Blogs from East, Cambodia, Asia - page 13

And so, Templed to the max, off we head east to counteract built splendor with a bit of wildness (not quite wilderness) and relaxation. We got an, as usual, early bus (late buses do not exist, its not that we are hardcore travelers...no option) from Siem Reap to Kratie, changing bus at Kompong Cham. This second bus wasn't quite ready for us and it turned out there were too many people for the minibus. But that's simply normal, they crammed us in somehow and off we headed for a nice cosy journey in our neighbours armpits, the boot open with our luggage strapped on as we bounced along a deep red dirt track, dust curling in through any orifice of the minibus to give us a rosy hue. We pulled in to Kratie with our bags ... read more

I'm already a little concerned that my fitness, or lack of it, may prove a problem and so this trek may need to be 'tailored' a little. No shit Sherlock as it turned out! Anyway, got picked up by my guide on a motorbike. This wqas interesting as I have a large rucksack weighing a mere 25lbs and he has a rice sack with improvised carrying loops tied to it to make a rucksack that weighs even more and 2 up on a 125 with no crash helmet on some of the worst dirt road I've seen in Cambodia so far! the road is the characteristic red laterite clay which gets badly churned up by tyres and cattle in the rainy season and then the ruts and cattle feet imprints set rock hard in the dry ... read more

Proper Bacon and fried eggs with fried cubes of potato and onion for brekkie then the moto chap turns up 30 minutes late - no surprise there, and off to the market. Banlung Market is a big one as Banlung is the provincial capitol. The 'minority peoples'as the khmers call them are here in force selling all sorts of herbs and plants gathered from the jungle where many of them live, vegetables like potatoes and green stick beans they've grown, papaya and bananas, tamarind still in the pod straight from the tree, wild ginger root, rows of small fish six to a bamboo skewer and then smoked over a fire, blocks of shredded tobacco. The ínority peoples'don't look khmer and speak their own languages. My moto driver can understand odd words and they seem to communicate ... read more

Up and grappling a bicycle down the 80 odd steps down to the boat to cross over to the Island by 08:00. We get to the other side and it's a hard slog pushing the bike througj the soft sand for a quarter of a mile before get up over the levee and onto the Island proper - a small boy tells me his nbame is ''Dollar'' and then proceeds to ask me for money - he doesn't get it! I also notice to my amazement a shack advertising bikes for hire at $1 a day!!! The hotel didn't bloody tell me this - see what I mean about conning tourists. I set off and stop at a Wat (temple) about a third of the way around. I sit down on a concrete bench under a ... read more

Ban lung is the biggest town in the rattanakiri province, which is up in the north eastern corner of cambodia. It has paved streets but even so it is a very dusty town. A layer of red dust covers just about everything. It is also a bit out of the way, but it is pretty unique and we are definitely glad we made it up there. The bus from Kratie went pretty smoothly. As I mentioned in the last blog, we saw the dolphins in the morning and then got on the 1 pm bus. We had to switch buses at one point when the road forked to stung treng, and after that it was a 3 hour, very bumpy dirt road. Lots of cut down trees on the way there. It took 6 hours to ... read more