Blogs from East, Cambodia, Asia - page 6

When planning your trip you always want to unearth places others haven’t been yet, or are at least less frequented en masse by tourists. So when we discovered Kratie (pronounced kra-chey) 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 (http://www.elephantvalleyproject.org), which we are visiting after our trip to Kratie, everything slotted into place nicely. Although its only a small town, its most redeeming feature is the french colonial promenade that overlooks the island of Koh Trong, and has a look and feel about it that would sit well in most sea fronted european cities. Nevertheless its still run down like most Cambodian cities and is most noticeable with the amount of litter that is ... read more

The travel days are blending together...the ride from Sen Monorom to Phnom Penh was not as long as the initial ride to the north but none the less, we are tiring of the back seat of the truck...to go from moving most of the hours of each day to spending 6 hours like a pretzel is only marginally entertaining. Bunna and Mombo did however find a short cut which was a much nicer drive than what we'd experienced. The scenery of Mondulkiri is a huge contrast to that of other parts of the country we've seen so far. We now realize that the day we spent climbing during the run took us of a plateau of sorts, now we are descending into the lower lands. There are large pine forests which would look more at home ... read more

We all agreed last night that camping out was more of a hassle and time commitment than we could stand so in a little dusty town just near where the day finished, we found a guesthouse. Simple but clean and a place to shower off the last two days dust and dirt was all anyone needed.... Who would have imagined we would come to love the thought of a cold shower. The morning started easy, cooling temperatures were welcomed and only a short way into the run we came across Yoga Pig,who politely offered a few grunts when Jeff greeted him with a good morning,hey sometimes all you need is the slightest reason to smile and laugh! The day really just sort of happened along, looking at all manners of animal tracks in the sand, cow, ... read more

We had booked the Phnom Penh – Siphandon (4,000 islands) bus, which left at 6:45. We got on and had been assigned the seats at the front, which was great (no one reclining on top of us) and the air-con was working and there was even a bathroom on board. We were thrilled! Three hours in we stopped for a short food-and-toilet break, and we were making great time. An hour further down the road, however, a moped came out of nowhere into the middle of the highway and the driver had to drive straight into a huge bank of gravel to avoid him. The tyre had been ripped bare, and the brakes were shot. We stopped and eventually they gave up trying to fix things and we had to wait for a new bus. An ... read more

“You falangs, you love sunset, you can't wait to see it! – for Cambodians its different. We are scared of them....When its dark we can't see what is out there. What is coming, creeping out of the shadows. The Khmer Rouge - they hide in the jungle, and when the sun goes down, they come out...” April and Laura – my Ausse friends from the Elephant santuary have joined me on a day trip to discover what else this hidden little gem of Eastern Cambodia has to offer. Our guide – the ebullient Mr Sam is looking all boy about town, in fashionable denims, jaunty white baseball cap, and cheeky dimples. Originally from Kampot, he moved here seventeen years ago when the Khmer Rouge were still hiding in the hills – coming down after sunset to ... read more