The plan for today is to ride from Kratie (Kracheh) to Banlung (Ban Lung) in Rattanakiri (Ratanakiri). This is not a big deal in terms of distance but we anticipate the road to be in poor shape, particularly between Stung Treng (Stoeng Treng) and Banlung. We start the day with a generous breakfast at the Red Sun Falling Restaurant, a great place for Western food in Kratie and the only one as far as I know, run by a guy named Joe from Chicago. They even serve delicious brownies but unfortunately not this morning.

17.11.2005

Mekong River in the morning

Breakfast

Getting started

We follow the paved but bumpy and narrow road to the north until we reach a fork after about 20km. The road to the left leads to Sambor and while the one to the right is National Road 7 leading to Stung Treng.

We turn right and after a few more kilometers of bumps and potholes arrive on the wide road that we are very pleased to find perfectly even with virtually no potholes and only little traffic. This latter road is currently undergoing comprehensive upgrading with substantial support by the Chinese government. It looks like it will be paved very soon. Accordingly, we enjoy a smooth ride at fairly high speed.

The upgrading of this road is a major effort and involves the construction of a number of new bridges, here right next to an old bridge which seems to have collapsed long time ago.

We reach another major fork after about 150km and within less than 2 hours, much to our surprise. From here, National Road 7 leads to Stung Treng town to the left (just 23km from here) while Provincial Road 78 to the left leads to Banlung.

We have a break and some food at the restaurant right at the fork before we continue. Recent and not so recent experience suggests that the 200km of dirt road between here and Banlung is in exceptionally bad condition. Therefore, we decide not to visit Stung Treng and to ride directly to Banlung instead to make sure we reach it before dark. However, much to our surprise we find that this notoriously bad road was recently repaired and now is a state-of-the-art dirt road that allows for smooth and fast traveling all the way to Banlung (with the exception of some of the numerous bridges, which you want to keep in mind).

We keep riding for some time until we find that Katrin’s bike has a flat tyre. Fortunately, even in this sparsely populated area it is only a few hundred meters to the next repair place. This garage is easily recognizable since the owners have attached an old tube to a tree next to the road.

We find that the punch is fairly big and decide to invest the only front spare tube we have, rather than fixing the broken one. It seems those mechanics have not a whole lot of experience with fixing this kind of tyre and they apply some fairly unorthodox (and time consuming) methods.

To my greatest delight, Toby reveals that he is in possession of some of these delicious brownies from the Red Sun Falling in Kratie. How he managed to get hold of it is still a mystery to me. These are the best brownies I ever had. Toby is such a cool guy.

Becky and Katrin having fun with our bungees.

Meanwhile the mechanics inserted the new tube into the casing and put the wheel back on the bike. However, when they try to inflate it they realize it has a punch, too. It does not matter at this point whether the spare tube was broken all along or in the process of inserting it with sharp devices. The process starts anew and this time around involves fixing the tube with cool but time consuming hot patches.

After a total of about 2 hours the tube is fixed and the bike ready to go. We consider ourselves lucky. All roads from Kratie to here have been in exceptionally good condition and allowed us to arrive here early enough to still have enough time to make it to Banlung comfortably.

We have been riding for another half an hour or so when Becky rides at significant speed into a fairly deep pothole which causes her and the bike to fall spectacularly. Luckily she does not get hurt. However, the clutch lever is broken.

Becky with broken clutch lever and downed bike. It strikes me how weak and vulnerable these bikes looks when they are down.

We do have one spare clutch lever but prefer to change after we reach Banlung. Toby manages to ride the bike without clutch.

We reach Banlung before dark and ride straight to a mechanic where we have Becky’s clutch lever changed and the chains lubed. Then we ride to the Hotel (I forgot the name which is unfortunate; it is nice and clean, with capable staff and beautifully located next to the lake) and check in, tired and dusty but very satisfied with how the day went. Later we have diner in the attached restaurant and meet up with Lim to make plans for tomorrows ride through forest and wilderness towards Mondulkiri.

With a week of holidays on the occasion of Cambodia’s Water Festival comes the prospect of a multiple day trip to the northeast, with fellow traveling enthusiasts Katrin, Becky and Toby. The overall plan is to travel Cambodia’s northeast from Phnom Penh on a loop via Kampong Cham, Kratie, Rattanakiri, Mondulkiri, Kratie, Prey Veng, Neak Luong back to Phnom Penh. Admittedly, details of the route emerge only on the flight. The only given in the plan is the part from Banlung in Rattanakiri to Sen Monorom in Mondulkiri, a stretch of forest, mountains and wilderness which we anticipate to be the most exciting part of the trip.

For today we aim only at reaching either Kratie or Stung Treng.

16.11.2005

We manage to have breakfast reasonably early and fix the bags on the bikes. This is when we are about to leave Phnom Penh. We happen to all ride similar bikes, a model that is fairly useful and common in Cambodia, however not the coolest one around (note that I am not in the photo). That it is the same model helps cutting own on the number of spare parts we carry.

This is only two minutes and 50 meters later. My bike has a flat tyre; luckily right next to one of the countless small businesses in Phnom Penh specialized in solving precisely this problem. We have the first break of our trip. I was the one pushing for planning and for leaving early.

20 minutes later we are leaving Phnom Penh, heading north towards Kampong Cham on National Road 7. Road and traffic conditions are very good. For much of the distance to Kampong Cham we travel a close to the top speed of these bikes, basically without a break.

We reach Kampong Cham town and fill up the bikes in the petrol station at the roundabout at the Japanese Bridge over the Mekong River. From here we ride the few hundred meters to the Mekong Crossing Restaurant. That place is run by Joe, an American expat who is running the restaurant as well as a local school. Joe is also a great source of up-to-date travel information about the area. During yet another breakfast we weight with Joe the merits of the three options to get from here to Kratie. I have detailed the options in another post.

We decide to follow a dirt road from here along the western bank of the Mekong River to Stung Tran (not to be confused with Stung Treng) via Wat Hanchey (Han Chey). In Stung Tran we want to cross the Mekong with a ferry and proceed on another dirt road along the eastern bank of the Mekong to Kratie via Chhlong (Chloung).

We are delighted to find that the dirt road from Kampong Cham to Wat Hanchey (Road 223) has been upgraded after the last rainy season. I have been riding this road only a few months ago when it had many potholes. Now the road is perfectly even, allowing for a relaxed ride and full appreciation of the beautiful, fertile landscape with charming riverside villages along the way. The ride to Hanchey is a matter of only about half an hour. We reach the mountain, ride up to its top, park the bikes and take in the idyllic atmosphere and enjoy the breathtaking views over the Mighty Mekong River.

Last time around I looked in vain for this ancient temple, which is, however, hard to miss. The temple is located right hand a few dozen meters from the road were one reaches the plateau on top of the mountain.

The mountain is located next to the Mekong and close to a major bend in the river with a island right in front of it. These features, among others, make Hanchey the best viewpoint over the Mekong in Cambodia as far as my opinion is concerned. There are a number of religious buildings and monuments all over the plateau along the hill top.

Walking along the verge of the plateau we come across this remarkable billboard. It informs the visitor about the “Cambodian Universal Buddhist Center” project, which, according to the painting, involves the construction of a massive, multistory building with a sitting Buddha measuring dozens of meters on top of it, in the middle of an Olympic-stadium-sized square and flanked by two more multistory buildings. The projected site for this monstrosity appears to be that very mountain. The bottom of the signboard reads: “Chey Giri Mountain, Hanchey/Prekback Commune, Kampong Siem/Steung Trang District, Kampong Cham Province”.

A closer look offers relief: “Fund resources: National and International Generosity”. Being aware of a wide range of bizarre excesses of donor activities in Cambodia I still doubt that such a project will attract the kind of funding its realization would require. Other than the painter’s phone number the signboard contains only references to 4 different ‘Fund Raising Offices’ in Phnom Penh, Preah Vihear (!), Phnom Hanchey and at Prasat Chey Proeuk Pagoda (not sure where that is and there is no phone number). Finally there is also an internet address that appears invalid: www.cic-kh.org.

From left to right: Becky, Katrin and Toby.

We spend some time walking around and then ride down the northern side of the mountain and proceed on the road along the western bank of the Mekong to the north, towards Stung Tran, which is about 10-15km from here. In strong contrast to stretch of road to Hanchey we are now riding a very bumpy and in places fairly muddy dirt road. Traveling from Kampong Cham to Kratie along this route is certainly more appealing than the alternative route National Road 7 via Snuol, due not least to the charming character of villages along the Mekong.

We watch out for a ferry and reach this spot where some boats are waiting at the bottom of what is an extremely steep river bank. Luckily, this is not the ferry place.

Travelers with new friends.

After a few more kilometers we reach Stung Tran where we easily find the ferry place. The people operating the ferry are some laid back fellows hanging out in hammocks in the backside of the boat. At a rather high price of $2 each they take us to the other bank.

Stung Tran’s riverfront.

On the ferry.

We reach the eastern bank of the Mekong River.

We get off the ferry, pass a small settlement and from here follow what is called Provincial Road 308 in the map to the north. This road leads to Kratie through Chhlong, all the way along the Mekong River, which makes it very easy not to get lost. The condition of the road varies widely: some stretches allow higher speed with little interruption whereas other places require slowing down and following narrow paths around obstacles on the road.

After maybe 2 hours of riding we reach this gorgeous village where we attempt to find lunch. We find a restaurant next to the river. Khmer lunch time is already over but some meals are still available, among them yummy fish cake and pork. We enjoy an extended lunch break including conversation with locals and some coffee.

None of us has traveled this part of the road before and we have only a very vague idea of how far it is from here to Chhlong or Kratie and how long it will take to get there. In order to find out, Toby talks to one of the restaurant owner. The resulting conversation in Khmer is very short but hilariously funny and certainly the highlight of our stay in this village:

Toby to restaurant owner: How many kilometers to arrive in Kratie?

Restaurant owner: You will arrive by 5pm.

Toby: How many hours from here to there?

Restaurant owner: What time is it now?

What makes it even more funny is that she turned out to be right: It is 5pm sharp when we reach Kratie’s riverfront.

Tower at the Mekong River. I suppose this was built under the French in order to exercise control over traffic on the River.

Short break for talking to locals and taking in the beauty of the scenery, and for having some water.

This guy is an English teacher at a local school and speaks English very well.

This is a river we cross a few kilometers before we reach Chhlong.

Hill with temple on top of it, on the other bank of the Mekong.

The sign in the background says ‘Chumnik Commune, Kampong Cham Province’. This place is about 15-20km south of Chhlong. The road around here is still unpaved yet in fairly good condition.

This is shortly before we reach Chhlong. The place can be recognized easily as it is the only, and fairly short, stretch of paved road on this route from Kampong Cham to Kratie.

I traveled on this road between Chhlong and Kratie only a few months ago when most of the road was submerged by the flooded Mekong. Knowing what the road looked like back then leads me to anticipate this road in distinctively bad condition. Contrary to this expectation, the dirt road has been fixed and evened out recently and makes for a smooth ride.

We reach Kratie town at 5pm and check in the Heng Heng Hotel right at the riverfront. Next thing is we have a seat at one of the stalls along the river, dusty as we are, and order these yummy fruit shakes that they sell here. Later we have diner and go to bed.

Kratie Riverfront in the evening.

It is one of these rare opportunities my job provides to visit Rattanakiri, and I travel the pleasure to travel there with my colleague Phal. Not the first time, since we went there before, in 2003, to undertake interviews. The plan for today is to travel to Stung Treng via Kampong Cham and Kratie by mini bus and ideally all the way to Banlung in Rattanakiri province. I tune out the work-related aspects of this trip and report what may be interesting for the traveler.

We leave Phnom Penh early in the morning with a mini bus run by Mekong tours. Tickets to Stung Treng were purchased the other day, at modest $12 each. We find the bus at the Mekong office close to the port at the riverside and both vehicle and driver appear capable. There are not more passengers than seats on the bus, something rather rare in Cambodia. Halve of the passengers are foreign tourists. We are confident to reach Stung Treng early enough to find a truck or taxi to Banlung today, the provincial capital of Rattanakiri province.

There is a nicely paved road from Phnom Penh through Kampong Cham and Snuol all the way to Kratie and we spend relaxed and eventless hours driving through rural Cambodia. At one point we stop and by accident meet this guy who is feeding milk to a baby bear. He tells us that he works for the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Sanctuary and that he is taking the bear there.

We reach Kratie and spend more time than expected, because the driver aims to fill seats left empty by passengers who stay in Kratie. We spend the time walking the water front and having one of those tasty fruit shakes at the riverside.

The next 20 km or so are pretty bad road.

This changes when we reach the stretch of National Road 7 that is under construction, with Chinese assistance. Though not paved, this road is wide and even. Many new bridges have been constructed or are close to completion. I guess the road will be paved, soon.

I keep quoting the same recent arcticle from the IHT. The article references an interview with Chanthol Sun, minister for public works and transport in Cambodia:

“Heading north toward Laos and then to China is Route 7 through Stoeng Treng Province, across the Sekong River where it joins the Mekong.

He is a firm supporter of Chinese road-building for its quality and speed and says Route 7 could be finished a year ahead of schedule. When it is done, he wants the Chinese to build eastward to link with roads to Vietnam.”

A new bridge is built not far from Kratie town next to the old bridge that has collapsed long ago.

At some point we stop and have a snack. One meal on offer at the roadside restaurant is made from what locals refer to as ‘crocodile that lives in the jungle’. People also serve grilled monkey.

The sun is setting down when we approach Stung Treng town and it becomes obvious that we won’t make it to Banlung today. We check in at the Sok Som Bath Hotel at the northwestern corner of the market.

We get lucky as in the evening we meet a driver who works for CIDSE and is kind enough to offer a ride in organization’s 4WD the next day. After early breakfast we head east on Road 78. In many places the dirt road is in pretty poor shape. However, it was just perfect when I came more recently. I assume that right now the Stung Treng – Banlung ride will not take more than 2 hours. Will post a report of this trip soon.

We reach a place where a truck got stuck in the middle of the road. People try to pull it out with another truck and we witness the steel cable breaking during one such attempt, with the heavy cable whiping dangerously fast through the air.

A Toyota Camry passes the truck with remarkable ease. Our driver tries with the 4WD and passes only after a number of attempts, and we continue.

There are some really heavy trucks on their way through the forest, very slowly dragging through the mud and further spoiling the road.

We stop at the driver’s house along the way. He owns a number of domestic animals, goats among them.

After some time a bunch of goats arrives, under the supervision of the drivers young sun. The infant goat wants to drink and with obvious routine and not very gently, the boy grabs the mother goat’s feed, pulls them to make it fall so the youngster can drink.

This is when we reach Banlung.

The market.

We spend the rest of the day and the next with work.

The plan for today is to ride from Kratie back to Phnom Penh. We decided to go follow the National Road 7 through Snuol, Memot (Memout), Suong and Chob to Kampong Cham. From Kampong Cham to Phnom Penh we want to give the dirt road along the Western bank of the Mekong a try.

The Adventure Cambodia guide book has a ‘Phnom Penh to Kratie’ motorcycle info section:

“If you are going to Kratie from Phnom Penh, the road to Kampong Cham is excellent, the road from Kampong Cham to the Snuol junction isn’t that great, but it’s definitely doable. The last section taking you to Kratie from Snuol has some huge bomb craters that fill up and look like lakes during the rainy season, but it’s also doable; you’re just going to get wet.”

Well, it is definitely rainy season right now but times have changed, and not only recently.

The National Road 7 between Snuol and Kratie has just been upgraded a few weeks ago and accordingly, is in superb condition, very wide and without any pothole, presumably one of the nation’s best roads at this point in time. I have been traveling on it road to conduct interviews among indigenous people a number of times in September 2003 (I, II, III) and on the way to Mondulkiri in December.

We ride fairly fast to Snuol, where we have a quick lunch and fill up the tanks.

This is the market in Snuol town.

We proceed after only a short break, heading west towards Kamong Cham.

This is in Memot, if I am not mistaken. Memot has this distinct monument in the middle of the roundabout.

This is the roundabout with the monument. In the background is another landmark which also is hard to miss: a tall gate through which you drive when you enter Memot from the east.

Clearly, many people take advantage of the good road, and in quite different ways.

This is when we cross the Mekong in Kampong Cham on the Japanese Friendship Bridge. Also here it is visible that water levels are extraordinarily high.

We stop at the Mekong Crossing restaurant to say hello to Joe and have a snack.

Then we head to Phnom Penh, on the dirt road along the Western bank of the Mekong River.

Here, too, it is obvious that water is standing very high.

We come also through at least one villages inhabited by Muslim Cham.

In the map, this place is called Peam Chi Kang, only about 15 km west of Kampong Cham. It has a ferry crossing the Mekong. It looks as it will start raining soon and we discuss whether to proceed on the dirt road or get back to the National Road. Some people join us while we check the map and kindly offer their advice. In the end we choose to give the dirt road a try.

While we follow the many turns of dirt road through the villages along the river bank there is occasionally strong wind and a bit of rain but not much. However, it is getting darker, indicating that there is more rain to come.

We keep riding until it is obvious that massive rain will come down any minute. We stop where we find some huts at the roadside. It starts raining while we put on rain gear. Hoping that it will not rain for long we decide to have a break and get into conversations with the friendly locals around here.

The rain continues and becomes weaker only slowly. We decide to leave at some point when it is already getting darker. We are not sure for how long we will follow this road until we reach the National Road about 50 km before Phnom Penh. This dirt road turns out to be difficult to ride once it is wet. Its many deep potholes are filled with dirty water and the fine sand on its surface has turned into slippery mud. This forces us to ride rather slowly and that it is getting darker quickly does not make the situation better. It is only after more than an hour that we reach the paved National Road, and by this time it is entirely dark and starts raining again.

The plan for today is to get from Chhlong (Chloung) to Kratie town and later to visit the Irrawaddy-Dolphins north of Kratie in the Mekong River and some other local highlights depending on road conditions and time availability. We get up relatively early, check out, get on the bike and ride as far as we can get, which is only a few hundred meters. We find a man with a boat who is willing to give us a ride of 5 km or so towards Kratie until we can proceed on a solid road. The ride takes us in early daylight through spectacularly flooded landscape. I blend Maraile’s and my own photos.

27.08.2005

These constructions are used for fishing. Fishermen using them are oftentimes ethnic Vietnamese who in some instances live on their boats rather than on pieces of land.

I am sure for many people around here this flooding situation is very inconvenient, to say the least. In many cases, houses are standing in the water and are accessible only by boat. Fields are submerged in deep water and I really wonder where people keep there domestic animals. I assume they were brought to safer places but getting them there by boat inevitably requires major efforts.

We pass the compound of a pagoda.

Khmer houses are built on stilts and this is obviously very fortunate in a flooding situation like the current one. However, flooding is not the main reason for Khmer houses to be built on stilts. The main reason is the protection against wild animals and together with the benefits of space under the house to keep farming implements and animals. Khmers build there houses carefully in places that are not affected by flooding. The current situation is extraordinary in that so many houses are standing in the water, and have been doing so for some time now.

It should also be noted that there is a high variety of different rice. There are types of rice that grow with the raising water and can cope with it, provided it is not submerged for too long. It remains to be seen how this flooding will affect the rice harvest later on.

After about half an hour we reach a dry spot and get off the boat. The road is above the water around here. However, people warn us that we will have to use boats again before we reach Kratie town.

The road is decent where it is not under water but on a number of occasions we have to find a way around submerged parts of the road.

This is when we reach a place where there is no way around the submerged road. We backtrack a few hundred meters and find a boat. It is small but pretty crowded when it leaves. We go upstream for about 40 minutes, sometimes on the Mekong and sometimes off the river but still on its water that right now covers most of the land.

Then we get to a point where there is a solid road again, now all the way to Kratie. This is a nice stretch of roads that follows the course of the Mekong and leads right through some beautiful villages.

We reach Kratie and check into the Oudom Sambath Hotel, my favorite in this town. After a short break we proceed on the bike to the north, following the road along the Mekong. We plan to visit the following three places along the way:

1. Phnom Sambok (Phnom Sombok) Temples: The first place you come across from Kratie are some hills on your right hand after about ten kilometers. On top of those hills are some temples. This spot offers some beautiful views over the Mekong.

2. Irrawaddy Dolphins: After about 5 more kilometers there is a blue sign on the right hand indicating the place on the left side of the road right next to the river where you find boats to take you to see the dolphins. There are only very few of the rare freshwater dolphins left anywhere in the world and this is one of the very few places where you can see them. Just recently there were some newspaper articles about these animals, one of them reporting the death of 10 of these dolphins here in Cambodia. It also says that there are about 1000 of these animals left worldwide, 80-100 of them in this part of the Mekong.

Another article on a related subject from the Washington Post:

3. Sambor is a charming river bank town about 24 km north of Kratie and was the site of a thriving pre-Angkorian city during the Chenla Empire. Nothing is left of these high times but the place is known for its Wat (Preas Vihea Tom Wat) that boasts 108 columns.

I have been to all three places in September 2003.

It is about lunchtime now but the dolphins are most active in the morning and evening. Therefore, we decide to first ride all the way to Sambor town and visit the dolphins and the Phnom Sambok Temples on the way back to Kratie town.

This is on our way to Sambor. The first half of the road is pretty good, although rather narrow and with some major potholes. Small scale repair is underway in many places along the road. Presumably, this road will be upgraded very soon, as part of a Chinese funded project to complete the link from China through Laos to Phnom Penh. At this point, a major road has been almost completed starting only few kilometers north from here, all the way up to the Lao border, including major bridges. I will provide some pictures from another trip along this road later.

The following is a relevant quote from a recent IHT article on infrastructure in Cambodia, refereeing to an interview with Chanthol Sun, minister for public works and transport in Cambodia:

“Heading north toward Laos and then to China is Route 7 through Stoeng Treng Province, across the Sekong River where it joins the Mekong.

He is a firm supporter of Chinese road-building for its quality and speed and says Route 7 could be finished a year ahead of schedule. When it is done, he wants the Chinese to build eastward to link with roads to Vietnam.”

The article does not say when the road is actually scheduled for completion but it could be very soon, judging by the speed at which this project advances further north from here.

This temple is marked in the Gekko road map as ancient temple named Wat Sarsar Myoy Roy. I was here before but did not find ancient temples, and also the Adventure Cambodia guide book suggests that there is nothing left of these ruins. The authors write that there is a fairly new front temple with a one-hundred-year-old temple just behind it. I have never seen this old temple either. Last time I came here I found some wooden pillars on the ground which presumably were part of the older temple before.

After visiting the temple we have lunch in Sambor town and head back to the dolphin place. Together with aother tourist we get on a boat and take a ride to the place where the dolphins are, which takes about 20 minutes.

The spot where you find the boat is very close to this bridge. I came here some years ago to conduct interviews in a village inhabited by Phnong people about 30 minutes by boat up this river.

These dolphins do not seem to jump yet it is easy to spot them.

Our guide.

The last place we visit today is Phnom Sambok, which is located a few kilometers from here on the road back to Kratie, on top of those hills.

The views from up here will compensate for the effort of climbing the stairs.

The sun is setting and we ride back to Kratie town.

View over the Mekong from the rooftop of the Oudom Sambath Hotel.

For this weekend Maraile and I have been planning to visit Kratie province, for a number of reasons among them the fact that much of the province is flooded right now. The plan for today is to leave in the afternoon and spent the night either in Kampong Cham, Kratie or Chhlong (Chloung) depending on how far we get. Saturday we want to spend in Kratie province and return at some point on Sunday to Phnom Penh.

We leave after lunch and travel the unavoidable National Road 6 northeast towards Kampong Cham. The good thing about this road is that it is in good condition; the bad part is that there is lots of traffic and cars are speeding precisely because the road is so good.

We don’t have a break until we reach Kampong Cham and ride straight to the River Crossing restaurant run by Joe. Joe is a rich source of local information. There are at least three ways of going from Kampong Cham to Kratie.

1. The first is to follow a dirt road all the way along the eastern bank of the Mekong River. This option is unlikely to work out because the road along the river is likely to be flooded in many parts.
2. The second option is to proceed on the national road to east for another 30 km or so and continue from there on a dirt road to Kratie, via Chhlong. This option involves a stretch of the same road along the Mekong River between Chhlong and Kratie but otherwise is unlikely to be flooded.
3. The third option is to follow National Road through Snuol all the way to Kratie. This is the safest option but means a long detour. Joe encourages is to try option two.

We follow the national road and actually have some difficulties finding the place where we leave it and continue on the dirt road towards Chhlong. Finally we find it and proceed on the secondary road. This dirt road is in good condition and allows for reasonable speed most times of the year. It is commonly used by mini buses and taxis between Kratie and Kampong Cham. It makes for a pleasant ride also due to the beauty of the landscape along the road, passing through scenic wetlands, rice fields and charming villages, some of them inhabited by Muslim Cham.

I have been traveling on this road various times before, mostly by minibus or by taxi. On one of these occasions I took also some pictures.

At this point we still hope to make it all the way to Kratie today, although the sun is already setting down.

We keep riding but don’t reach even Chhlong before dark. The road is getting worse while it keeps getting darker, finally we find ourselves riding very slowly around deep holes filed with water all over the street, with very little vision. At least it does not rain.

We decide to have a short break. Now it is dark anyway.

We reach the Mekong River and continue on the road along the river and pass through Chhlong few minutes later. However, only a few kilometers after we pass the center of the town, the road is getting narrower, with water closing in on both sides of it. Houses along the road are standing completely in the water and all the domestic animals are standing on the road.

When I was traveling this road by minibus in October 2003 we got stuck not far from here and it took hours until we could continue the trip.

Given this situation it does not seem likely that we make it to Kratie tonight. Indeed only a few minutes later we reach a point where the road in front of us leads seemingly straight into the water and is submerged as far as the eye can see, which is not far at this time of the day. However, people (in a boat) tell us that a number of long stretches of road are submerged. There is no way we can continue tonight and tomorrow only by using boats.

This is the road close to where it is submerged in water.

We ride back to Chhlong town, find a very simple guesthouse and book rooms, which are neither particularly clean nor very comfortable but serve the purpose. It is completely dark outside when we leave again to find a restaurant. Nothing indicates that anything would still be open. Dozens of dogs start barking in the dark while we walk down the street. Since nothing suggest that we will succeed in finding food we return to the guesthouse, chill out for some time on the charming balcony of the guesthouse and go to bed.

Hanging out on charming balcony

Those are my boots in the morning. They had gotten pretty wet yesterday, since they where filled with water several times when we had to cross creeks. Those are Meinl boots, equipped with a gore tex membrane which makes them water proof. Although those boots where outside all night while there where strong winds they are still pretty wet in the morning. Getting into them still feels like water is standing in them. I am somewhat surprised that it takes so long to dry those boots. And even of today, almost one week later, they are still not entirely dry, which I find quite disappointing. After all, what is the point of having water proof shows if they never ever get dry once they get water inside?

However, I do not manage to get my bike started when we want to kick of. We try hard but fail. So we ride with Pongro’s bike to the bike doctor and have the mechanic check the bike on the spot. With the assistance of the mechanic we manage to ride it to the garage. Here I learn that the suspension of my bike both in front and in the back is loose or otherwise needs to be fixed. Since they cannot take care of it here they advice me to ride slowly. And they don’t have a stand either. After a short look at Pongro’s bike they think it is ok and at any rate there would not be much they could do anyway. So we just fill up the bikes and leave.

Although I was told this bike has multiple problems it feels alright and gradually we increase the speed. For the first hour we ride back through the mountainous area with many hills and turns. When we approach the lowlands the road is getting straighter and after some time we travel with the top speed of those motos on the broad, unpaved road, mostly covered with fine red or white sand.

While we keep riding more than one hour I sort of expect that we reach Snuol soon. Yet it is only after 2 hours that we arrive there. Since we really ride fairly fast I seem to have misjudged the distance when we came. However, it is still early lunch time when we approach Snuol. We have a short break, drinking something, fill up the tanks and rest a few minutes. Funnily, since my bike does not have a stand anymore I look out for trees or signs to lean it against for the time being. However, I cannot see many suitable objects. I try a number of road signs and a bamboo tree but find them incapable to support my heavy moto. Only after a few minutes of pushing this bike from one object to the other I find a pile capable of supporting it.

Again, the road is in excellent conditions from Snuol all the way to Phnom Penh. We continue riding and with the paved road and less dust I feel more comfortable riding the bike fast. Not much happens while we ride through Kampong Cham province. Still, we are traveling with the top speed of those motos where the traffic permits it, which is most of the time before we reach the provincial capital. Hours go by and increasingly I feel very tired. Sometimes I have to wait for Pongro. On one occasion, only few kilometers before we reach the town I wait for about 30 minutes. When Pongro shows up I learn that his bike ran out of petrol. I check my tank and since it is only about 5 kilometers from here to the town I decide to try without refilling it. However, after about 2 kilometers I ran out, too. This is when it starts raining occasionally. It is not a big deal to get petrol, since there are small shops all along the road and most of them sell petrol.

We arrive in Kampong Cham and ride straight to the same mechanic where we had the bikes fixed on the way to Mondulkiri. The idea is to check those bikes and fix them to ensure that their state is acceptable to the shop where we got them. Not least this is a matter of getting a new stand for my bike. Initially, I am told that there are no spare parts available. Yet I ask them to check the bikes. Meanwhile I feel really tired and wonder whether I should go to the guesthouse and have at least one hour of sleep. Yet I agree with Pongro that we should better continue as soon as possible. So I go to a café opposite from the garage, while Pongro goes to get some food.

We arrived at about 2 pm. Time goes by and nothing happens. I see one of the employees at the bike shop leaving with my bike and wonder why he does it. Pongro does not show up. Then it starts raining and storming heavily for some time. Later it keeps sprinkling a bit. I keep waiting, talk to an American guy who is on his way to Sen Monorom. As it happens he has company of the moto driver who I went with many times on my last visit, not least to the hospital. So we spend some time talking with each other. The American claims he did the trip from Banlung (Rattanakiri) to Sen Monorom (Mondulkiri), which is actually considered one of the toughest in Cambodia even on moto bikes, alone and on foot in six day. He seems to be crazy enough to try it yet I am skeptical whether he actually did it. However, now he is on his way to Mondulkiri to do the trip the other way around.

After a long time Pongro shows up. He does not show much interest in how to proceed but I manage to go with him to the owner of the shop to ask what happened to the bikes. Pongro translates only reluctantly and it takes me some time to sort out that the owner found a stand somewhere and send a mechanic with the bike to fix it. However, he says this will take some time. I do not get more concrete information. It is frustrating that we have to wait hours just for a spare part after we had made such a good time. And increasingly it looks like we have to ride in the dark again. And finally I find it upsetting that the decision to bring the bike somewhere else was made without my agreement. Not least because a stand would have been readily available in Phnom Penh and I could have gone home while the shop takes care of it.

We keep waiting, now for more than two hours. Increasingly I get a sense of fever and regret that I did not go to the guesthouse to get sleep. The owner tries to comfort me, saying that the bike will be back in 30 minutes but it is not back after 30 minutes and not after one hour either. Shadows are getting longer, we sit in the garage, Pongro talks to everybody but to me and I hate the idea of riding at night. Once in a while it rains, although this is the height of the dry season. Finally, it is almost dark; the mechanic arrives with my bike. The owner proudly presents it to me. The new stand appears to be taken from a moto roller, looking pitiful and entirely incapable of supporting the weight of the bike. Despite this sad view the owner enthusiastically ensures me: ‘original, original’. I do not find this upsetting anymore but funny after all. This guy appears to really care for the satisfaction of his customers, although he failed to understand the actual need. I still find him sympathetic and he only charges me six dollars.

We leave Kampong Cham when the sun is leaving, too. We keep riding, now significantly slower due to the poor vision. Again, there is the nasty choice whether or not to open the dark visor of the helmet. In addition, after about 20 minutes it starts raining and the rain is getting stronger. We are happy enough to have jackets with us. Yet now it is really getting difficult to see anything on the road. Particular slow moving ox carts. Many cars ride without light. In addition, most vehicles are badly overloaded and in instances where head lights are working they are mostly not adjusted, so that approaching cars blind us constantly. It is impossible to open the visor in this rain, but the wet visor together with the blinding light brings the vision down close to zero.

Maybe after 30 kilometer we have a break. It is about 6:30 pm. We decide to wait for some time, hoping that either rain or traffic or both are getting weaker. We spend about half an hour under the reed roof of a shop at the roadside and than continue the ride to Phnom Penh. The rain is rather stronger than weaker. However, there are not as many vehicles on the road anymore. It takes us almost another hour to reach Phnom Penh. I do not expect the bike shop to be still open. Yet I give it a try, as I would prefer getting rid of those bikes rather today than tomorrow. We are happy and the shop is still open.

We have to wait another 30 minutes for the staff to count and check tools and spare parts. They pay attention to the bikes, too and I am prepared to explain the story with the stand. Yet I am surprised that they do not mention it. They do not object to the state of Pongro’s bike either, much to my surprise. I am told that, other than the broken battery I would have to pay for the mechanic bill, since those costs are not covered by the shop. I am happy with the prospect of being able to leave soon.

A few minutes later Pongro and I get on moto taxi and ride home without much farewell. There is no chance to take pictures while riding the bike and being tired and sometimes frustrated prevents me from doing it during our few breaks. So comes that I take only one picture the entire day.

Japanese Bridge in the morning

So I go with the same moto taxi driver who was helpful yesterday to find a mechanic. After asking in a few shops we find a mechanic who is willing to take care of our bikes and claims to be familiar with big motos. So we go back to the guesthouse and later we push the motos the few hundred meters to the shop and go to a food place close by to have breakfast.

This is the street where all the mechanics are.

Later we learn that in fact the sparking plug is broken in my moto and can easily be replaced. The battery does not work on the other moto and one of the blinker is broken. Other than that the bike got a number of new scratches, which we don’t care much about. We ask them to fix the motos. Later we go to the market to buy appropriate clothing for the cooler temperatures of the highlands of Mondulkiri.

This is at the market.

When we get back after half an hour we still have to wait some time before the bikes are ready.

Mechanics working on my bike.

Then we leave to the guesthouse, collect our stuff, fill up the tanks at the gas station and continue the trip to Sen Monorom, which is about 263 km from here. We are traveling on national road 7 which is mostly in excellent conditions, like here.

Other stretches of the road, closer to Kratie province, are being paved right now, like here.

At lunch time we reach Snuol in Kratie province, which is about 168 km from Kampong Cham. From here it is still 118 km to Sen Monorom.

I have been to Snuol before, doing interviews with indigenous villagers. We stop at the market and have food and café at a restaurant. Before we leave we fill up the motos.

Immediately behind Snuol the paved road ends and what follows is called ‘other national road’ in the register of my map. The road is unpaved but very broad and in good conditions. There are only few potholes and with those bikes it is an easy ride. However, very dusty. Riding behind the other moto or other vehicles on the road makes it effectively impossible to spot potholes in time. The helmet of the visor needs to be cleaned many times.

About ten minutes behind Snuol we reach a junction where we turn left (whereas the map actually suggests a turn to the right, which is irritating). We see only very few settlements along the road. Mostly it is dry forest, yet open and in many places cleared. Sometimes there are clear indications of logging.

After about one hour behind Snuol we stop at this building to ask for the way. We meet a guy in shorts and without t-shirt. We learn that this is an army base. The guy kindly offers tea and provides information. He actually has never been to Sen Monorom himself (like most people we met on the way) but beliefs that we have to keep going to reach there before it is dark.

This is in one of the few settlements we pass.

The landscape still does not look like highland to me.

Wherever we stop we do not need to wait long for company.

We keep going with relatively high speed. Only significantly later the landscape changes. The forest is getting denser and the road has many bents and turns, and ups and downs. I realize that Pongro still sticks to the fifth gear, which makes him very slow when it comes to riding uphill. In contrast he reaches dangerously high speeds when he is riding downhill. I follow his bike closely and in this particular turn downhill I cannot but reduce the speed while Pongro keeps going way too fast to get through the turn. When he starts applying the brake he is almost off the road and has still significant speed when he looses control and disappears in a cloud of dust. It still takes me some time until I manage to stop my bike on the way downhill and I hurry back to Pongro, believing that this one is serious. However, when I reach him he is already standing again, still wondering what happened. Yet he beliefs he and the bike are ok and we can continue.

Downhill: it is actually steeper than it appears on both pictures.

We keep traveling through the jungle. The road continues to be in good condition and easy to ride. However, as the hills are getting steeper Pongro is getting slower when traveling upwards. At one point he complains to me that his bike ‘does not climb’ because it is so much weaker. I ask him which gear he is using and he innocently says five. Frustrated I repeat my suggestion to use lower gears once in a while but without much impact.

Only shortly before we reach Sen Monorom we leave the jungle behind. What follows is an open landscape with long grass and smaller groups of trees. This is about 1000 m above sea level and about as high as it gets in Mondulkiri. Shadows are getting longer and longer and it is getting cooler than it would get in the lowlands.

We reach Sen Monorom when it is about to get dark. It does not take us long to find our way to the Long Vibol Guesthouse, which is a recommendation of my guide book. It is situated next to the old airport north to the market. It consists of a number of small buildings on a piece of land which is nicely decorated with all sorts of flowers. The rooms are nice and clean and we manage to push the price to $4 per room.

In front of my room.

As it is not entirely dark yet we go on a short ride through the town.

This is the old airport, looking from the south to the north. The market is to the left almost outside the picture. The hill to the left in the background is called Doh Kromom, which actually means bosom.

Of course there is a pagoda, too.

We go back to the guesthouse and rest for some time. Later we have diner and discuss what to do during the next days, without much input from Pongro. We manage to find a guide for the next day and agree to meet at 7:30 am to go to the Bou Sraa waterfalls, which actually is what appeals to most tourists in Mondulkiri.

Later in the evening I have a short discussion with Pongro suggesting that he takes some part in the preparation, too, since he studies tourism and knows Khmer.

Today is Monday and the plan for today is to travel back to Phnom Penh. We bought the tickets the other day for about $15 for both of us. At about 7 am we get picked up at the hotel. However, a number of seats in the bus are still not occupied and we go to the bus station close to the market to wait for more customers.

Moreover, Reaksa forgot a pair of shoes at his friend’s house and we need to wait anyway for somebody to pick them up. So we keep waiting at the station. Children and women try to sell all sorts of snacks and soft drinks.

After about 45 minutes we are ready to go.

This is still in Kratie.

This is how it looks like when a new and modern pagoda is constructed. It is entirely made from concrete.

Earlier we where told that we will use the shorter route, which was partly flooded when we came to Kratie a few days ago.

This is about ten km south of Kratie. This stretch of the road is still flooded and we use this alternative route in order to pass it.

Before we reach the alternative road we get stuck on this private ground. Most people get out of the car to pull it.

We drive through densely settled land along the river. This is when we pass thought the market.

On a number of occasions we are close to get stuck again.

After some kilometer we pass private ground again to get to the major road, which supposedly is not flooded from here.

However, we reach a point where the road is on some sort of dam, which is quite muddy. A mini bus from the other direction got stuck here and a number of cars and busses are waiting to pass.

The driver of another mini bus had tried to pass this part of the road on the alternative road along the river. However, the car gets stuck at pretty much the same point.

After some time people manage to pull out the mini bus.

People in the other mini bus are not as fortunate.

The road has gotten pretty crowded at this point.

One of the driver uses the time to change a wheel on his vehicle.

Some time later a cow cart arrives, with wood to bridge the worst part of the road.

The driver of this jeep is confident enough to test the new construction.

Unfortunately he fails to pass it.

The position in which the car got stuck is not particularly helpful, since it is close to the water and next to the concrete construction.

A good number of vehicles are still waiting.

After people manage to pull out this jeep the construction work starts again.

Many people are observing what is going on.

This time it works out and one after the other the waiting vehicles pass the construction. Local men who build the construction charge about 2000 Riel (50 Cent) per car for using it.

We pass many of those vehicles, which use what was a generator before as an engine. I heard people call it Hun Sen truck.

We do not get stuck again on the way from Kratie to Kompong Cham. However, roads are most of the time unpaved and in bad conditions.

This is when we are still in Kratie province. People are digging all over the place and a number of trucks remove the soil. I presume they dig for gems, which can be found in a number of areas in Cambodia.

This is a temple located at the secondary road we are using and which is said to be the shortest distance between Kratie and Kompong Cham. At this point it is only few hundred meters before we reach the national road. This is already in Kompong Cham, shortly before we arrive in Kompong Cham town. Roads in Kompong Cham are generally excellent and allow for fast and comfortable traveling.

We stop for a short lunch in Kompong Cham town and then make it with only few breaks all the way back to Phnom Penh, where we reach in the afternoon. The bus stops somewhere close to the Central Market and I hop on a moto to get home. I arrive at about 4 pm.

Today is Sunday and we decide to take a day off. That is to say we check the tourist guide and local sources to find out what sights we want to see today. Kratie is famous for the fresh water dolphins that can be observed in the Mekong. And there are a number of pagodas, of course.

We started with an extended breakfast. I was lucky yesterday to catch both the weekend edition of the Cambodia Daily and the Phnom Penh Post. They have decent café at this place close to where the boats approach, at riverside.

Later we go to the market. This is the market.

This is among the great many things that can be bought here.

We spend quite some time with shopping. What I get is a hammock made from modern fiber and supposedly resistant against mosquitoes. And we buy some stuff for the Phnong woman who is still in the hospital with her children.

Later we rent two moto bikes with drivers for $15 a day each. Then we start the trip. We head north to see Sambor, which is the site of a thriving pre-Angkorian city. The place is locally famous for largest wat in Cambodia with 108 columns. I take a number of pictures on the flight.

Party signs are still all over the place, not just here but seemingly anywhere in the country. This one has the logo of the CPP, which is the ruling party and just won the election.

Reaksa on the back of his moto.

This is when we pass one of the few towns on the way.

Once in a while, of course, we encounter one of those white Toyota Camry.

Children, jumping from the bridge into the water.

The landscape is very green and the soil appears to be fertile.

Those are wealthy houses close to another town.

Sambor, the town close to the pagoda we are visiting. Again, there was a flourishing city in this place before but nothing seems to remain from those times.

This is the temple. There was a 19th century pagoda at this place before but this one is entirely modern. It is located about 15 km north of Kratie.

There is a small temple close by made of concrete. Many colorful pictures are painted on the walls and ceiling. Apparently this was made possible by donations from private persons. On any painting there is a bold signature including the name of the generous donor as well as the amount he or she has donated. In some cases the signature includes the nationality of the generous person and where this is the case it says “USA” in Latin letters. Like here. The donation is $85.

There are all sorts of animals on the compound and apparently they like each other.

There is a huge sign outside the pagoda saying that Prime Minister Hun Sen has contributed significantly to the restoration of this pagoda.

This is inside.

Those are the music instruments.

Colorful paintings all over the place.

For some reason people in this pagoda maintain some sort of zoo. However, in a country in which most people are poor, animals seemingly cannot expect privileged treatment.

This is a part of the compound of the pagoda.

The timber upfront is what used to be the pillars of this pagoda. However, they were replaced by concrete ones.

We leave again with the motos to the Sambor town to have some lunch.

After we have lunch we drive to the place where it is possible to watch the freshwater dolphins. We passed the place earlier and are now driving back the same way.

This is when we pass the place from where we went by boat to the Phnong village the other day.

Some people’s occupation around here is building boats. Obviously, there is steady demand since there are many rivers but few roads or bridges around here.

We are driving along the Mekong River.

Then we reach the dolphin place. In order to see the dolphins, one has to buy tickets for the boat, which is about $4 for the foreigner. Although it is Sunday there are not many tourists.

Those freshwater dolphins are called Irrawaddy dolphin (trey pisaut). The species is endangered throughout Asia with some isolated populations in Bangladesh and Myanmar.

According to one of my guide books there are about 60 dolphins left on this stretch of the Mekong River.

After we spend some time and negotiate the price we get on the boat. There is another guy, who is traveling alone. It turns out that he is from Germany. Not only that, but from the eastern part, where I come from, too. So we can talk for some time in German, which did not happen to me for a long time.

While passing the Mekong River we are moving through what looks like a Cambodian landscape which is flooded. This landscape has some charm to it. It is rainy season and there is plenty of water in the river. On occasion the current is quite rapid. According to the guide book the height of the wet season is the best time of the year to see the dolphins.

The guy to the right is the German.

This is the dolphin place and another boat is already here. People on board are waiting with their cameras for the dolphins to emerge while we arrive with some noise.

We tie the boat to one of the trees in the water and turn up the engine. After only a few minutes we see the back fin of one of the dolphins. This seems to be quite a huge animal. However, we do not get to see more than the backs of those creatures.

What is worse is I tried the function of my camera with which I can take pictures more quickly. However, I did not realize that the exposure time was set too low. So I messed up all those pictures.

Although this is certainly a beauty- and peaceful place there is not much change and we leave after some time.

The next place we want to visit is Phnom Sombok, which is an active wat on a small hill, which is situated about 10 north of Kratie. So we get back on the motos and drive there.

This is on the way.

This is the gate to Phnom Sombok on the road from Kratie to Kampi.

This mountain has two peaks. There is a small pagoda like building on each of them. The peak to the west is called Phnom Proh (mountain of men) and the one to the east Phnom Srey (mountain of women). Interestingly, Phnom Srey is higher. This is at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to those mountains.

We meet this man on the way up to Phnom Proh. I believe he is very old. He is the first person I meet who wears a monk like robe which is white. However, I did not find out what the meaning is.

This is the pagoda on top of Phnom Srey, which was build in 1938.

This is inside. There are beautiful paintings on the walls and the ceiling, but in bad shape.

In the background is the Mekong River.

Those are pictures on the ceiling and walls of a pavilion which is located between the two mountains. This is the horror evil people can expect after their bad lives.

This is at the bottom of the stairs which lead up to Phnom Proh. One can hear the voices of many women singing monotonous songs. By this time it is getting somewhat darker and it is about to rain. So I set a long exposure time.

This is when we arrive on top of the mountain. In this pagoda is a good number of singing women, most of them elderly. Those dogs are shouting and barking. I feel that we are disturbing their prayer and we leave quickly.

It starts raining more when we arrive at the motos. It is about 5 km from here to Kratie town. So we get on the motos. The rain stops after a few minutes but there are still dark clouds all over the place. We hurry to reach Kratie.

By the time we reach Kratie it is very dark and stormy. And it starts to rain again. However, we still want to see Wat Roka Kandal, which is a pagoda from the late 18th century and one of the few pagodas left which is build from wood.

So we pass the center of Kratie and make it to Roka Kandal a few km south. By the time we reach here we are already wet.

Interestingly, this pagoda was rebuilt with assistance from a trade association from Germany (Handelskammer Koblenz). I heard it is possible to spend the night here .

This is inside.

We spend some time here and wait for the rain to become weaker. By the time we leave it is entirely dark. We ride back to the center of Kratie to have a fruit shake at riverside.

We decide to go back to our accommodations to have a bath and to meet later for diner.

This is on the roof of the hotel, with the Mekong River in the background.

Later we meet in one of Reaksa’s former student’s house. The guy is the missionary I mentioned earlier. I spend some time talking to his friends who are not as fundamentalist as he is. Later we eat.

While we eat we watch a video of the organization he is working for, which is Seven Day Adventist. It turns out to be a documentation of the great achievements of the organization and the high morale of its members. It comes along as some sort of documentation but in fact borders manipulation, given the low educational standard of the local population.

Later I leave to the hotel. We need to get up early tomorrow to travel back to Phnom Penh.

We meet this guy and than drive together another thirty minutes before we reach the place where we take a boat.

This is on the way.

From here we take a boat. Unfortunately, this village is accessible only by boat.

Behind the bridge is the Mekong River.

This is on the boat.

There is not much traffic on the river and not much going on at the banks either.

This is Reaksa with the Councilor.

After about 40 minutes we reach the village, which is inhabited by Phnong people.

This is one of the huts which are hold in high regards by various groups of indigenous peoples for reasons that I did not yet entirely understand.

In the village.

People here did not know that we would come. So it takes some time to find and inform people. However, people are very willing to participate and after maybe 30 minutes we sit together in this hut and have an interview.

I should mention that this is one of the poorest villages I have seen. There is a girl of about 8 years laying in the background who has 41 degree fever. We talk to her mother and learn that she had ten children. Five of them died, one of them last month. She and her husband borrowed a lot of money to pay for medicine that did not work out. Now her husband went to the mountains to cut bamboo which he can sell in the market to pay back the borrowed money. He is away for about one month now and does not know both that his other child died and that the next one is sick. He took the families only mosquito net.

We have an interesting discussion which lasts about three hours. This is after our meeting.

We talk to this mother and the Councilor and decide to take her with us to the hospital in Kratie. I should mention that health services are usually not accessible for those people since they cannot afford both the transportation by boat and car and the treatment in the hospital. The councilor mentioned that needy people can visit him in his office to get a letter which tells the hospital to treat the person without charge. However, few people get such a letter since the office of the Commune Council is far away and since even with a letter treatment is expensive.

The woman to the left is the mother of the sick girl, which is the one with the mat in her hands left to the women.

For some reasons baby chicken are painted in various colors.

This is the center of this village.

On the boat again.

This is how bamboo is transported from the mountains. Sticks are bound together and a boat pulls those bundles down the river. The price for those bamboo sticks increases the closer it comes to the capital. At this point the price is about 120 Riel (3 Cent). In Kratie the price is about 200 Riel (5 Cent).

Going back to Kratie involves some time, since we are more people than can fit in the car. First we go to the office of the Commune Council to get a letter or recommendation for the hospital. Than we go all the way to Kratie with the mother and two of her children. In the hospital it takes us some time (and despite the letter quite some money) to make sure the child is treated.

On the way I took this picture of the CPP provincial headquarter.

Later we meet with two people from an international NGO at the riverside. We had an interview with the lady which was not so much about indigenous peoples yet fairly interesting. The other guy is researching on projects to reduce the density of the sort of mosquito that causes dengue fever. He is from I forgot which European country. Of course both of them spoke English which gave me the rare opportunity to talk to people directly.

We meet with the government guy (PoLA) to have breakfast together. Then we leave to go by car to meet several Councils and communities.

This is the first Commune Council we meet. I did not make clear enough the other day that I would strongly prefer to have interviews in the absence of government officials. Even a local police man is present. However, this is not as bad with regard to Councils as it would be when it comes to the community. Moreover, those officials really appeared to be entirely disinterested in the subject of the discussion. The discussion takes about three hours, much longer than we have anticipated.

This is outside the building.

This is in the village and on the way to the next commune.

This is when we have food together with the government guy and the driver in one of the towns along the major road.

This is the car – a Toyota Camry.

Major constructions are going on along this road, including new bridges.

This is the local health center or hospital. The design of this building appears to be as Khmer as it gets, very much like any other public building regardless of the ethnic composition of the local constituencies.

This is the next meeting with members of another Commune Council outside their office.

This is the Commune Councils building.

On the road again.

This is a village of an indigenous group that is particularly interesting. There are members of two indigenous groups in the constituency of the Commune. However, while members of one group (Phnong) maintain their traditional way of life, the members of this community (Kuy) seem to have integrated almost entirely into Khmer mainstream society. However, I did not get as much insights as I would have liked to. After all, this is the only indigenous group I met that is integrated to such a big extent that it does not seem to make much sense to talk about indigenous groups anymore. In fact the characteristics of this group would not qualify them as being indigenous on most definitions.

This was the last interview for today and afterwards I have a local drink at this place.

We are back on the way to Kratie town. While the sun is setting it is getting a bit cooler the road gets busier.

Youngsters are playing volleyball, just like everywhere at that time.

We have a flat tire. This is not a major problem and requires just some patience.

Of course it does not take long until we have company.

The Mekong from the balcony of the hotel in the evening.

Later I meet my translator and we have diner together. I take this picture of one of the small businesses along the road. Chewing gum, cigarettes and some fruits are being sold here.

We decided to go to Kratie by mini bus, which is the way I got there for previous field trips as well. The way it works is that I get picked up with a moto by somebody who is send by the company which operates the mini bus. This is about 6:30 in the morning at Hun Sen Park, where police is still maintaining increased presence.

This is Hun Sen Park opposite from the Hong Kong center. Khmer people tend to get up very early and many of them exercise in the morning. In the picture is a group of young people practicing I do not know which fighting sport.

This is the square in front of the National Museum where people play soccer. To the left and not in the picture is the compound of the Royal Palace.

View from riverside into one of the neighboring streets.

This is at the entry to the port. It is not so much the beauty of the picture that makes it interesting. It is rather interesting because it is characteristic for a particular situation in the traffic of Phnom Penh: turning left. The small car upfront is departing from the port and trying to turn left. But he driver does not and cannot go straight to the other lane of the road. Rather, he turns left immediately and drives directly into the upcoming vehicles. He continues driving on the “wrong” side of the road unless somebody is kind enough to let him pass to the other side. For the time being this maneuver causes major interruptions in the upcoming traffic, forcing drivers of all sorts of vehicle to reduce the speed or stop entirely. And this is the way it works everywhere in Phnom Penh as well as outside the capital. Whereas most of the conventions involved in traffic in Cambodia start to make some sense to me I keep thinking this is not the most efficient way of turning left. And I still have major difficulties turning left the Khmer way.

We have to wait for some time because one of the passengers forgot his cell phone and is waiting for somebody else to bring it. This delay does not seem to bother anybody. Moreover, we learn that the common road to Kratie is currently flooded and we have to take a detour. Of course, we have to pay additional money, too. This brings the price of this ride up to $20 for the two of us.

This is when we pass the Japanese bridge. People here tend to overload their vehicles tremendously and almost seem to make it an art to pack incomprehensible amounts of good on rather small vehicles. This is most likely due to the fact that more capable vehicles are not easily available.

The road to Kompong Cham, the most populous province of Cambodia, is among the best roads I have seen in this country, including a number of modern bridges.

This is one of the police post along the way. I am not exactly sure what those police men are supposed to do here but it might involve preventing weapons and drugs from being smuggled into the capital. What I do see them doing is collecting bribes. This apparently happens systematically. Here is how it works: the taxi driver approaches the checkpoint and reduces the speed. In his hand he has a prepared amount of notes. The officer comes to the window. He does not need to request money. The most he has to do is to say “ba” (ja). Then he takes the money and the taxi passes.

The landscape in Kompong Cham provinces looks different from what surrounds Phnom Penh. In addition, the landscape within Kompong Cham itself is quite diverse.

Those are rice fields. The trees are worth mentioning, too. I keep hearing that those trees are to be found in Cambodia. So it is said that Cambodia is where those trees can be found. I do not know the name of those trees and I did not entirely understand the meaning. However, putting myself in the shoes of Cambodia (if this makes any sense) I would not base territorial claims on the population of those trees.

This is when we pass the Japanese bridge in Kompong Cham town.

To my knowledge the truck in the left half of the picture is manufactured in my homelands. I have to mention that.

I keep taking pictures on the way. This is a garage/petrol station.

Those are wealthier houses.

Then we pass the junction where we would have turned left to reach Kratie provincial town on the shortcut. However, the road is flooded and we take the longer route.

The road is pretty decent.

This is wood which is being transported here.

In times we see those huge military trucks, which I believe are made in Russia. I recall having seen many of them in my homeland before it was reunited.

This is in the middle of the day and for obvious reasons, not many people hang out in the sun at this time.

At this point the road is not paved anymore. This sort of road is very common all over Cambodia. It very acceptable as long as it does not get wet. We stop to have a short break. The car does not start when we won’t to continue the journey. So we get out and push it.

Abundant vegetation and rivers all over the place.

Water buffalos are pretty common, like almost anywhere in Cambodia.

This is shortly before we reach Kratie.

When we reach Kratie town we check in first. As it happens, the driver stops at a hotel close to the port which looks luxurious. However, I learnt I can get a nice room for just $5. So I decide to stay here and enjoy the comfort of a modern and clean bathroom and the nice view from the windows. Reaksa, the translator, decides to stay with a friend who used to be his student.

Later we meet people from the provincial authorities. They are very helpful and provide willingly answers to any of our questions. We learn that there is a number of communes with indigenous groups in its constituencies. However, some of them are not readily accessible during the rainy season, that is to say right now. We have lengthy discussions about the ethnic composition of various communes and the associated councils and it is difficult for me to figure and match all those information. The indigenous population of two districts is accessible only by one of those huge military trucks. Or by moto, but this is uncertain and depends on the weather conditions.

So we have a hard time to decide. Finally we fix a schedule which is open to changes. Most importantly, since we cannot afford renting a truck we will have to find out whether or not a truck is that allows for durations compatible with the schedule.

This is the provincial office, presumingly where the governor’s office is located as well.

Kratie is located at the Mekong.

This is the bulletin board outside the office, with pamphlets praising Hun Sen and the ruling party.

This is afterwards in town.

Riverside, where people come in the morning and afternoon.

The place where speed boats approach Kratie.

This is where I live for this time.

In the late evening from the terrace of the hotel.

Next day we get up fairly early again to get the boat which leaves at 7 am to Kompong Cham. I have been traveling with those boats many times now and am getting used to it. And I still like it.

Ferries arrive from the other side of the river.

Moto driver are washing their vehicles in the river, just like everywhere.

Time passes by and I enjoy that I can just sit here, watching the environment without being expected to give presentations or having to fight with the translator. And I enjoy that the translator prefers to travel inside and I do not have to listen to what he is saying.

The water level is significantly higher than last time, due to the fact that we are getting deeper into the rainy season. The river looks like a typical Cambodian landscape that has been flooded. And this is basically what it is and what happends everywhere in this country.

Sometimes we pass fairly turbulent rapids and I am a bit concerned this boat might break apart. But it does not.

Some of those boats are badly overloaded and we have to reduce the speed significantly in order not to sink them.

For some reasons those children are dancing, which is quite entertaining for the people on the boat.

People are having a bath in many places at this time.

Of course we see many pagodas on the way.

Only when we are getting closer to Kompong Cham there is more activity on the river and on the banks.

This is the Japanese Bridge in Kompong Cham town, which I mentioned earlier.

A number of fishermen are trying to catch fish.

I am waiting at the bank for Reaksa and catch a taxi. However, when he comes out of the boat he is on the phone. It takes some time until he has finished his call and meanwhile the taxi left. So we look for another one. I avoid starting the same discussion again, since I do not expect to make any difference here. However, it pisses me off. From here we make it by taxi to Phnom Penh in less than two hours. I am more than happy that I am on my own again and have to take care only of myself.

This is on the road to Kompong Cham in the morning. The pick up truck with all those people on it is a fairly common sight. It looks very dangerous to me and I think it is quite risky. However, I did not witness any accidents so far which involved such a vehicle.

This was a very strange sight to me: A number of monks in front of a new pagoda under construction working hard and burning stuff but I do not know what.

Another strange sight: I never saw such a car on any road in Cambodia. It is hard to image a car more ill suited for the traffic conditions in this country.

This is the center of a district town somewhere between Phnom Penh and Kompong Cham town. Those vehicles are among the most common means of transportation for common people. This is used not only to move people but all sorts of goods in a frequently very risky manner. Given the high speed and the chaotic driving behavior on the road an accident involving one of those vehicles cannot but cause dramatic situations.

This is taken from the Japanese Bridge in Kompong Cham. To the right at the banks is where boats arrive coming mostly downstream the Mekong from the northeastern provinces, Laos or Vietnam. There is a considerable number of fishing boats.

To my knowledge there are only two modern bridges like this in Cambodia: this one and a very similar one which is located in Phnom Penh. Interestingly, both are called Japanese Bridge and both are constructed and financed with massive Japanese support. I wonder on occasion how much influence Japan actually exercises in Cambodia and it seems to be quite significant. And sort of partisan. The Japanese election observer team was the first to announce that the election was free and fair. (Until recently I thought it was the European observer team, which was the biggest and I was wondering whether all these observers are actually from Italy. Was that the impact of the Italian presidency over the European Union?). However, there where many accusations in the newspaper calling the Japanese position biased. Moreover, the Japanese ambassador and the leader of the Liberal Party in Japan (which is heading the government) have made very clear on occasion that they would like to see Funcinpec party changing their mind and agree to form a government with Hun Sen.

This is the national road in one of the urban centers of Kompong Cham province. Kompong Cham is the province with the biggest population. It appears to be more urban and wealthier compared to most other provinces. Kompong Cham has 18 seats in the National Assembly. It used to be a Funcinpec stronghold but during the last election there was a dramatic fluctuation from Funcinpec to Sam Rainsy party. CPP has actually increased their share but not significantly so. Kompong Cham is not so far from Phnom Penh and the road is in an excellent shape.

This is the short cut from Kompong Cham to Kratie. This is road is what is people call red soil road or dusk road. It is good quality as long as it does not rain.

Those are buffalos, a highly valuable possession in Cambodia. They provide powerful labor in the field allowing higher productivity.

We arrive at the port in Kratie early enough to catch the speed boat to Stung Treng. Those stairs lead down to the place where boats approach the port and passengers enter and leave the boat. People are doing there laundry and having a bath. Bathing is taken very serious by most Cambodians. The general rule is that man bath in public while women do not.

This is at the banks of the Mekong River not far away to the north from Kratie. Many people here make a living with fishing. Fishing is a common occupation among Muslim Cham and Vietnamese. Due to the location close to Vietnam it is mostly Vietnamese people who fish here. However, there citizenship status is highly uncertain. They live on boats and do not settle permanently. That leaves them with the option to escape to Vietnam in case they are subject to prosecution, which has happened several times in recent history.

Most Cambodians like to travel inside the boat. However, I prefer to sit on the ceiling. I share this preference with most Western tourists and there are always a few of them on the boat.

My co-traveler, who spend his time inside told me later that there was massive smell of petrol inside and that some people started panicking because they where afraid the boat might explode and the boat sink. This by the way has happened between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap some time ago.

Even out here in the wilderness the next pagoda along the river is never more than a few kilometers away.

Those are bigger boats at the banks shortly before we arrive in Stung Treng town, which is the provincial capital of Stung Treng province. I saw on occasion that timber is moved from big trucks and loaded on those boats.

This is the crowd on the roof of the boat. Last time it was fewer people sitting outside and I figured this might be due to what was going on inside the boat.

This is the port in Stung Treng. I like this huge tree. At the bank covered with blue tarps are what is called fast boats. Those are used to cross the border to Laos and really they are fast. And loud.

A crowd of people is waiting to offer all kinds of services, food and refreshment. And transportation to Banlung, which is the provincial capital of Rattanakiri. And this is where we are going.

We hop on the truck. The translator prefers to travel inside, while I go for the back. This truck is packed with people and baggage.

The spare tire is flat and we stop at the mechanic to take care of it.

This is the spare tire.

This garage is a petrol station at the same time, just like almost any small business at the road catering to passing travelers.

Those are some of the other people traveling to Banlung.

This is how it looks like most of the time. The forest gets cleared to allow for agriculture. This ‘slash and burn’ method is highly controversial.

Once in a while we pass one of those huge trucks, which are made in Russia, I believe. I recall having seen many of those when I grew up in the Eastern part of Germany. Those heavy trucks do not do any good to the road.

I manage to entertain the other people for quite some time with my camera.

The road is in a pretty bad shape.

Once in a while we stop for a short break.

This is on the back of the truck, which is sort of crowded.

We arrive late at night in Banlung. We follow the recommendation of one of those people and choose the Mountain Guesthouse two in Banlung.