North East Cambodia

Thursday we left for a journey to the North East of Cambodia. This region is home to diverse landscapes and peoples, it's the wild version of what you see in the other parts of Cambodia. We decided to go to Kratie, a village right next to the Mekong river and Ban lung, the capital of Ratanakiri. 

We left early in the morning and only arrived in Kratie in the evening. That was such a long trip! It's normal to take so long if you take into account the bad condition of the roads and the fact that we travelled from Siem Reap in stead of Phnom Penh (which is the normal travel route to that region).

We met two Danish girls (Inger and Anna) in the bus. During those meetings with other backpackers you realize how small the world can be! Anna works together with Mathias, my floor mate during my Erasmus exchange in Amsterdam! :) We decided to visit Kratie togther, so the next day we took the ferry ($0,25) together to Koh Trong. Koh Trong is a small island situated in the Mekong river. Local people live there, including a floating village. You can rent a bicycle for just $1 to explore the place in an enjoyable way. During our stay it rained all night, so the road turned into one big mud pool! Therefore, we returned for lunch after one hour of slogging, sweating and laughing.

Kratie is thé place to be to see the freshwater Irawaddy dolphins. These specific dolphines are an endangered specie throughout Asia. 50 years ago they were with 1000, nowadays only 70 dolphins remain in the Mekong River. They have a bulg forehead and small dorsal fins. During the rain season, you can be unlucky not to see any of them but we did! I was so glad! :D To end our lovely day, we experienced a beautiful sunset at the riverside of the Mekong!

Take a look at the bulg forehead instead of pointy  

Sunset at the Mekong River 

The next morning we took a early bus to go to Ban Lung, Ratanakiri. This province and city is well-known for their wild and rural surroundings, but especially for their adventurous activities. The environment is completely different compared to the other places in Cambodia because of the hills. Besides that, Ranatakiri also has a rust-coloured affliction because of the Vulcanic ground. Therefore everything (the ground, houses, their cloths,...) is covered with a red dusty blanket. 

We booked a really cool guesthouse for just a few dollars! It was in the middle of the nature with a view of the jungle! A tour guide took us to three different water falls (Chaa Ong, Kinchaan and Ka Tieng) in the morning, which was awesome to see! While walking to our destination, we crossed paths with 2 local people riding an elephant on their way back to the village. Of course, we took our time to approach the lovely animals ;) The last waterfall had a cave and if you wanted to take the risk (which I off course did) you could climb down and enjoy a power shower underneath the falling water! It was a super experience! 

Power shower!

After lunch we visited a local village. The inhabitants don't feel Cambodian, they live separated in their own community. The majority of the men live in the jungle and the women make their own clothes and scarves. We continued our journey to the Beung Yeak Loam (also known as the most best natural swimming pool in Cambodia) to take a dive in the breathtaking blue water. The crater lake is believed to have been formed 700.000 years ago and some people swear it must have been formed by a meteor strike as the circle is so perfect. During our stay we where approached by a group of young Cambodian boys. It seems like they didn't see a lot of Western girls before, because they couldn't stop looking at us and taking pictures of us... :)