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Published: December 18th 2008
Monday the 8th Dec
Up at 6.30 we got our bus leaving Phnom Penh for Kratie at 7am. We knew that in kratie you can see river dolphins but apart from that we had no idea what to expect. The bus stopped for breakfastafter after a few hours, a local breakfast noodle soup for me thank you very much, and we got talking to some of the people on the bus. This englis lady Chris, told us how she works in an international school and now was on a tour with some of her students learning about tourism. The trip for them was a project where they try and develop a two day trip to Kratie from Phnom Penh as a sellable product. This was a trial run, the first run and they asked myself and babette if we wanted to join them and we could be their first customers. The trip included a boat trip, seeing the river dolphins, visiting a local comunity on bikes and eating in a locals house. We jumped at the chance.
So off we went on a school tour with a group of teenagers, 15 up to 19 year olds, their english teacher
and their cambodian teacher. The students, a group of 8, were american english brazilian and korean, with all their parents now living in cambodia for one reason or another.
When we got to kratie at about 13.30 we checked into our hotel and headed straight for the boat. Kratie is a sleepy enough town situated on the mighty Mekong River. The boat took us away from the town on the enormous mekong without having had a chance to look around and we headed up the Mekong about 10 km. Chris the english teacher had helped these two cambodian lads from Kratie buy a boat for river trips. There names were Toung and Sithy but they became Town and City when we realised how easy it was to remember. The lads brought us up to the location where you can see the river dolphins. Here we had to change boat, as town and city dont have a liscence to go into this government controlled section. Out in the middle of the river there were loads of these river dolphins. They look like a deformed flipper and there not all that playful but was nice to see them none the less.
The boat then dropped us off on the river bank where there were about 20 kids playing. We started taking photos of the kids and then showing them the photos. When they had their photos taken they were all jostling for position and then their reactions at seeing themselves on digital cameras was priceless.
After wards Town and City brought us back to the town in the boat and on the way we got to see the sunset over the river. When we got back to the hotel there were bicycles waiting for us and we each took a bike and headed a little bit outside the town to a local restaurant. Here a range of local dishes we ordered that we would all share. I said that I would share whatever they brought but made it very clear that I would not eat any fried penis, an item i spotted in the menu, at any cost. With dinner we had beer with ice cubes in the beer. They dont refrigerate their beers in rural cambodia, I was told, so I had to put up with this second best alternative.
After dinner, which was lovely, we cycled around
the town to see what was going on. Sweet feck all, its pretty small and everything seems to be closed after dinner. So we retired back to the hotel pretty early.
Tuesday the 9th Dec
At 7.30 we headed to a restaurant owned by an american guy for breakfast. And i had a irish style fry up. Im loving the local noodle and rice soup breakfasts but this was a nice break from all that. After breakfast we got back on the boat this time taking the bikes with us and it was a real tight squeeze with the bikes. Beside Kratie in the middle of the mekong there is an island that is about 6 or 7 km long and on this island there is a floating vietnamese village. First we visited this village which as the name suggests floats on the river. The floating wooden house are then anchored to trees on the bank pretty amazing really. Then we went to the far side of the river and disembarked bringing the bikes with us.
We spent a few hours cycling around on this side of the village and it really gave us a good insight
into rural cambodia, passing little villages, schools, temples, farms and on one occasion a barber at work all along the road. We were amazed looking at the locals and their way of life, but they were equally as amazed at us with our white skin and as we looked at them they stared back at us. The young kids would then say "Hello" the only western word they knew and then when we responded hello they burst out laughing. We took loads of photos of the people and the inetraction with them by saying just hello in cambodian was great fun. After a few hours of cycling we reached Citys house and farm out in the country on the banks of the mekong. Here we had a look around the farm, they grow rice, corn chilis and a grape fruit type fruit that we dont have at home. Lunch was amazing served on a mat in the centre of the living room with us all sitting on the ground in a circle around the food. In local fashion the food, sopps, stirfrys and rice, was put in the middle and everyone shared everything.
After lunch we loaded the bikes
back into the boat, which was now on the bank at citys house and headed back towards town. Back at town we had a few hours to chill. Babette went for a run (lunatic) and she said that people couldnt understand what she was doing. Kids started to run beside her and everyone was shouting hello to her. While she ran I took a walk around the town through the local markets. After a while I came across thes guys playing the keep it up game with the shuttle cock type thing. Ofcourse they invited me to join so of course i did and i spent the best part of two hours playing with them. I couldnt understand a word they were saying but when it was your fault the thing hit the ground there was a lot of slagging and laughing at you, myself included. After the game Town pulled up in a bike by pure chance and dropped me home to the hotel.
That evening before dinner the cambodian teacher took out his guitar and sang a few songs he wrote in cambodian. All heart break songs but very nice. We then headed as a big group
to dinner in the american guys restaurant for some decent curry with real chips and a few glasses of wine and beer. Chris the teacher invited us to her house for dinner when we get back tp Phnom Penh and then we said our good byes to the group as myself and babette were getting up real early to head out further west.
Wednesday the 10th Dec
Early we boarded a pick up truck for the first part of our journey to Mondulkiri out west in cambodia. For the two hours we sat outside on the back of the pick up truck. There was an awning over us so the sun wasnt too bad. After two hours we had to change pick up trucks for the second leg of the journey. This time four of us were squashed into the back seat in the cabin of the pick up truck, a space ideal for two people. As well as this squash there were four more in the front seat, including the driver. On the back there were all sorts of goods, chickens, fich rice, our bags and lets not forget about ten people sitting on top of all this
stuff. Somehow the pickup still managed to move under all this weight. The road for the first two hours was ok but once we changed trucks the road was little more than a dirt track.
After an hour we got our first flat tyre. After ten more minutes we got our second, well in fact there was a loud bang when the tyre blew out. To my surprise they had a second spare and after that we had no more problems. I managed to fall asleep on top of this old guy who was squased in beside me and once awoke to find his had resting on my knee. Im hoping it was harmless gesture necessary as a result of how shuashed we were.
We met this Aussie guy, Matt, when we were in the truck. We didnt have much option as we were squashed up beside him. Once we arrived in San Monorom the final destination in Mondulkiri Matt decided to hang around with myself and Babette for the few days there and we organised three days of motorbiking trekking and elephant trekking. All three of us went for dinner in a Khmer Restauarant. Matt can speak
Khmer, he works here with an international food organisation, and he ordered lome local delights which we all shared together.
That evening we found a really cool little cambodian bar called the green house where we had a few beers to help us sleep.
Thursday the 11th Dec
THe first full day in mondulkiri was spent motorbiking around the area. The three of us with a guide went for a ride 30 km outside of the town on what you can call a dirt track. It was mor like motocross as opposed to motor biking. We stopped off at a beautiful waterfall for a few hours, where we swam around in the pools at the water fall, climbed up and down the outside of the waterfall for some photo opportunities. All very relaxing. After a few hours we started to head back through the town. The guide brought us off the main road which was already shite in through a coffe planatation. Here we were driving on a dirt line, never mind track. We had to drive the bike over bridges on little streams that were wooden planks tied together.
After the coffee plantation when were
Eating with the villagers
And drinking toxic rice wineback on the main dirt track we headed off up some hills to get a good view of the town, the hills the nearby jungle and the sunset. All in all a beautiful day. That evening we walked out to a restaurant called nature lodge 2km from the town, even though im convinced we walked for about 5km. Here we had som local food and played a game of pool against a 6 year old pool shark called sing. Now in the end i did beat him but christ it was close, against a 6 year old.
Friday the 12th Dec
On friday we started our trek. Two moter bikes with their drivers came to carry four of us, Myself, Babette, Matt and our guide to the starting point of the trek. This meant that there were three on each bike. Its the first time ive done that andis a bit scary for the person on the back who feels that they might at any moment get pushed off teh back.
Once at the starting point we headed off trekking through the jungle. We didnt get to see a whole lot of wild life except a few squirrels
scampering through the trees but the walking through the jungle was cool and again we ended up at a waterfall where we again went for a dip. After a swim and sitting in the sun we ate lunch. The afternoon consisted of more walking through the jungle and then over some rolling hills not that dissimilar to ireland. At about 4.30 we reached the village where we were staying for the night. Our guide Nara brought us to his house where we would be sleeping in hammocks for the night. We relaxed for about an hour, then at 5.30 dinner was served and then at 6 as it got dark and we lit the place up with a torch since there is no electricity there, they brought out the rice wine, a potent local alcoholic drink. Some of Naras neighbours came to join us and I swear to go that at 6.30pm I was drunk. The local villagers were great fun and for a few hours we drank the rice wine, learned in each others language how to say cheers, sang songs from our respective countries and the night culminated with a dance performance by myself babette and Matt, and all this in a wooden shack between 6.30pm and 9pm. Also that night there was a full moon which really added to the ambience. Nicely oiled before 10 o clock I went to bed in my hammock. Babette had us in stitches when she informed us that she couldnt sleep in the hammock as it made her "Sick Boat". Oh the beauties of speaking another language.
Saturday the 13th Dec
With a little bit of a hangover we got on elephants first thing in the morning. In the morning we did some elephant trekking which involves sitting on a very uncomfortable seat on top of an elephant as the poor elephant does all the work walking you around the place. After a few hours we stopped at another water fall. Here we lazed about the place, swiming, sleeping and eating, for a few hours as the elephants dipped in the river to have abath and then headed off into the jungle to have their lunch, which consisted of entire banana trees.
In the afternoon we set off again of the elephants for another few hours until we reached the same village we had set off from that morning. It was nice but 1 hour on an elephant is enough. That evening we were dropped back to Sen Monorom on moterbikes, again three to a motor bike. We had a decent meal where again we shared the food around and then a few beers in the Green House.
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