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What could be worse than a sitting on a bus for 8 hours with cambodian karaokee? Not sitting on a bus and having to push the bloody thing out of 3 foot deep red clay. Our trip from Ratanakiri was doomed from the start... As we left Kratie we met an Aussie girl that had been having transport troubles. She said she was lucky to get through her first week on cambodian transport without a hiccup and if you make it past there, something was bound to go wrong. Well we were two weeks in so it was definetly our time. 30km out from our destination of Ban Lung our bus started veering from side to side like Adrian riding his bike home after a few 'quiet beers' post work. It begun quite comically but on two scary occasions the bus actually nearly fell off the road and down an embankment. As we looked around at our fellow cambodian passangers the men started to roll up their sleves and pants. The women followed suit and grabbed their kids and lugguage and piled off the bus to make their way on foot. The locals made guestures to all the western boys
to follow suit and jump behind the bus and push! Push a bus! Some threw rocks under the wheels to create traction whilst others got down and dirty to no avail (Adrian thought at one stage he had it covered by himself until the Cambodians 'screwed it up') one of the ductch guys stood at the back snapping pics from every angle.... Later we found out that getting dirty was not an option for him as he'd paid 5 times more than any of the locals to take the trip. Our westerner VIP status was soon forgotten about as we grabbed our bags and started trudging the 30km toward town. We luckily hitched a ride in the back of a pick up with our clay covered feet and passed some of the most beautiful cambodian scenery that we have seen so far. Half an hour later we arrive in the dusty capital of Rattinakirri.
Five days we allowed ourselves to check out the sites surrounding the town which conisted of waterfalls and Lakes. Yeak Leom Lake was picturesque. A perfect circle that looked as if it had been formed by a crater. The water was crystal clear and you could
see 5 meters deep which sadly meant no peeing in the water unless you were stranding next to someone you could blame it on. The guide book failed to mention you could get your picture taken with a gay monk that had tattoo's, smoked cigies and had a mobile that he used to take pics of the whities in their swimmers. For no extra charge you could also take a photo with him with his hand on your ass which our buddy Bram also found out....someone should warn tourists of these things! We jumped back on our 1 dollar bikes to leave dripping with sweat upon the first peddle and wished we never left
We attacked 3 waterfalls in the area the next day by grabbing a 4x4 for the 6 of us, which we later realised could have been done on our 1 dollar bikes. What the hell, it had air con. The falls were pretty impressive for the beggining of the rainy season. Two of them were swimmable the other smelt like Adrians morning breath. Im still yet to find out how he sneaks out in the night to eat cow shit. We arrived at the final falls
to find 5 cabodian boys all under the age of 6 flining themselves off the middle face off the fall butt naked. We all jumped in to join in the fun (not naked although Adrian was flaunting his nipples about) but were unable to scale the terrrain so we had to settle for a swim in the water below. The smallest kid looked as if he was having trouble keeping his head out of the water so i stretched out my arm to help him to which he flug himself around my neck for safety and started to laugh. The other 4 must have thought this was a game and all swam over to join in. Unaware to them 5 naked boys weigh 100 kgs and started drowning me. As i gasped for air my life flashed before my eyes and i could see it now written on my tombstone lived a short but great life until drowned by 5 doodles. What a legacy. Age managed to rescue me from them by picking them up one by one and flinging then as far as he could until this became a game for the next hour or so....well until their parents
came to find them. Thats jail time in Australia. 'I swear officer the naked kids were all over me, i was just minding my own business'
Not being rural enough eight of us opt to find a tour company to take us into the jungle so we can explore some more and get a feel for what it's like to sleep under the stars. Day 1 consisted of a 15km walk to a rangers station on the edge of the National park which became a 30km walk because the last time our guide went this way it 'looked different'. Like that scene from National Lampoons where they go around and around the round about and cant get off but on a grander scale. After finally arriving at the station which was a little wooden shack with no walls and two flat beds we took a dip in a small stream (which soon became our favorite spot) We set up our Army hammoks in the surrounding trees where we nestled in for our first nite in the jungle. After 27 rounds of cards (asshole is back baby) and 2 bottles of Wrestler Red Wine (which was some kind of mix between
red wine and ethenol) we snuggle into our hammocks for some sleep. The next day consitsed of a 25km walk which was in pretty tough terrain where we saw 2 water falls which we all jumped in to cool down, 500 hundred leaches, lots of biting ants, claw marks from sun bears in the trees, cambodian poachers and a black snake....not all of us saw it just our guide and Bram, the dutch guy, snapping away blissfully just like he was at the broken down bus.
To be walking for 12 hrs in the blistering heat and run out of water is the worst feeling in the world, but to arrive back at camp where waiting for you is boiled up river water with leaves still in it nearly makes you realy wish you were dead. To know that that water has to get you through the 15km jorney home which could end up being 30km is the only time in my life I would happily kill someone for a can of coke. Everyone spent the night picking the leaches out of their nether regions and looking forward to having a shower that wasnt in the river. After the leeches
Caterpilller
I swear this thing is actually real! experience and watching Stand By Me as a child, Adrian was pretty hesitant about the river rinse off.
All in all ratanikiiri was a great experience but we are happy to be back in civilization again.
We took a bus followed by a 30km motorbike ride (spent staring at my drivers lice) back to Stung Treng, enjoyed a visit with some dodgy border officials at Laos and arrived in Don Det, Southern Laos which is a tale in itself.....
Until next time folks
Kym and Age
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Chris & Claire UK
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Awesome
Great to see you guys having a ball. We're in Vietnam having a great time too. Catch up with you both in a month or so somewhere near Hanoi.