The plan for today is to ride from Sen Monorom in Mondulkiri all the way back to Phnom Penh. This is quite a ride in terms of distance but fortunately the road is in good condition. Most of it is paved, much of it recently. We plan on first traveling to Snuol on Provincial Road 76, a distance of 135km on decent dirt road. From Snuol we follow the recently upgraded National Road 7 through Memot towards Kampong Cham.

About 12km before reaching Kampong Cham we turn south right after we pass Chob and follow Provincial Road 11 through Prey Veng to Neak Luong (Neak Loeang, Neak Loeung), a distance of almost 100km on paved road with little traffic through rubber plantations. The route through Prey Veng is a moderate detour but due to little traffic and the bending road a much nicer ride than the alternative National Roads 6 and 7. Moreover, these roads tend to be terribly jammed in the evenings, particularly during holidays such as today. We cross the Mekong River in Neak Luong and head back to Phnom Penh on National Road 1.

20.11.2005

We have breakfast at the Long Vibol Guesthouse and stop at a gas station in Sen Monorom to fill up and clean the bikes before hitting the road.

Sen Monorom in the morning

Cleaning and filling up the bike, checking tires.

Break along the dirt road to Snuol.

Toby stretching

The road is in good condition most of the time, though the ride is a fairly dusty one.

Myself

Becky and Toby

This is a few kilometers before we reach Snuol

Shortly after we reach Snuol where we get on National Road 7. This road is in mint condition and has little traffic, allowing for traveling at top speed most of the time and this is what we do.

Break to fill up the tanks of the bikes.

From here we ride to Memot, were we have a break and some lunch. A wedding is taking place and people have beautified the road side with colorful fabric.

Children are flying kites in a neighboring street

We keep riding towards Kampong Cham. At one point we come across this car which apparently has broken down. The driver has marked the spot with some wood only a few meters before and behind the car, and is in the process of repairing his vehicle right in the middle of the road.

I am having some problems with my bike. The engine starts stammering and after a few hundred meters, turns off. After some minutes I manage to start again but a few kilometers later the same happens again. This keeps happening a number of times. Its not the petrol since the other bikes are ok. I figure that the pipe between tank and engine is clogged. At some point we find a mechanic and stop to have it fixed. We use the chance to also clean the air filters of all bikes which are very dirty.

Roadside repair shop

My bike and young chicken

From here it is only a few kilometers before we reach Kampong Cham. We turn left (south) a few kilometers before Kampong Cham and follow Provincial Road 11 through Prey Veng. This road makes for a very nice ride, certainly compared to alternative National Roads 6 and 7. It is narrow but paved and leads through rubber plantations. We reach Prey Veng town, fill up the bikes again and continue, passing by the Ba Phnom area, follow the road along the Mekong River until we reach Neak Luong.

We realize that we are on a tight schedule if we want to make it to Phnom Penh before dark. We are lucky and manage to get onto the ferry right away.

However, National Road 1 between Neak Luong and Phnom Penh is in regrettable conditions, very narrow and bumpy and on top quite crowded. Accordingly we are traveling significantly slower. Inevitably, the sun is setting down and we are riding the last few kilometers to Phnom Penh in the dark.

We ride straight to the posh Foreign Correspondents Club at Phnom Penh’s riverside, were we have food and drinks and celebrate the exciting trip and the fact that we made it without getting hurt or lost.

The plan for today is to ride from Kaoh Nheak to Sen Monorom, where we want to spend the next night before heading back to Phnom Penh. This is the second part of our trip from Rattanakiri to Mondulkiri through forest and mountains. We get up fairly early and have breakfast, before we hit the trail again.

19.11.2005

Village in the early morning

Myself in the early morning

Breakfast in the neighbors’ house, in the company of a pig. We are lucky again as it is a sunny and dry day.

We visit the local school after breakfast and are delighted to find a new building with a teacher and two full classes, remarkable given the remoteness of the place and the overall state of education in rural Cambodia. We learn that children in this class have four different mother tongues.

Two of the villagers tell us that they are traveling in the same direction and are kind enough to show us the way.

After a few minutes the trail is getting challenging, fairly steep on some streches and still wet in shadowy places.

First break

Another break

This happened when I lean too much on my moto

Small village along the way

In another village, with a big logo of the ruling party CPP. We see few, if any, signs of the opposition party.

We reach a river. Luckily there is a ferry.

Here is how it works: You ride the bike carefully onto the ferry, keep seated and balance the bike while the ferryman walks the boat through the river the other bank. There is a rope put up between both banks to hold on to and keep the boat on track.

Becky and ox cart driver, looking at each other in mutual fascination.

Yet another village. A billboard informs about a WWF supported project in this area. Toby works for WWF and is familiar with the project, so we stop for some time and he talks with the people.

Local children

Toby with local staff of WWF supported project.

After some time we reach this bridge, which has a sharp bend right in its middle. We decide to have a break.

Right now there is little water in the river

Under the bridge: The construction does not look particularly trustworthy.

From here the track gets somewhat tougher.

Becky fall and her leg got stuck under the moto.

Katrin right after falling into the mud.

Nice spot for falling.

We continue riding until we hit a very nice, recently upgraded dirt road.

Becky kissing the ground and thanking the gods for sending this marvelous road.

From here it is only about half an hour to Sen Monorom.

Filling some more gas into the tank in order not to get stuck on the last few kilometers.

Road under construction

We reach Sen Monorom and ride straight to the Long Vibol Guesthouse. I have spent some nights here when I came to Sen Monorom about two years ago. I reported this trip here, here and there.

We visit a local restaurant to have diner and beer before going to bed early.

I have been looking forward to this part of the trip for a long time. During the next two days we attempt to travel from Banlung (Ban Lung) in Rattanakiri to Sen Monorom in Mondulkiri, straight through forest and mountains. This trip is considered one of the most exciting in Cambodia. The authors of the Adventure Cambodia guide book have dedicated a whole 6-pages section to it, entitled “The Death Highway” (their account is posted further down on this page). This title may be a bit exaggerated but they did it (the other way around) during the wet season and ended up doing much of the journey with broken dirt bikes on oxcarts and tattered Russian jeeps.

We plan to spend the night in Kaoh Nhek, a village about half way to Sen Monorum. Tomorrow we continue to Sen Monorum. What thrills me is that we don’t have any spare clutch lever or front tube left before even getting into the rough part of the trip.

8.11.2005

We had long discussion about the relative merits of having a local guides versus doing the trip by ourselves. Lim tells us he would charge about 60$ to get us to Sen Monorum which I feel is inexpensive. After all he would have to return to Banlung on a very long loop through Kratie and Stung Treng. Nobody would go by himself all the way back through the wilderness.

Toby speaks Khmer well and is familiar with the area as he has been up working up here many times over a period of several years. Finally we decide to rely on his pathfinder and language skills and go without local guide.

The trail we are going to travel on has never been constructed as a road with a built up surface. Other than motorbike, it is doable only by oxcart or by skillful driver with a capable truck. I found this travel report by Andrew who did the trip by truck in 2003.

Information useful about traveling in Rattanakiri can also be found in dedicated sections of Tales of Asia, Canby Publications and Travelfish.

Views over the lake in the morning.

We decide to start the day with an early bath in the Yeak Laom Volcano Lake, just outside the other end of town and a must see in Rattanakiri. The lake is a marvelous piece of natural beauty and local indigenous tribes attach great spiritual significance to it. Until recently this was considered Cambodia’s finest attempt at preserving a natural site, designated as protected area already in 1995 as part of a community driven natural resource management and eco-tourism program. There is even a small but well done museum about indigenous culture, a trail around the lake and a wooden platform for jumps into the deep and clean water.

Katrin and Toby, lake and platform.

Katrin and myself.

After breakfast in the garden of the hotel we head back to Banlung to fill up the bikes.

We are surprised to encounter a whole bunch of people on dirt bikes, all with fancy motos, at least by our standard, and each with the full range of advanced gear. They make a lot of noise. We learn that, while this group travels on main roads only, one unfortunate member fall with his bike and suffered a complicated fraction. He now requires transportation by car to the hospital in Phnom Penh which has sort of ended for all of them what looks like a well-planned bike trip.

Katrin and Becky. The vehicle of the injured biker is on the Land Cruiser’s roof in the background.

We get started and follow the dirt road to Lumphat, a town located about 30km south of Banlung. After a few minutes of riding we overtake the group on bikes whose members are riding slowly and cautiously in an orderly line.

Asking for the way

It may not look like it but the bigger problem is not that there is no track but that there are too many and nobody to ask for the right one.

The road is dusty but decent at first but increasingly turns into a trail with mud and water in many places. The rainy season has ended only few days ago in Phnom Penh and maybe not yet here.

This is when we reach the Srepok (Sre Pok) River close to Lumphat. It is actually on this river and along that stretch of it that much of the movie Apocalypse Now was shot, with Marlon Brando in the role of mad Colonel Kurtz who during the Vietnam War sets up his own army and autonomous zone up here.

We find a ferry at the bank of the river. However, the river bank is fairly steep and slippery. Riding onto the ferry is moderately challenging. You want to go very slowly because otherwise you ride over the few planks on this small boat and straight into the deeper part of the river (Becky had some interesting experiences with similar settings elsewhere).

Toby with Apocalypse Now face expression.

One of the ferry men.

Becky and river

The other bank of the river is as steep as the first one and even more slippery. However, this time around the challenge is reversed: it is not to minimize speed but to maximize it while accelerating on the boat and plank in order to make it all the way up without slipping or getting stuck.

After we pass the river the ‘road’ does not get better. To the contrary.

We keep riding for some time until we reach a small village and a few minutes later an intersection. We want to make sure not to take the wrong way at this point. Toby rides back a few hundred meters were we just passed a group of villagers, in order to ask one of them to show us the way. After what seems like a long period of time Toby comes back, with two villagers on the bike. We learn that local people – I forgot which indigenous group they belong to – have had bad experiences with outsiders in the past and agreed to come along only if two of them could go together.

The villagers show us the way and Toby gives them a ride back to the village.

Katrin and Becky performing a traditional dance to make sure it does not rain today (?).

We keep riding for some time through light forest. It is demanding to follow the narrow trail for longer periods of time, through sand and mud, over roots and rocks. Bikes drop occasionally.

This is when we finish a short break. We have not a very clear idea of how close we are to Kaoh Nheak, where we wont to spend the night. We have not seen people in a long time and increasingly realize that time is becoming an issue.

Then we meet two villagers on an oxcart. We learn that it is still far to Kaoh Nheak.

Becky and Toby are into natural resource management work wise and I learn that this type of light forest is ideal for a wide range of wildlife.

I can imagine how this small creek looks like in the rainy season and that it will be next to impossible to pass it. Even now these spots are not without challenges.

Finding a way in the deep grass is sometimes challenging.

We keep riding and for a long time don’t see anyone again. Then we recognize some sort of lake or river to our left and later see some people on its bank. A few kilometers more and we reach the village.

However, this is not Kaoh Nheak. We talk to villagers and learn that it is still a considerable distance to get there. Nevertheless we ask for the way and continue.

The trail surface along this stretch is mostly dry. It is also extremely hard and has deep oxcart tracks running all over it which makes for a very bumpy and rather slow ride.

We are not exactly sure whether we are still on the right way and start consulting numerous maps. Meanwhile the sun is gone and it is clear that there is less than 1 hour of daylight left.

After a lengthy discussion we decide to ride back to the village and spend the night there.

We reach the village where one lady offers us food, fish, rice and some vegetables. One man is kind enough to offer his house for us to spend the night.

After diner we head over to our host’s house (too bad I forgot his name). He intends to vacate the whole building and to spend the night in the house of his relative. Obviously we don’t want his entire family to endure such inconvenience yet he insists and it is too hard for us to turn his offer down.

We move our stuff into his house. Our host suggests visiting the near river for a bath. We sure can use one. It is a 10 minute ride to the spot. We put on kromas for a Khmer-style bath and get into the water. This is the best bath I had in a long time and it takes long to get rid of all the dust.

Right after we have a bath

Toby has the sensitive idea to take pictures with our host, to give the ladies a chance to change.

Toby and host

Myself and host

We ride back to the village and put the hammocks we brought from Phnom Penh.

All four hammocks have a mosquito net. Only three of them are insulated. I sleep in the fourth hammock. My night is a frosty one and I advise you to bring insulated hammocks for your comfort.

We put up hour bungees between the motos to use them as washing lines for our bathing cloths.

Later villagers invite us to another house to join for diner. This is what we do.

The food is tasty.

This is what the Adventure Cambodia guys write about people in this area:

“The people who live along parts of this sparsely populated stretch of Cambodia are forgotten souls. They have been left by the central government to fend for themselves, without any thought given to basic needs, such as a useable road to travel on or simple health information and access to medicine. You certainly don’t trip over any NGO aid groups here to help, either …”

“Most of these people own nothing from the modern-day world and live in rough bamboo huts lighted in the evening by the bamboo torches they make for themselves”.

The first part remains partly true, certainly as far as usable roads are concerned. As for government services, we do find a newly built school including a teacher and pupils the next day.

That people here own nothing from the modern world is obviously not true, at least not anymore. Almost all houses we see are built from solid timber. The house is lit by strong neon light with electricity supplied by a large and loud generator behind the house. There is also a massive stereo and a TV set.

We have the impression that people may have started the generator for us while we would prefer an evening without neon light an noice. However, there does not seem to be a sensitive way of asking for it.

Toby conversing with Khmer lady.

Our host puts bottles with rice wine on the table, people of all ages emerge in the house and the big stereo rumbles into action.

Few minutes later people start dancing.

Notice in the background TV set and receiver, DVD player and most importantly, a sizeable amplifier. Music consists mostly of Khmer and Lao traditional and pop music.

I have yet another glass before joining the dancing. My Khmer dancing skills are actually pretty undeveloped. Some of the villagers join while most of them prefer to just watch.

Yet another glass

We are all very tired and slightly drunk by the time we head home and go to bed.

Words and photographs by Moeun Nhean

The northeast of Cambodia is the place to visit at the moment: it’s seriously green, strangely volcanic and noticeably cooler than the rest of the country. Cambodia’s Minister of Tourism H.E Lay Prahos is very excited about the area’s increasing potential—an area attracting more and more tourists.

Lay Prahos says 1,005,648 tourists visited Cambodia in the first nine months of 2005. “Even we’re surprised at that number!” he says. “That amount is a 37.4 percent increase for the same period in 2004.” He expects numbers for the whole of 2005 to be about 1.3 million and hopes that number will be even higher this year. The Minister admits that as tourist numbers grow, Cambodia must look to providing better services, particularly in the less-explored regions, which also have much to offer.

“Most tourists come to visit our country because they want to see the famed Angkor Wat temples. But many don’t realize this country has kept hidden some of its more natural attractions. We have wonderful pristine environments in the Kingdom like Koh Kong for instance, and Cambodia’s northeastern provinces are perfect for eco-tourism,” Lay Prahos says.

He says the northeast covers Kratie, Mondulkiri, Ratatakiri and Stueng Treng provinces. “These areas all have enormous potential.”

“For years we’ve focused on promoting the world

heritage site of Angkor Wat as our prime tourist destination. Then we’ve promoted Phnom Penh, the center of government, economics and culture and Sihanoukville, our coastal area with its beautiful white sand beaches,” he says. “But now there’s a fourth notch in our belt, and that’s eco-tourism in the northeast of Cambodia.”

He says the government has greatly improved road conditions between Phnom Penh and most provinces in the country, and will soon turn to more remote and smaller village areas.

“We have many places to invite tourists to and we want to make it enjoyable for them to travel around the kingdom. With good road conditions linking everywhere, tourist destinations are more easily accessed and explored. Nationwide it is possible to go anywhere easily by car and we have paved the way for tourism in the Kingdom. Now the northeast provinces seem a much closer destination for travelers because of the acceptable road conditions.”

I recently heard foreigners saying that when they go to [the northeast] they … feel like they are ‘return[ing] to nature.’ They enjoy seeing hill-tribe people living off the land and reaping the benefits of their natural surrounds. It’s quite difficult to see these sorts of unaffected places in other more developed

countries, even in neighboring countries. It is hard to find a place quite like the northeast of Cambodia.” He says each of the country’s provinces has its own unique scenery and way of life, with many different ethnic groups scattered throughout.

“But in Mondulkiri for instance, this uniqueness is very pronounced: there are upland forests and great expanses of grassy fields reminiscent of European countries, but different in that they’re untouched. This is nature at its original. And in Ratanakiri province it’s different again, with landscapes of streams and tropical forests.”

Director of the Ratanakiri provincial tourism office Tra Nut Seang says there are 12 natural tourist destinations in the province, some of these include hill-tribe visits and half are waterfalls including Ka Chhang, Cha-Ung, O’Sin-Lae, Koh-Andet and Ka-Teang.

“However, one of the best waterfalls is O’Sin-Lae: a beautiful seven-tiered waterfall. It’s as beautiful as a painting,” Tra says. “Around the area of this waterfall there is also diamond mining. Families in these parts have mined for generations and still use traditional tools to look for the jewels. The diamonds here are younger than those found in Pailin, therefore cheaper to buy.”

Ratanakiri boasts much more than waterfalls and diamonds though, including Yeak Laom, a lake at the center of an extinct volcano; Veal Rum Plan, an ancient lava field and the beautiful Virachey National Park.

“Tourists never miss Yeak Laom lake … which is 48m deep and 800m across,” Tra says.
He says according to Ministry of Tourism figures, 40,000 visitors came to the province in the first nine months of 2005. “Interestingly, 50 percent of those were local visitors.”

Travel details:

- A daily pick-up from Phnom Penh’s Central Market to Banlung will take you 14 hours. For nationals the cost is $20 and for foreigners $25.

- Flights are preferable. There are direct flights from Phnom Penh to Ratanakiri. Contact Phnom Penh International Airport for more details.

- Accommodation in Banlung ranges from $5 to $30. Terra Rouge Lodge is recommended by most guide books.

- The best time to visit is between November and April when the weather is much cooler than the capital.

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.

We get up at 7 am and have breakfast in the guesthouse, before we go to the market and buy food and water. To make sure we don’t get stuck we find a mechanic, have the oil checked and fill up the motos.

Then we head northeast to Bou Sra. We never rode north on this road before and I am surprised that right behind the first hill it is getting rougher than most we have seen yesterday. We cross a small river on an improvised bridge and are charged 500 Riel each by a bunch of kids.

After that the road is getting somewhat smoother but still requires a lot of attention. There are deep grooves in the road, most likely left behind my heavy cars. Once you get into one of those it leaves you with only very few options other than just following it hoping not to get stuck. Yet the ground is solid and provides good grip for the tires.

We keep going and after some time we do not see settlements anymore. The forest is relatively dense and in some places impenetrable. Both of us have to restart the bike a number of times and while we proceed with moderate speed it remains a challenge in many places to maneuver those relatively heavy bikes.

The way I start this bike many times is I put it on the stand, climb on the moto and start it from this relatively comfortable position, before I flap the stand and go. However, I realize that the stand is about to break off and can hardly support the bike anymore.

The ‘road’ is getting tougher; there are many rocks and countless obstacles, sometimes forcing us to ride next to the road. And hills are pretty steep in some instances. Overall we move quite slowly. After about 40 minutes we have a break. I try to figure how Pongro is riding down those hills and ask him. I learn that he controls the speed entirely with the clutch. I am about to suggest using a lower gear. To demonstrate how he does it he takes the clutch clever and holds it tight. Oddly, at precisely this moment the clutch cable breaks. I does not take us long to realize that it is impossible to ride this bike without clutch. Ironically, today is the first day we go without the heavy set of tools and spare parts we usually carry and which includes a clutch cable.

Pongro is still confident that we can manage to fix the bike here. Once in while people pass on small, old Honda’s, sometimes badly overloaded but always very skillfully finding the way between all those rocks. We learn that the way to Bou Sra is still longer than the way back to Sen Monorom. Furthermore the road is getting tougher from here. And it is very unlikely we find somebody there who can fix the bike.

One of those guys stops for some time and Pongro borrows some tools and wire in order to try fixing the moto. The Phnong guy joins and for some time they try hard. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that this won’t work out.

This is where we got stuck.

My stand is about to break off.

So we agree that I go back to Sen Monorom, get the clutch cable and tools, get my stand fixed and get back with a mechanic. Since I know the way by now I find it easier to ride it. And enjoyable not having to wait for other people. It takes me just about 20 minutes to reach the guesthouse. I cannot use the stand anymore and it takes me some time to find a tree to lean the bike against it. I get the spare parts and tools and ride to the garage close to the market. When I arrive I cannot see any tree to lean my bike against. So I just stop in front of the shop in which about a dozen people is working. After some time I manage to explain that the stand is broken and I prepare to explain that another bike needs to be fixed half way to Bou Sra.

This is when my stand is being fixed.

Meanwhile I talk to the guy in the black jacket who seems to be the only person speaking some English. When he understands the situation he indicates he would not mind giving me company and fixing the bike. And he is confident that he will manage to do it. His name is actually Bun Tach. While I suggest that he should get another bike he is in favor of going together on my bike. However, I think I don’t want to risk other peoples’ live and at the same time prefer to risk my life myself. So we agree to go with two motos and after my stand is fixed we ride to his house to get his bike. While waiting I talk to his uncle, who is working for the governments’ Seila Programme (decentralization) which I am reasonable familiar with.

Later we get petrol and start going. We are moving not so fast, as it is difficult for Bun Tach’s small bike to make this way without being damaged. After only about 10 minutes his tire is flat and we spend about 30 minutes fixing it.

Where we got stuck is very close to Pouloung village.

When we reach Pongro he has been waiting for about two hours. It does not take Bun Tach long to replace the clutch cable.

We manage to convince Bun Tach to give us company to Bou Sra. It is already afternoon and initially we are not sure whether we should still go to Bou Sra. After all, even without problems it is not likely that we will be back before it is dark. Yet we decide to go.

This is after only 200 m. We are standing in front of a creek. Three Phnong people in a huge, old Soviet style car cross our way and we talk to them for some time.

We still have to cross this water. The Phnong guys try to show us where in the water we would be able to cross without getting stuck. Bun Tach follows their advice carefully and makes it with his small bike. Pongro just speeds up and tries to cross the creek straight ahead. Although he hits a number of rocks he manages to get over without the bike being down or the engine turning off. I try carefully to do it the Phnong way but I hit a rock and get stuck. I manage to restart in the water but it takes me some time until I have the bike free again.

We continue riding. Some stretches are in better shape and it is possible to go with higher speeds, but those stretches are usually rather short. Most of the time we are moving slowly finding our way between rocks, trees and countless old and hard tracks of Soviet style trucks.

Sometimes I wonder how even four wheel vehicles are able to go this way.

This is the next major obstacle. It is like a creek, not with water but with mud. We manage to find a way around it.

This is one of those Soviet style trucks. Those vehicles leave deep furrows in the road, like upfront, giving people on bikes a hard time.

This is in Sreiomboum village. Bun Tach leaves his bike here and we continue with two bikes, as he is afraid of breaking his.

We keep riding and the road does not get any better. After maybe 20 minutes we reach the next river.

I am irresolutely about how to cross this river. Before I can ask Bun Tach, Pongro tells me ‘just watch me’. Bun Tach gets on his bike and Pongro speeds up straight ahead.

This is when they are still riding.

However, before they reach the middle of the river they hit a rock and the bike falls. However, both manage not to fall into the water. However, Pongro seems to be quite frustrated. He does not care for the bike and leaves it to Bun Tach to get it out of the water, while he just walks over. I decide not to try this and just walk my moto over, cooling down myself and the engine. From now on Bun Tach is riding the other moto and he does so very well. In fact he is 23 years old and just finished his studies at a good school in Phnom Penh. While he lived there he was riding big motos actively. Now he moved to Mondulkiri to support his uncle who is official in the provincial government. And he has a sweet heart who is working in one of the guesthouses.

We continue the journey on the other bank, where we find a particularly difficult stretch of the way. It looks easy on the picture but really is nasty to right uphill, because it is very steep and extremely bumpy. It is not far from here where we meet the only tourist that we come across today.

From here it is still like half an hour. Finally we park the motos in the jungle and walk down to the river, where we find Bou Sra waterfalls. The sun has already left the place.

This is the upper waterfall.

This is the lower waterfall. Both are very powerful and high and in addition located in a natural environment of significant beauty.

We spend maybe about 20 minutes here. Frankly, the pleasure I get out of being here right now is rather limited. Although this is a beautiful place and nobody else is here I worry that we will have difficulties reaching Sen Monorom in time. Yet Bun Tach even suggests continuing our way a few kilometers to visit the indigenous village close by. I feel a bit frustrated as I belief even if we go on our way home right now we cannot make it before it is dark. Yet he is the one who should know and I decide that it does not make such a big difference at this point. And it would be nice to see the village. So we cross the river further upstream on a wooden bridge and it takes us another 15 minutes to arrive in the village. It as about to get dark and we see a number of people along the road, many of them children winking at us. We pass the village and turn around when we reach the other side. I am not sure what we are doing here. Since we don’t have time for interaction with villagers we start our way home immediately. I wonder what those people might think about our behavior. It really does not seem to make much sense just to speed through the village first in one direction and then into the other. And I fell we are maybe not behaving very sensitively here.

After we have almost reached Bou Sra again I look at my stand and find out that it is not there anymore. I lost it on the way. So we discuss briefly, I go back to the village to look along the way while Pongro and Bun Tach look around Bou Sra. With even higher speed I pass the village again, turn around at the same place and go back. I feel now those people really have reason to belief I am insane. However, I cannot find the stand. The other guys don’t find it either.

So we go on our way home. Now we are riding with fairly high speed. This is easier for me as I am riding alone on this bike. However, Bun Tach is doing very well on the other one. I must say at this point I really enjoy riding the bike and feel much more comfortable doing so, as I know the way by now. And at this point I am willing to take more risk. Many of the spots that gave me a hard time when we came turn out to be fairly easy, like the second river. Generally, had I expected this sort of terrain I would not have thought I would be able to make it. However, it actually is not that difficult and I feel much more comfortable.

When we reach the village where Bun Tach had left his moto it is almost entirely dark. He has a flat tire again and we use the time to drink some water and talk to the locals.

Phnong guy on my moto.

From here we have still more than half the total distance to Sen Monorom. And now it really is getting more difficult as it is dark and we are riding in the forest. I am being lucky in that I have two strong head lights which provide for sufficient vision. Bun Tach is doing well, as he is used to his moto and familiar with the way. Pongro has difficulties, in many instances getting stuck. He has to restart his moto many times and increasingly has difficulties to catch up. Generally, I am surprised that it turns out not to be as difficult to ride in the dark as I had expected. Still, it is tough and there is significant risk.

We are traveling faster now in the dark than we where doing earlier in the daylight. Yet it takes us until almost 7 pm until we reach Sen Monorom.

Pongro tells me later that this trip was a very bad experience for him. He fall a number of times and was sick of getting hurt. I had underestimated that he had only few opportunities to ride big motos. In addition, our activity here really does not seem to match Pongro’s expectations.

This evening we have a heated discussion about the future of indigenous peoples. Talking about their religions Pongro mentions that there are in fact spirits in the trees and so on. When we crossed the second river, he said a bad word and Bun Tach told him to be careful, as people get lost in this area quite frequently precisely for doing that. Apparently, both of them take this more serious than I would have expected. I learn spirits can misguide people who get lost for many days in the jungle and sometimes do not resurface again. I figure Pongro might have been quite afraid when we where riding back at night, he getting stuck and falling behind significantly many times.

Although there are still countless activities and attractions to discover we decide to travel back to Phnom Penh the next day. Frankly, I would have like to stay longer, but as Pongro did not talk to me much anymore and apparently has no interest in what is meaningful activity to me I do not see a better solution.

I oversleep and get up only at 7:40 am. We pack our stuff, meet the guide and ride to the market to have breakfast. The guides’ name is Tina, if I got it right. He is 23 years old and Khmer from Kampong Cham. He came to Mondulkiri some years ago to help his sister running a guesthouse. Now he is involved in various aspects of the emerging tourism sector. The numbers of tourists to Mondulkiri has significantly increased with the newly build road. Yet only very rarely we see tourist during this stay in Mondulkiri.

This is a huge beetle. I have seen it at night flying around which was a scary thing to observe. In the morning I watch this insect while it attempts to go underground. I have gotten the pack of chewing gum in the market in Kampong Cham when I bought a phone card.

Initially we wanted to go to Bou Sraa waterfalls, which is maybe the most popular spot to visit from Sen Monorom. However, after I thought about it I change the plan. I had learnt that the way to Bou Sraa waterfalls is relatively easy to find and does not necessitate a guide. I cannot easily afford paying Tina 10 bucks just for company and think for today it is more suitable to explore various spots closer to Sen Monorom. The trip to Bou Sraa is considered relatively difficult and my guide book suggests to spend the night in Bou Sraa district town and travel back the next day. As we have spend the entire day on the bikes yesterday and have the guide today I suggest to stick to the places where it is more valuable to have a guide. We agree to visit Dak Dam village, Poutrou village, the Romanear waterfalls, among others.

This is where we have breakfast in the market.

Pongro decides he should go to the hospital have his wound cleared from dust, which I think is a good idea. Meanwhile Tina and I buy lunch packets and water. The market is an interesting place to be in and observe people doing their businesses. However, I cannot identify from the appearance the ethnic identity of those people. I get to talk to a Phnong man who actually is the first indigenous person I meet in Cambodia who speaks English.

Market

We pick up Pongro at the hospital, fill up the bikes and get started to Poutrou and Dak Dam villages. We travel about 10 km following the road on which we came here. Then we turn east towards the close Vietnamese border and follow a smaller road, leading further up the mild mountain with the long grass. I feel the scenery is very beauty-and peaceful.

The road is in good condition and a relaxed ride.

We offered Tina to choose on whose bike he wants to go. He chose Pongro. I am concerned since I could not convince him to borrow a helmet.

This is when we have a break on top of a mountain, looking down at Dak Dam village.

Dak Dam village is inhabited by ethnic Phnong and pretty much in the center of the picture. Maybe the long roof of the school building can be recognized on the small copy.

This road is very nice to ride.

This is in the village. As usual we meet only very few people, since everybody is working in the field by now.

This is an old Chinese motor bike, which I found all over Cambodia but particularly frequently up here in the northeast. Those motor bikes are said to be reliable and strong.

Those are traditional jars commonly used for rice wine among various indigenous groups.

We find a man and are allowed to enter one of those houses, which are said to have not changed in style for many centuries. Those are jars which I learn are more than thousand years old, which is difficult to imagine. Next to the jar at the very right is one of the traditional gongs. There are various sorts of gongs used at different occasions. Jars and gongs are among the most valuable possessions of indigenous communities both in traditional and spiritual as well as material terms. During the times of Pol Pot those objects were buried in hidden places in the jungle and in many cases they still wait in the ground. This might indicate that members of those communities still worry about persecution.

We talk to the guy and learn that he makes a living with collecting raisin from trees. This is done by burning a hole into the tree and wait for the raisin to run out. I try to find out more about this business. I learn that Phnong as well as Khmer people have this occupation. For a container with 38 liter of raisin the price in Sen Monorom is about 25.000 Riel, which is about 6 dollars. I think this is nothing given the amount of time and labor necessary to collect so much raisin. The guy does not know the price in Phnom Penh.

We spent some time and then leave. CPP is very popular up here.

We keep going for some time straight through the wide landscape and reach the Romanear waterfalls after about 20 minutes.

Upstream: At this time of the year this is just a small creek.

Downstream: this is about 4 meter high, I guess. Nicely situated and idyllic but not very spectacular.

We actually meet three tourists here who came with motos and two guides. Tina lets me know that those people are Germans but for some reasons I do not feel a strong need to talk to them. However, later we exchange some words and after switching to German having a lengthy discussion.

Worth mentioning is that one of them was actually Sandra, who I met on two other occasions already, which is strange enough. The first time I met her at a party in Phnom Penh and learnt that she is engaged in a print media project in Siem Reap supported by the Adenauer Foundation, I belief. This project was in some ways part of finalizing her studies and in this regard what I am doing here is somewhat similar. Strange enough that I meet Sandra again and here at the waterfall in Mondulkiri.

Even stranger, I had met Sandra in between, at a party of Katrin. This party took place in Berlin some weeks ago, in Katrin’s flat. Katrin was working in Cambodia, too and like me on aspects of indigenous rights. And it was through Katrin that I got to know Sandra. Meanwhile I just moved into the flat of Toby, who is Katrin’s partner and has been working for a number of years in Cambodia, but is transiently in Berlin right now.

So we talk for some time and I learn all three of them have occupations associated with media.

We then decide to continue to the next waterfall, which is Sen Monorom waterfall. I hope I am not mistaken here, since many locations have more than one name.

The road is still nice to ride. On a different way we go back until we reach the main road again.

Over there is Sen Monorom.

From here we travel about 20 km more in the direction to Phnom Penh. Then we turn left, cross a small bridge and park the bikes after a few hundred meters. Walking down the hill we find the waterfall, a number of huts where one can sit and have food. Some people are burning leaves.

Some time later the media people arrive again and we spend maybe two hours with good conversation. This picture is the evidence. Sandra is the third person from the left.

After the media people leave we have food and hang out for some more time. Once in a while we see tourists, but all of them Khmer. Observing them is a funny thing to do, particular when it comes to couples. The behavior of tourists from Phnom Penh does not seem to be much less foreign to local people compared to Barang.

This is the waterfall.

Then we move to make it to Poutang village and Sihanouk waterfall before it gets dark. Again we ride back to the main road and follow it with direction to Sen Monorom. About 10 km before the provincial capital we turn left and follow a much smaller track, which cannot easily be recognized from the road.

We continue riding on the top of a mountain range

Down there is the main road.

This is when we reach Poutang Village.

Again hardly anybody seems to be at home.

The style of this construction in the center of the village is very much Khmer. And so is the new construction behind it to the right.

There appears to be a new well funded by Echo, which to my knowledge is a program of the European Union.

When we get back to the motos we find an old man sitting close to them. We show respect, sit down for some time and talk to him. I learn that he is some sort of local pop star, since his face is on many posters promoting Mondulkiri as a tourist destination. He is actually 70 years old. And he has many names which I fail to recall. We talk about his teeth, which he actually cut with a saw (common practice in Phnong communities until recently). He has been living here for a long time but fled under Pol Pot.

When I ask whether I can take a picture I learn the price is 1500 Riel. I feel a bit irritated but than give him some money and take the picture. I should stress that I did not ask him to sit in front of the moto, but it was here where we found him.

A number of children have gathered around us, looking skeptically at what we are doing. I feel they behave significantly shyer than their Khmer pendants.

I ask the man which language those children speak to each other and learn that it is Phnong.

I see only two buffalos but those ones are particularly big.

Then we continue to Sihanouk waterfalls. This is a rid of about 5 km from here and the road is getting a bit tougher, while shadows are getting longer. When we reach the waterfall there is not much light anymore to take pictures.

This is how raisin is taking from trees. This hole is actually burnt into the tree with fire. Later the raisin is being collected.

It does not take us long from here back to Sen Monorom. It is not yet dark when we reach it and I suggest we go to the Doh Kromom mountain at the old airport to oversee the landscape during the sunset. In order to reach Doh Kromom we have to pass the town and the easiest way is the runway of the old airport. So we travel those about 1000 m with the highest speed possible with those bikes, which is a dusty affair. Then we ride up the hill until we reach the small pagoda on top.

Down there is Sen Monorom with the runway to the left and one of the small lakes to the right.

This hill is called Doh Kromom and this actually means bosom in Khmer. I learn this is because the mountain looks like a women without a head lying on her back. We are actually standing on one breast and over there is the other one.

Tina is giving visual aid to help us recognizing the lady but I fail to see it.

Pongro even climbs the tree but cannot see it either.

Very much against my habits I provide a sunset picture here.

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.