Kratie

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Sadly, due to unexpected illness, our time in Cambodia is running out so we are forced to change our plans. Initially we were headed north east to Ratanakiri Province, but as we are leaving in a couple of days, we settled with a trip to Kratie, six hours north of Phnom Pehn. The bus journey was an adventure in itself, stopping in places crowded with children and women trying to sell us goodies. Dom opted for some tasty-looking deep fried tarantulas and found them a little spicy - especially the abdomen! Bex, as you’ve probably gathered from previous blogs, dislikes spiders whether dead or alive!

Upon arriving in Kratie, a little town forming around a central and very dirty market, we settled in at a hostal to make plans from there. We arranged a trip with a couple of moto drivers to take us to an area along the mighty Mekong river, where about 75 of the endangered Irrawaddy Dolphins inhabit it. The journey took about half an hour and was a fantastic opportunity to see Cambodian country lifestyle. We drove past beautiful tropical landscape and the only houses we saw were bamboo huts on stilts.

We (Bex, Dom and Ashwin from the USA!) were the only people there at the sight so we got a small motorised canoe to ourselves. Travelling up the Mekong was wonderfully relaxing and we saw plenty of the pretty round-nosed dolphins, who surfaced for breath. Unfortunately they were too fast for us so we didn’t manage to capture a decent photo, but just seeing them was enough. We were there at the right time to watch a glorious sunset over the river from the boat.

We left the dolphins feeling thoroughly relaxed, the only hiccup was that Bex and her driver hit a dog on the way home! Luckily the dog was ok and limped away yelping, whilst the driver laughed wildly. You can belive us now when we tell you that Asian drivers are CRAZY!

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Comments

[Anne]

uGHH!
Hi Dom, I cant believe youate a tarantula!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mum x

[Bev Hart]

That's like one of the food challenges on I'm a celebrity! Had you been drinking beforehand... Bev

[Peter and Susan]

Spiders
Have just logged on while travelling from Brisbane to Cairns. Can't believe you actually ate the tarantula! Hope all is well. X