Sen Monorom | Chaos roaming the world

deflated in bed in our spartan little cabin.

Waking up, Flo felt like having a cold coming on. Given that we had booked our 10 hour elephant experience for tomorrow, I wanted him to rest in bed rather than visit a waterfall. Said waterfall had turned into a tourist attraction anyway with the zipline company advertising a spectacular line over the waterfall. That might have been fun but was too expensive for us with US$70 per person.

So instead, we had a very slow day at the Happy Elephant Bungalows. Flo spent most of it in bed, as requested, while I sat on the terrace/dining area in the afternoon to enjoy a breeze and some jungle views. I also tried the hammock in front of our own bungalow but while it was only at an ok comfort level, I got insect bites all over my back and so abandoned it again pretty soon.

We literally only went out for lunch which seemed to be very exhausting for Flo already and had an underwhelming dinner at our guest house before going to bed early.

: deflated in bed in our spartan little cabin.

: In lieu of proper photos of the place – have this. I was sick, after all!

: Hanging out at the “restaurant” for a little while.

: our little box, with the boardwalk leading there. Everyting swayed a bit.

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.