Tag Archives: Kratie

Day 196 – Turns!

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!

Day 195 – Freshwater dolphins

A promenade runs along Kratie’s riverfront.

Today was our full day in Kratie. Travelling slowly means you get a bit more time in each place which is actually very cool at the moment. After breakfast, with the temperatures rising to another hot day, I pushed for a visit in Kampi.

Kampi is about 15km north of Kratie but there is almost no tourist infrastructure there so everyone needs to stay in Kratie. But Kampi is interesting because at its location next to the rapids in the Mekong River. Tiny rapids, however, they seem to have the side effect that dolphins like to hang out around there. Yes, around here, there are freshwater dolphins here. Theoretically. The Lonely Planet states that there are under 100 left so that seemed like there is only a small chance of actually seeing one. I wanted to try anyway.

the boat and the small sandbanks in the river.

We took Rocinante out and found the place soon enough. It is quite well organised. For US$9 per person, Flo and I got a fisher boat with a driver for ourselves and off we went onto the river. While we still looked around the rapids and islands, I saw the first dolphin jumping out of the water. It took me by surprise that a minute in, I would see the first dolphin. Also, they look quite funny with a bulbous head…like a mini version of a pot whale.

From here on, we paid close attention. Our driver who stood in the back of the boat would also try to spot more dolphins and then point them out to us. We saw many, including at least four of them swimming and playing together, but it’s really hard to take any good pictures.

The Mekong still has its usual brown grey colour here but if you look into the water, you can see quite a lot of smaller fish swimming around. Our driver also kept an eye on the rubbish level in this section and asked us to fish out a blue plastic bag that was floating around at one point.

The best shot we got … not too shabby, I’d say.

After an hour, the trip was over. We had seen so many dolphins! Walking back to the bike, it was incredibly hot. Well, it was noon by now. Shortly before we reached it, a minibus exploded next to it and spew forth at least 20 local tourists who all gathered around the big bike. It was so funny that I took a picture.

Flo, then, had the idea to visit a temple on the way back. In theory, I was all for it but when I saw the 500 steps that we had to climb in the heat, my enthusiasm dwindled. Anyhow, we made it to the top of the hill, next to the temple where I, once more, got upset with tourists. Before you tackle the last flight of stairs, there is a note on how to behave and please, do not disturb the monks. Thus, please keep silent. But no, people on the top were chatting away quite happily. Cultural insensitivity, anyone?

booze with views

Back in the guest house, I looked up online what the temperature in Kratie was supposed to be today. Flo remained stubborn that it is “around 30 degrees, as always” which I couldn’t believe because it was so hot. Turns out that it was 37 degrees. That was the excuse we needed to just chill for the rest of the afternoon. 🙂

Only when we realized that the sun was about to set, did we leave the guest house again. It was still so hot that a simple stroll to the riverfront resulted in sweating. Here, I convinced Flo that we should sit down in the fancy as “Jasmine Boat” restaurant, have a cocktail and simply enjoy the view. Which we did. It was enjoyable. We ended up having nice neighbours (once again that the best Americans are to be met outside of the USA) to chat with and then had Khmer food, which wasn’t even that expensive here.

: A promenade runs along Kratie’s riverfront.

: Obviously not sea sick

: We opted not to do the kayaking thing – too hot!

: the boat and the small sandbanks in the river.

: First one caught on camera.

: The best shot we got … not too shabby, I’d say.

: There must be an easier way to steer …

: These are not all people coming out of that one van.

: This is half way up the first flight.

: Wrong steps, there were the living quarters.

: statue at the top

: The view was pretty good, although with trees in the way

: Not sure, but there were a lot of monk statues following a snake lady

: The river took a bite out of the road – this is the first bit of major un-repaired damage in all of Cambodia.

: Cambodia = epic sunsets

: Little boats ferrying the tourists over to the sandbank

: booze with views

: I guess this would look epic with a tele-converter

: the sun is gone, but the light still shines

: … gone

Day 194 – Rural life

Exchange trucks for potholes

Today, we made it almost all the way off the main tourist trail and poked our noses into rural Cambodia. The ride from Kampong Cham to Kratie was pretty short, only 130 km. We decided to take a bit of a back road – the lowest category that is still sealed. The turn off came about 40 km in. There was almost no traffic on this road, a real plus, and we finally saw the return of turns. On the other hand, for the first time really (other than the dirt roads) we also saw the return of potholes.

Other road users…

The houses here are simpler, a good bunch of them still traditional wood – all built on stilts and many with carved stairwells leading up to the first floor. Oh, and a brief return of mosques. The minority of the Cham practice a local variety of Sunni Islam.

Hitting the Mekong once more (there will be many more times traveling up Laos) instilled us with awe once more. The Mekong is truly mighty, even in the dry. It almost feels like an elongated lake rather than a flowing water. A short while later we checked in to our guest house – with river views, of course. The room was huge and still quite cheap. The only downside was that we had to lug all our stuff up three flights of stairs all the way to the “rooftop”.

Lazy and still a bit cooked from the road, we gave the guesthouse lunch a try. Which was – moderately edible. The oddest thing of all, though, was that we both had to change our order after half an hour because they apparently ran out of rice. To be honest, I would not have thought that possible to happen in a country where “eating” literally translates to “eating rice”.

I like that the river fronts are still accessible for the public. Best sunset spots ever

Later that night we went out to enjoy another majestic river sunset. The red orb sank right at the opposite side of the river and we had front row seats on the city’s long promenade. We went to one of the lonely planet recommendations for dinner, but for once it was rather forgettable and we hurried back to the guesthouse. With a last beer / Baileys on the rocks, we finished up a blog entry and retreated to our room. Not much, really, but a nice and well rounded day on the road.