Cambodia - Finding Myself Unable To Leave

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Hello all from Ratanakiri Province in Eastern Cambodia,

I was on the fantastically long bus journey up north from Phnom Penh to the Laos border, but something kept irritating me. When we stopped halfway in Kratie I had packed my day-pack and was ready to jump off the bus but I relented. On eventual arrival in the border town, Stung Treng where 3 three major rivers converge everyone knew everyone on the bus as we were pretty much sitting on each other.

Below: One of the rivers passing through Stung Treng and the bridge towards Laos

Instead of going straight to Laos, I followed my irritation, deciding rightly that I hadn't seen and felt enough of authentic Cambodia yet. I joined some of the others from the previous bus journey and decided to get the bus to Ban Lung in Ratanakiri. This wonderful wonderful bus was meant to leave at 3pm, but when it hadn't turned up by 5pm myself, a pair of French girls Manon and Vanille, an Australian - Ryan and a few others decided that we should pass this dull afternoon by crossing the road to the petrol station and purchasing some cans of 'Special Beer' to pass the time. This then led to us having an international game of kickball with several locals. It involves kicked and hitting something similar to a shuttlecock with the aim being to keep it off the ground. It is most definitely fair to say that we sucked and the locals were not overly impressed with our skills, however I reckon we were getting a little better with more beer, but then in the heat we got knackered out and say back down.
Eventually we arrived in Ban Lung at 1130pm, a hefty five and a half hours late. We got to the guesthouse, Tribal, and after some food and a quick beer, we all went to bed.

Next morning (or perhaps early afternoon...) myself and Ryan hired a motorbike and set off for the volcanic crator lake, Yeak Laom. It is beautiful. Clean and clear water, almost spherical, surrounded by jungle and actually (believe it or not) looked after very well by the locals!

Below: Yeak Laom Lake
After spending a couple of hours lazing and swimming (including an ill-advised swim right across the middle by me - far too far and going against wind for the last stretch was crippling!) we retired to have some food and drink just outside the entrance of the reserve. Whilst here, the girls finally turned up. Ryan and Olivia (a French guy we also met in Stung Treng) headed off to find the gem mine and I returned to the lake with the girls.
Below: Ryan (right) and Olivia not looking overly impressed with their choice of meal

The course the afternoon took was largely myself and Manon doing increasingly stupid dives into the water from the balconies and trees. Finally after attempting to copy her handstand off a balcony into the water I realised that she had most definitely won. The fact that my stomach felt like I'd torn it in half was obviously just a side-effect of my defeat and not down to my appalling handstand effort. A couple of drinks, some gymnastics by the girls and some serious hammocking later, the guys rejoined us for a final swim and the long journey back, lit only by the moon and stars.
Once back we decided that food was a must, as was some cheap beer from the little shops scattered around this dusty red town. We first stopped off to return the bikes which led to us joining some guys who run a tour shop and 3 Spanish guys in drinking rice wine and eating mango. Our stomaches persisting in their quest to make us eat, led us to a challenge of local local food. We went to a local stall and through a flawed combination of attempting to speak Khmer and pointed we all ended up with some form of food each of slightly questionable quality. Add to this that we were drinking 'Black Panther' ("50% of the time it works all the time", hopefully some will know that reference) which is as foul and as strong as it sounds, we were on our way for an interesting if odd night.
Following the food we took a wander in an attempt to find somewhere open late in the sleepy town and stumbled upon a Kareoke bar which whilst just shutting at the time, decided to stay open for us - the locals in this relatively untouristed place are the nicest I've met in 5 months of travelling. The four of us danced with the locals as one sang and after deciding that the girls were best left to it myself and Ryan sat back down and watched them Salsa with everyone in the hall looking on at their mesmorising show.
At this point we were all a little drunk and we went to find Vanille who had joined some locals who were the richest people in the city and they had let her consume a hell of a lot of Jonnie Walker. We joined in, all on the house! Before drinking my first shot, my stomach was definitely pretty questionable, but it's rude to turn things down (especially when it is free alchohol), however... the locals have a secret weapon to drink more, baby bamboo. Odd, yeah? It's very young bamboo covered in some sort of sweet and sour sauce. I guess it must work similar to lime and salt with tequila, but much much more effective! It fixed my stomach completely and we carried on drinking whilst Vanille attempted to fall asleep on the table. After a bit of a mission, everyone got back safely!

Next day we awoke late, hired bicycles and set off to the nearby waterfalls. Along the way you cycle through red dusty villages with wooden houses built on stilts, underneath a canopy of rubber trees. At amazingly frequent intervals red faced children and toddlers run out to greet us, to touch hands, greet us and smile with the pure contentment that such young people can find so easy to have when living free and simple lives. We spent a few hours swimming and relaxing in sweet, beautiful paradise before cycling back under a slight cover of rain and the threat of thunder. We finished another fantastic day with a great meal and shooting some pool.
Below: Kan Chang Waterfall
Ryan left early morning, heading to Phnom Penh, so I woke early, sent some postcards and lazed in the sun reading 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' (which is absolutely brilliant so read it), and waited for the girls to emerge. They eventually did and we began the day with a visit to the local market which was perfect, very local and very authentic! We spent the remainder of the day eating local cuisine (had to try to recall some of my French GCSE) and visiting to lakes a bit closer to town. The second we stayed at for a few hours, enjoying swimming and watching the local life here. Families arrived and swam, young children jumping from the trees and using a log as a makeshift boat. For my part, I entertained them by showing them how to use my camera and letting them take some pictures of their fingers which were wrapped around the lense - I don't think I'm the greatest teacher. We watched the sun set and headed back for an early night. Below: Village boys on their make shift boat, joined by possible future captain, Manon
Manon and Vanille left this morning for Vietnam on the back of mopeds. Sorry to see them leave, but hopefully I will see them again in Laos and Ryan again once I return to Thailand and head south for Malaysia. At the same time as being sorry, I am grateful that the past few days have been brilliant and hugely look forward to making my way slowly across Laos. All three are fantastic people and if I don't see Ryan in Asia again, I expect that I will see him in Brisbane in a few months time. Today I sit in the cyber cafe with intentions of visiting some more of the nature, but primarily I'm passing away the time as my bus didn't turn up this morning so I have to spend another day here, which is certainly not a hardship!
So, once again I shall write that I am heading to Laos! Hopefully I'll actually make it tomorrow, but I will always remember Ban Lung and the Ratakaniri Province.

Best Wishes and Happy Easter!

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Photos

Answers on a Postcard
To send a warning, for fertility??? I have no idea.

Yeak Laom Volcanic Lake
Stunning crater lake.

Cambodian Banana
Sticky rice cooked inside a stick of bamboo.

Faces of Pain
The guys eating some low quality food outside the the entrance of the lake.

Manon Joins In
She takes a dip in a non-tourist area with some local kids, using a log as a boat.

Local Lad
Loved my camera.

Crap Photo But...
... I took this whilst gambling on making it here alone, 13km away from town on a low grade mountain bike. The photo is rubbish because as I arrived a top level monsoon decided to drop on my head, with lightening directly above me.