickens on board ... read more

Treck dans la jungle du Mondulkiri ! Au petit matin, l'organisateur, M.Tree, vient nous chercher à notre petit chalet et nous emmène à 60 km de la ville, aux portes de la jungle. Nous nous arrêtons à une maison, il parle quelques minutes avec un type et revient en nous disant que ce guide n'est pas familier avec des trecks dans la jungle profonde. Nous continuons dans une petite bourgade qui a pour nom , Pu Tang . Il discute avec un autre type et revient à la voiture nous disant , que celui-ci n'était plus disponible car il avait pris d'autres engagements. Nous revenons donc au premier guide et après une nouvelle discution, celui-ci prend son bagage et vient nous rejoindre à la voiture. M.Tree nous le présente, Vanny ,il parle très bien l'anglais ... read more