Travelling
Trip Start
Mar 03, 2005
1
14
80
Trip End
Apr 08, 2006
Mondulkiri Province,
Môndól Kiri,
Cambodia
Thursday, April 14, 2005
And thus was my journey from Phnom Penh to the dusty provincial capital of Sen Monorom in the remote Mondulkiri province, in Cambodia's east. As has continually been the case on this trip, my plans changed yet again at the last moment. Realising I actually had the tuesday before Khmer new year free of classes, giving me a 6 day break, I figured I just had to make the most of it. I didn't know much about Mondulkiri, except that a German couple I met in Kampot thought it was an amazing place, so it seemed the logical place to while away a few days.
My guidebook described Mondulkiri as "Wales in the dry season, and Tasmania in the wet season" and I was sceptical of this description for most of the journey there. The only comparison I could make was the extensive logging by the side of the road! However, just as I was about ready to hit the arrogant French expat who seemed quite happy to take up as much room as possible without any consideration for the 17 other people in the back of the ute, we hit some beautiful green rolling hills. Before long there were some pines, and before much longer, I could have sworn I was in the Derwent Valley! This place was amazing! Rolling hills as far as the eye could see, dotted with pines and small shrubs! It was like another world compared with the Cambodia I'd seen so far.
That evening I had dinner with some Swedes I met (Hello Malvina and Lars!), and we decided we would spend the next day seeing some of the scenery and local minority groups up close and personal from the back of an elephant! This was not like I figured it would be like in Thailand, with plenty of elephants ready to whisk tourists around. Instead the experience was summed up by our guide Sambot, who the night before said "Ok, you want to ride elephants tomorrow? I book two elephants. You eat breakfast and visit market which will give my friend time to find the elephants". Brilliant! The first half of the day was great; wrapped in the traditional Cambodian krama (head scarf), we meandered through the Pnong minority villages and jungle for about three hours. The thing I found most strange here was the logging. The Pnong people don't cut down trees for wood, instead they cut down trees so they can harvest the land. This means that every few hundred metres you come across a small hut in the middle of a clearfelled site with a few crops just starting to grow. What happens to the trees they cut down I ask? Oh, they just burn it! Our three hour lunch break was typical of the laid back way of life up here. We stopped at a small waterfall, went for a swim, ate some bread and corn whilst having a chat, and then slept in hammocks for about 2 hours! Afterwards we continued back on the elephants to the Pnong village of Putang where we started, and the day ended atop a hill in Sen Monorom where we watched the sunset.
Unfortunately Malvina and Lars were short on time and had to move onto Stung Treng the following day, so they weren't able to join me on my self guided motorbike tour of Mondulkiri. The plan was simple enough - hire a moto for the day, and see some of the villages and waterfalls surrounding Sen Monorom. Little did I know that this was to be one of the most rewarding and eye-opening travel experiences I had ever had!
My first stop was the Sen Monorom falls, about 6km out of town. These falls filled a large pool, which doubled as the community's public swimming pool. It was nothing too spectacular, although I was a little shocked to see kids jumping 7 metres from the top of the falls into the pool! The trip there gave me some idea of what it was like to ride a moto on the dodgy rocky roads though. I didn't really have a plan for after the falls, except that I wanted to see more of the countryside. So checking out the map drawn for me by Sambot, I decided to make for the Pnong village of Dak Dam, right on the Vietnamese border, about 25km away. I had no idea if I would make it that far, considering my limited experience on a moto and the bad roads, so I figured I'd just see how far I could go.
For about half an hour, I felt like the only person on the planet, riding through the bare hills with barely a ramshackle cottage or fence in site. Dak Dam was slightly off the road according to my map, and just as I was considering turning back for the main road, I spotted a small village in a valley not far from the road. I doubled back about a km to a turn off I passed, and followed it for 2km in the hope it would lead me to the village. It did.
At this point, I felt like a cowboy entering a town in the wild west in a spaghetti western film. Wrapped in my krama, I rolled through the town in second gear, whilst every single person stopped what they were doing to look at me. Ok. I was in a pretty remote spot! I stopped to ask some locals the way to the waterfall that was on my map, but I was met with nothing but blank looks. Then I realised that the Pnong minority didn't speak Khmer! I rolled on through the village, when I met one guy who could actually speak a tiny bit of english. He motioned for me to follow him, and he led me down a dirt track through the jungle for about a km to the small waterfall. It was pretty dry, with only a little water, however the attraction was the 50 or so Pnong people celebrating the new year with some wine. I sat with them for about half an hour, and tried some of this "orange wine" as it was described to me by the guy who spoke a little english. It tasted like vomit, and was really strong!!! Checking the time, and realising it was 1pm, I decided to make tracks back for Sen Monorom, where I would grab some lunch and figure out my next destination.
The largest waterfall in Cambodia is the Bousra waterfall, 37km from Sen Monorom, however I didn't plan on visiting it as it had very little water (being at the height of the dry season), and apparently the road to it was horrendous. According to my hand drawn map, the road passed through two villages, so I figured I'd head down that way, and see where I wound up. The villages of Pulung and Sreambrel were like nothing I'd ever seen. Tiny shacks, with no toilets, inhabitated by families of Pnong. I'd never been anywhere that looked so poor. I figure these places were not all that dissimilar from villages in Africa. I didn't stop for long, as I'd decided to make for Bousra, considering the road was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. After about half an hour I reached a bridge where an older English couple informed me the road became "a little more adventurous" for the remaining 5km to the falls. Road was the wrong word. Rocks between trees was more apt! I'll forever remember this 5km stretch as the place I learnt to ride a moto. The waterfall was dry, however the setting was nice. I was more impressed with my own self determination to get there rather than the waterfall itself!
I hung around for about 45 minutes, having a shower under the falls, when I made tracks back for Sen Monorom, as the sun was starting to get low. My adventures weren't over though. The bike ran out of gas about 15km from the town! I was in the middle of nowhere. I didn't get too worked up, as there were plenty of Khmers at the waterfall when I left, and I knew they'd be passing me. Before long a guy and his son stopped to see what was wrong, and soon after a landcruiser full of young khmer guys also stopped. One of the guys in the landcruiser grabbed a spanner, and undid a bolt on the guys moto, draining about half a litre of petrol for me. I thanked them and went to get some money but they all shouted at me "No no!" and laughed and then left. Completely the opposite of the Khmer people in Phnom Penh!!! That night I ate dinner with Sambot back at my guesthouse, and partied with some Khmers on holiday from Phnom Penh. I was to make tracks for Kratie the following morning, followed by Kompong Cham the day after...
