http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Cambodia , East , Kratié en-us Mon, 20 May 2013 04:08:50 +0000 Mon, 20 May 2013 04:08:50 +0000 Well I am almost into the travelling part of my time in Cambodia now. I am due to come back to England on June 12th so I have got a lot to fit in. I am meant to be returning to my voluntary placement to do two days of work on Thursday and Friday and then that is finished.Actually I have just returned from a long weekend in Kratie which is situated about 350 kilometres north east of Phnom Penh al http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-785596.html Days 168169 Fri 22nd Sat 23rdFeb Sen Monorom Mondulkiri So I got a midday bus to Sen Monorom Cambodias wild east. The bus took around 5 hours and a pretty uneventful trip. I arrived around dusk. It was pretty wild on first impressions. It was very windy and significantly colder than anywhere else in Cambodia has been. I checked into a guesthouse had a cold shower as there was no cold http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-774331.html Unlike Lance Armstrong the only thing we had running through our veins when heading out on our bikes yesterday was excitement about seeing the freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins. We found the bike route through the Mekong Discovery Trail which is basically just a series of maps outlining different routes that you can bike around the KratieStung Treng area promoting local tourism.There are two place http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-774310.html When planning your trip you always want to unearth places others havent been yet or are at least less frequented en masse by tourists. So when we discovered Kratie pronounced krachey in the North East of Cambodia we thought this is definitely the type of place we want to explore. With it being on the way to the Elephant Valley Project httpwww.elephantvalleyproject.org which we are vi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-773853.html I arrive into Kratie with my new travelling companions April and Laura from Oz and Rich the laconic ad man from London. It must be pushing 35 degrees and we are hot tired and bothered. What we want more than anything else is to relax on loungers by a cool sun drenched swimming pool. The man that has sold us our rooms at our new guesthouseThe Dolphin purports to know of some said mysterious nirv http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-771736.html 5th Oct UP at 645 did all the usual stuff before waiting for my pick up at 830 however it was half an hour late and then we went round the world picking people up. It39s annoying going round the same streets several times. Got to the bus station well after 930 departure time but it was okay as the bus didn39t leave til after 10. The bus journey was fine about 5 hours. Only thing I h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-720508.html iPhone Apps Development has opened new gateways for mobile software development enterprise. As Cellular and Net Application Improvement Firm Morpheous has been pioneer in iPhone Apps Advancement enterprise. Our iphone app programmer has started doing work from the day Apple has launched its initially iOS SDK back again in 2008. Given that then our iPhone App Programmer have made much more than 40 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-709616.html After 5 fabulous days in Siem Reap it was time to move on. We were headed towards Laos border but we really wanted to avoid going back to Phnom Penh. In this case we decided on taking a rather long journey more than 10h and a change of buses to Kratiein the northeast of Cambodia. So far we have been really enjoying this country a lot with an exception of few minor incidents with TukTuk driver http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-708299.html Wearing belt links is a admirable way to put appearance in your apparel. Additionally it displays some assertive aftereffect and definately will clearly abstracted an alone via assorted guys accepting into a agnate colour. Donning Belt links is not actually something which you are accomplishing every individual day appropriately if you do get a new appearance that you would like it is important http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-690163.html Since leaving Siem Reap about 2 weeks ago it seems we have been slowly making our way north through a selection of onestreet towns each slightly more dusty and remote than the last. It all began in the south of Cambodia in Sihanoukville where we headed for a couple of beach days to recharge our cultural batteries following our temple overdose at Angkor. The beach was sandy the sun was hot and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-625709.html The bus ride up to Kratie is apparently meant to take around 6 hours ours took 7.5 hours unfortunately due to an elderly woman throwing up at least I hope that39s what it was in the isle of the bus as the bus pulled out of the Phnom Penh bus station. May I just say it was one of the most putrid smells I39ve ever been around and unfortunately hung around for the 45 minutes til we made it t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-618299.html The Kingdom of Cambodia was somewhere I knew nothing about when I left home but reading guide books and autobiographies as I travelled left me fascinated to go there. Recent Cambodian history is horrifically riveting and I would say being aware some of what happened is a prerequisite for visiting the country. Such recent and mass scale bloodshed cannot fail to have an effect on people and as I ga http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-616675.html Joff Having spent a marvelous day at Angkor Wat the previous day we woke early for the 7.15am bus to Kratie. Having been advised by the lady in our hostel that she could not tell us what type of transport would take us there we waited for our pickup with some trepidation. After some wait a bus arrived which took us to the central bus station. We were very quick to note on boarding our bus that w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-591687.html Fresh water dolphins are possibly the biggest attraction in Kratie and I was determined to see them. Ideally alone but then when is life ever ideal My moto driver arrived a little late and driving a tuk tuk with 2 people already seated in the back. You travel with 2 other tourist he beamed cheaper for you lol more money for him more like but who am I to begrudge that as I reluctantly n http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-581142.html From Battembang we had a long bus journey to Kompong Cham which is in the east of Cambodia. We only had one day stopover as we wanted to see the Bamboo Bridge and also go on a bike ride around a rural village. At the beginning of the dry season a bridge made entirely out of bamboo is constructed to allow villagers from the island access to the mainland. At the end of the dry season it is destr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-564079.html Leaving Kratie had to happen sooner than later in this case. Off again along the river as has been the case but this time some very nice jungle style roadtrail. We were treated to amazing sites along the way and it surprises us still how much the river changes from place to place...Every day has a theme. Some times it's the heat some times it's the dogs almost always present but often we don't http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-560768.html We were very much looking forward to a full day on the riverside roads. While they too have their challenges read dogs lots of them as it seems the average house has at least 4 and that does not include this year's puppies all bark lots of chase and even a couple who if given a couple more seconds might even attempt a little bite at minimum. What these roads lack are large speeding trucks a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-560761.html Sunrise is a time of day but in the villages is starts HOURS before the event. First the dogs barking then the roosters join in followed by the people. No need to set the alarm todayAs we are going through our daily ritual of gathering clothes filling bottles and bladders with water and Gatorade Bunna and Mambo start packing up their gear. In all the preparation we miss the commotion as Bunna http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-560719.html Now that we are back in Cambodia memories are reactivated of our last visit to that country which was just over 2 years ago. That was in my preblogging days. So here is one as the TV chefs say that I prepared earlier....We were on our way from Kratie to Sen Monorom. The first part of this journey was no problem just a regular bus journey to the little town of Snuol from where we had been t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-559083.html Few hours on a bus north out of Phnom Penh takes us to Kratie a small town on the banks of the Mekong.Arrive late afternoon. Hot hot hot. After we check in a guy takes us on his scooter a few kilometres up the river to see the famous Irriwady dolphins. 3 on a scooter isn't as uncomfortable as it sounds but it does bottom out the suspension a little so you feel every bump in your teeth. Not qui http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-501626.html