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After a quick overnight in Phnom Penh (enough time to know there's a whole lot more I need to see and do there!) Johanne and I headed for Kratie, which is a small town situated on the Mekong River. It's super mellow with not a whole lot to do but explore the outskirts and relax... fine by me!
That afternoon we rented a couple of bikes and went for a ride around the area and were greeted by every single child in the area!! They all wave and yell hellooooo... They are incredibly cute, as I'm sure I've already mentioned. We got bombarded by a bunch of younger boys also on bikes and one in particular was SO keen to practice his english he just kept asking question after question. Johanne's an elementary school teacher back home and was just loving his enthusiasm for learning!
We finished our bike ride with a smoothie from the night smoothie stands and sunset over the Mekong. Pretty surreal. The Mekong River is very cool. I can't even explain why, I think when you look at the photos you'd think hmmmm, pretty ordinary river, but it must be all the goings on around and in
Stilt house in the country
This land will be flooded in a month's time, in the mean time people hang out in their hammocks underneath the houses to cool off. it. Like the boats that ferry kids over for school from a little village you can barely spot on the other side, and floating houses that sit in the middle all year round rising up and down with the water level. The Monsoon season must be very cool. I wish I could see a flood year where the water level comes up to the villages and they have to boat around from house to house to trade goods. I can't remember who was describing it to us, but it's pretty cool to picture.
So the next day we rented a moto and rode up to a village called Sombor to visit a pagoda. The ride out was amazing. You pass village after village where all the kids run out and wave their hello's. The villages themselves are very traditional khmer, all the houses sitting stilts just off the Mekong. In a book on the khmer rouge time ("First they killed my father" - great book), the author gives a really good description of the villages all the civilians were forced to work in and it's spooky really picturing all that going on in areas like these.
The pagoda in Sombor
was very new and had the story of the buddha depicted on the walls in extremely bright paint. Pretty neat. We didn't stick around there too long though because it was damn hot and we were looking forward to a dip in the rapids at a place called Kampi. Johanne's friend had spent a couple of weeks in Kratie and had stayed here for a few nights in a hammock. That would've have been a very cool experience (so if any body happens to come here, there's an idea...) There are basically wooden piers set on top of the rapids with restaurants and hammocks. I could easily have spent the whole day there. I was so excited to swim in the rapids but they were so strong. I was scrambling to stay somewhat afloat and I frigin' kicked my big toe against a rock again and opened up the cut that just started healing. Seriously!!! I think I should just stay clear of water. Nonetheless, it was very refreshing. We ordered lunch using my phrase book asking for chicken for me and fish for Johanne. They pulled out a live fish from a trap and 10 minutes later the whole
Country Road
On our moto ride north of Kratie fish was on a plate in front of Johanne, and then 20 minutes later a whole chicken - neck, head, feet, all - appeared in front of me. The poor little chicken. I think we saw it's siblings running around as we left. I suppose you don't get much fresher than that.
After the rapids we went and did the classic Kratie tourist thing to do which was to see the Irriwaddy dolphins in the Mekong. Apparently there are 60 of these dolphins left and found only in Laos and Cambodia. 17 of which are here in Kratie. It seemed like we saw a lot of them so that was pretty neat. I think I am slightly spoiled by B.C.'s Killerwhale sightings and wasn't totally astounded by the experience, but it was a nice way to end the day anyways.
So our trip to Kratie was very nice and I'd say worth the detour from the backpacker track in Cambodia. Next we head to Siem Reap to take in the temples, so back to the hustle and bustle of the city.
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Johanne
non-member comment
Hi! Our trip in Kratie was just excellent! Great your article! See you!