Rainbow 🌈 Lodge

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On Christmas Eve we set off by taxi to travel to a bridge on the river Preat in the Southern Cardamon Mountains National Park. Having experienced unsurfaced and pot holed roads outside Battambang we feared the worst but the roads, for the most part, were surprisingly good and there was even a toll road. The journey took about 6 and a half hours passing rice fields and through various small towns. We stopped at a petrol station which was a mini services with decent toilets and a small shop. The last hour and a half was akin to driving through a building site as the new road is under construction. We were very glad to reach our dropping off point where we were picked up in a long boat.

We were taken swiftly along the river to our home for the next 4 nights. A short walk up into the restaurant / bar area where we were met by Gee. He manages the property and gave us some history of the place.It seems like most of the staff are related which meant a truly family, relaxed feel to the place. There’s a dog called Nico and Tiwud the 3 year old son of Piarom,who is Gee’s brother-in-law, is delighted to show new guests various insects or the golden orb spider.

The property has 7 bungalows and there was a varying degree of occupancy during our stay with visitors from Germany, France and Greece. The highlight was meeting 2 lovely ladies called Teresa, an American with Chinese heritage who lives in Cambodia, and Maria from Chile who lives in Thailand. We had lots of fascinating conversations about travelling, food, social care, politics and even blue butts.

Food was plentiful and delicious as the property cannot be reached by road so we enjoyed breakfast, lunch and a 3 course dinner. On Christmas Day we went for a hike through the jungle with our guide Jake and Nico where we finished at the Tataí waterfall. We were able to swim in a pool and after lunch got picked up by boat. We both used the swing rope to take a refreshing dip in the river. On Boxing Day we got up early for a paddle down the river in a 2 man canoe before breakfast. The river was full of hundreds of jellyfish 😮 We relaxed on the final day, finishing up with cocktails after dinner.

A lovely experience where often the only noise was the sound of the birds and insects or the dried leaves rustling. The perfect place to relax and unwind in nature with the option of activities if we wanted.

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