meeting locals | Chaos roaming the world

The silver dolphin statue of our Silver Dolphin guesthouse. Didn’t I say they look like mini pot whales?

Leaving Kratie behind feels a lot like leaving the more “developed” part of Cambodia behind. As with the little shortcut we took to get here, the road leading east to the provincial capital of Sen Monorom was all but deserted. For the first half, still in the low lands, it was an almost exact copy: Very little traffic, small patches of settlement with mostly wooden buildings. But there was something else, something very subtle at first.

The ground got ever so slowly uneven – compared to the vast flatness of the lowlands. The occasional turn sneaked its way into the otherwise endlessly straight black ribbon. It really took off when we re-joined the southern road, following the Khmer-Vietnam border at a distance of about 50 km.

But before that, we hit one of those strange places you find on the wayside of all countries. At first, without proper context, we thought it was rather pretty. A monument clad in black marble, sitting on its island of red earth amidst the suddenly green bush all around. We stopped, took some photos and then I decided to go up to find out a bit more. I am still not 100% sure what this monument commemorates, but it was obviously not the appropriate place for happy selfies. The concrete murals at the base show the suffering of the Khmer people at the hands of Angkar and then some soldiers coming to liberate the people. I think. Definitively more “lest we forget” than “Remember that fun old King”.

That almost looks like jungle!

From here on, the environment changed rather drastically. The ground rose and the road became one of the most enjoyable rides on our trip so far. Long twists and turns through a green jungle on the slopes, then cool and otherworldly up on the plateau. Plus, virtually no traffic. Brilliant!

We made really good progress and decided to stop a bit before lunch time and only 40 km before our guesthouse. We actually only thought of having a drink of water, but got gently persuaded to have some lunch as well. When my weak defense of “we only eat vegetarian” got turned around on me and the lady of the lot produced fresh veggies with a friendly nod, we decided to stay. What a brilliant little coincidence again.

Local girl bottle feeding her pet monkey

The food was really good, plus our hosts were lovely and even commanded a bit of English. Enough to once again surprise them with our age and the fact that we still have no kids. She had a little boy and was looking after her sister’s daughter, because both her parents had gone to Phnom Penh to earn a living. The little girl had adopted a baby monkey and was nursing him with a bottle of milk. These tiny glimpses into other peoples’ lives are half what keeps us going. There are no easy categories – no lazy brown people here. Complex humans with lives that we sometimes can not understand at all.

Our guesthouse in Sen Monorom turned out to be the rustic kind we like, but lacking the hipster twist. It could be amazing, but for now it has to resign itself to being very affordable. After a very adventurous ride on their driveway and lugging our 50 kg of luggage another 20m downhill on a rickety wooden gangway, we settled into our bungalow for the next 3 nights. A bed, one light, no visible insects – $5 US a night.

To round off the day we walked into town to check how long it would take us to get to the pick up for the Elephant Valley Project the day after tomorrow. The answer turned out to be 15 minutes, so we grabbed a coffee / tea at the project’s little cafe before heading across the street for our dinner in the lonely planet recommended guesthouse.

: A French traveller we met, riding a Cambodian bike (with a Cambodian helmet…)

: The silver dolphin statue of our Silver Dolphin guesthouse. Didn’t I say they look like mini pot whales?

: No one seems to be going east…even though it is getting greener

: Suddenly, there was this giant monument next to the road

: Pulling up at the steps to check it out

: Atrocities by the Khmer Rouge would be my guess

: Amazing contrast between the red earth and the green

: That almost looks like jungle!

: Local girl bottle feeding her pet monkey

: Lovely people running a roadside eatery

: Approaching some hills

: The drain had been

: Riding down the drive way

: A strip of concrete in the middle meant no stopping is possible with the bike. Flo couldn’t reach the ground.

: An abundance of benches along the main road

: One of the commonly spotted rubbish bins made out of lorry tyres

: “Feel good” coffee, tea and a cinnamon bun!

To understand today’s post, one needs to know that I’ve been having an “identity crisis” for the last couple of days. Five and a half months into the journey, the honeymoon phase is well and truly over. And our time off in Thailand as well as our stay in Kuala Lumpur freed up time to think. Do I really want to go back to sleeping in moldy rooms? Is this still what I want to be doing? Are we doing something wrong? Do we still enjoy it? For a while now, there hasn’t been one of these “WOW” moments on the motorcycle. Yes, we loved KL but this is hardly a place where you need to go on a bike…a regular plane takes you right into the heart of it.

Today, we woke up in the Cameron Highlands. This place has made it onto the cover of the Lonely Planet edition for Malaysia…and we were totally underwhelmed. All I could think of is “Sumatra’s tea plantations are nicer”. Is that what comes with travelling extensively? You’re just filled up with experiences and landscapes and can’t appreciate what is in front of you anymore? Are we even doing the countries justice anymore?

To not be a total, depressed spoilsport, we started on the whole Cameron Highlands thing: First, see a tea plantation from up close. We decided to go for the one that is especially recommended. Still not as nice as Sumatra’s.

Different products: Grade 1 and 2 teas, tiny particles for teabags and the last row is only used for fertilization

The tour through the factory was cool but only took 5 minutes and basically, you don’t need any humans for the whole process. We tried some of Boh’s own tea in the cafe which I liked but even the strawberry cake didn’t get me out of my low. It was too sweet anyway.

By this point, I have probably depressed you enough. To quote Flo who quoted Hugh Laurie: “I realized that I must be depressed when not even exploding monster trucks could excite me”. Is that what was happening?

Standing amidst tea

One the way back from the Boh tea plantation, we stopped at Cameron Bharat’s tea house because it had a nice view. The tea was not as good as Boh’s but the views were nicer.

Defeated, we went back to the hostel. To put our heads into the sand or under a blanket. But we still had a high tea planned for the afternoon so we needed to have lunch in order to make everything happen. Quick lunch in one of the local food stalls before returning to our room. Lunch turned out to be our turning point. I ordered food at this stall run by an older couple who turned out to be deaf-mute. Not only was the food excellent but the couple was amazingly lovely. Interested in where we came from, they kept asking us questions. Neither Flo nor I are able to sign so we improvised gestures or, if everything failed, wrote questions and answers down. As soon as both of them heard that we came from NZ, they opened up completely. Both of their children live in Auckland and they had been to NZ recently to visit them. We were shown pictures of them at Matamata, on the sky tower and in Rotorua. It just made for such an awesome encounter. This is why we are on this trip…not all the tourist attractions. When we left, they even got out one of their own souvenirs from NZ to give to us…which we had to refuse as we have such limited space on the bike. What a sweet gesture though!

To further remind us of the “why”, we watched “Terra Circa”. It is really helpful every once in a while to get inspired again. Reading, listening or watching other travellers is something we highly recommend. Although, just to be clear, we have no aspirations to rough it like those guys. They are insane. 🙂

The high tea and us

At 3pm, we went to our high tea at Cameron Highland Resort. And enjoyed it! Yes, it was not as fancy or delicious as the Hippopotamus one (thank you brain for reminding me) but it was a solid high tea with time to try sweet pastries and another pot of Cameron Highland tea.

There was just enough time to finish “Terra Circa” and write some postcards before we headed off to dinner in an Indian restaurant. Most of the Indians in Malaysia who we encounter are from the southern part, as is the food they prepare. For us, this is amazing as southern India is not currently along the route we have planned but this way, we get to experience the food here. My paneer Masala with naan was delicious.

Ending the day on a food high was exactly what it needed. While I finished commenting photos for the latest blog entry, Flo oiled the bike’s chain on his own. And then the bike fell…tbc…