Eastern Cambodia

What a contrast to the rest of Cambodia. The area to the east of the Mekong is a land of indigenous people and jungle. We started at Kampong Cham, which was the gateway to Koh Paen island. This is really how most of Cambodia lived until relatively recently. We cycled down roads which had traditional stilt houses to keep out the water of the Mekong. Beside the houses were raised areas for the cows and water buffalo to shelter from the rising waters, and in the streets were the myriad chickens, dogs and pigs. The Mekong has started to recede as rainy season comes to an end, and farmers are starting to prepare the rich soil for growing rice. We also stopped at a local restaurant for some lovely home-cooked fried rice.

We then moved further east to Mondulkiri Province, and the town of Sen Monorom. This place was famous for the four or five businesses seeking to rescue working elephants and releasing them back into the wild. We spent a day trekking into the jungle and ended up feeding them sugar cane and getting up close to them. But the highlight was after lunch when we went and swam with them by the bridge. In what was quite fast flowing water we held onto the bridge feeding them bananas, before getting a bit closer, touching them and splashing them with water. An amazing experience.

We continued our tour onto Ratanakiri Province. Even more remote, we decided to head back onto the scooters. The first day turned into a minor disaster as we tried to explore the local waterfalls along dirt roads. We visited the first one while dressed in our all-weather gear, and saw a lovely waterfall across a rickety suspension bridge. The second one however, proved to be a step too far. Even though the rain had stopped, the dirt track had turned to thick red mud in places and we ended up skidding all over the place. After an hour of making slow progress, we gave up, without even seeing the waterfall. We were so dirty from the experience that we had to get the scooters, and our sandals, jet-washed to remove the various layers of mud attached to us.

The second day on scooters was much better, but still had its problems. This time we were passengers on scooters, and the roads were dry, so the guides got the brunt of the red dust. We still were fairly filthy by the end of the day though. We seem to have spent much of the last week getting dirty, this wasn’t helped by the lady who washed our dirty clothes, wrecking many of them in the process. We wil need to go shopping for more T-shirts soon.

On the trip we went way up north to see some of the local animist villagers. We walked around the village being told how they lived, and walked through the paddy fields. We also learnt about farming in the area, and saw pepper, avocados and cashew nuts being grown. A fascinating way to learn about the country, and our English-speaking guides were full of information and stories.

On our way back across the river, our guide filled up the engine with petrol he had bought from a local shop, and which was sold in a small, plastic carrier bag. We stood well clear until this process was complete This sums up some of the odd things we have encountered in the wonderful Cambodia. Onwards next to Laos.