Happy Chinese and Vietnamese new year. Jeepers. Are we behind on these posts.
Back to the first new year of this year - 1 January - we spent the whole day on a bus to Ratanakiri, a north eastern province of Cambodia. It's not that touristed yet and it was a nice change to step off a bus and have people offer you plastic chairs instead of half a dozen motodops grabbing your bag and yelling at you about where you should stay. We stayed at Yaklom Eco Lodge, about 15 min outside of the town centre. The best thing about it was the greenery and you can escape the red dust that pervades everything during the dry season in Ratanakiri.
Day 1 we hired motorbikes and went on a self tour with new friend JR from the states. the main attraction at Bun Long (Capital of Ratanakiri) is Yaklom lake, admired for it's roundness and symmetry.
Next, we were underwhelmed at the "stone field" (place of ancient lava flow) and finally Chaa Ong waterfall where we tentatively climbed down some unfinished stairs to stand behind the curtain of water.
Day 2, we had hooked up with some other merry travellers (Roberto from Italy, Simon from Switzerland, and Lisa and Kat from Australia) and a couple of guides (Vuttha and Prohwa) and made our way into the forest with the hope of seeing Virachey National park and some real Cambodian forest.
This is Brett after about an hour's worth of travel on the back of a ute. It might be hard to see but he's basically wearing dirt a centimetre deep.
It was a pretty hard trek and we did without the niceties of other organised treks i've been on, like breaks with tea and trail mix. Prohwa, only 20, was loaded up with food for 9 of us for 3 days and really worked hard until we could prevail upon a passing motorbike rider to take our food to the campsite for us. (Prohwa's bag consisted of a blue plastic sack with kramas tied on for shoulder straps - Krama use #542)
We had lunch at a Laos village where the kids capered around at a safe distance until they finally warmed to us.
Camp was a 1 room shelter with an outdoor loo. Showering was a communal affair in the river. Potent rice wine helped dinner to go down a treat and much fun was had by all.
Day 3 we hiked up and down hills (a bit of a novelty in a land as flat as Cambodia) to visit some waterfalls. We were led by a small wiry forest ranger whom we called Chief.
It's true what they say about bears and honey - look what one did to this tree!
We were also accompanied by two dogs from the campsite who, despite little legs, came all the way and ate rice with us at lunch time.
Day 4 we were supposed to wake up at 5 to go watch the baboons but didn't do so until 6. Still, we did get to see fleeting glimpses of furry things in trees and the forest sounds are beautiful at that time of morning.
On the way home, we went to see a minority (which one? i''m not sure) village. They were having a blessing party and had just killed a whole buffalo.
When the boys of the village reach marrying age (13 or 14), they build a small shelter. which they live until they are married. If a girl likes a boy, then she can go and sit in their hut and spend the night (just to talk!) and hopefully, by morning, they will have agreed to marry. The girl has a hut of her own too, bigger and closer to the ground.
Anyway, there was a party happening when we arrived and most of the residents were looking bleary eyed and staggering around. In the central hut there was dancing and smoking and drinking out of suspicious looking pots. Only brett did the polite thing and went to every single pot - each representing a particular family - and drank or at least pretended to drink.
Even outside, we were drawn into dancing by a small but insistent woman.
And that was our trip to Ratanakiri. Oh, and the
Phnom Pleung at the Ratanak Hotel, as recommended in the Lonely Planet, is everything it says it is.
