End of June to end of July, I’m visiting Belgium.
I’ve already bought a Graspop Metal Meeting ticket.
I’m waiting for quotes of travel agents to book my flight ticket.
What’s on the agenda in Belgium:
- visit some breweries;
- eat kebab and fries;
- sell some things: books, car(s), etc.
and most importantly:
- visit friends and family.
Not much else happening here in Mondulkiri.
Last Sunday Scott and I went to Bu Sra waterfall for some honey.
On the way there I had my first motorbike crash. A rock, half embedded in the dirt road, stopped my motorbike, but not me, so I went flying. Not much damage though: a broken mirror and a bent foot rest on the bike, a minor headache and a few scars on me. Luckily I was, as always, wearing a helmet.
We carried on to the waterfall, had lunch, got some honey, and returned to Sen Monorom, where I had been invited to a party with free-flowing Randonal, a disgustingly sweet grape wine, supposedly from Castille in Spain, but really from Battambang in Cambodia (or so I was told).
I have a new house mate, Scott, Australian.
He has set up a mountain bike rental service at the Nature Lodge, and he is also developing a restaurant near Samot Cheu, the Forest Sea.
At last, the time came to head back to PP, have one last dinner ($68 well spent on steak, mussels, barracuda, frites, dame blanche and pie, coffee and Duvel and Leffe (two Belgian beers), at La Patate, Rue d’Angkor/St. 5), and say goodbye the next morning.
See you in the summer.
Home! New Year’s Eve around a campfire, hammocking, eating and drinking, hiking, motor riding towards waterfalls. Highlights: fish amok at Khmer Kitchen, Sheery’s falafels, the girl with the most beautiful eyes of Cambodia selling sausages at Bu Sra, the massive 10.000 hectare, Belgian-exploited, new rubber plantation in what’s on paper the Phnom Namlier Wildlife Reserve (not a very positive highlight, but it was impressive in sheer size and destructiveness).
After arriving, we checked into the Rathana Sambath Guesthouse (with the nicest mattresses, and fluffiest pillows and quilts of the whole trip).
The following morning, we went for another walk, stopping at the town’s tourist information center. It’s located off the main track, rarely gets visitors, and is of little help, but we finally did manage to lay a hand on a Mekong Discovery Trail magazine. We carried on to Mekong Blue, where the Stung Treng Women’s Development Centre trains poor women vocational skills. We were shown the process of silk weaving, from silkworms eating mulberry leaves, to spinning, dying and weaving. In the afternoon, we hired bicycles, and took the ferry across the Sekong and Mekong rivers towards Thala Barivat, where we spent an hour chatting to some orphans at a local pagoda orphanage. On the way back, we bought some beers, and enjoyed another gorgeous Mekong sunset. Later, we arranged a day trip by boat at Mr. T’s.
The 31st, we set off by boat through the Ramsar wetlands: a flooded forest with some truly surreal trees and views. After a three-hour boat ride we arrived at Preah Rumkel commune, where we spotted some more dolphins, switched drivers, and carried on for about thirty minutes to the awe-inspiring Sopheakmith Falls, on the Lao border. It took us another half hour of climbing over rocks to reach our lunch spot, opposite the main part of the falls. Hungrily, I devoured two boxes of fried rice, laughing cow sandwich, and a few bananas. An wasn’t feeling too well, though, due to a light breakfast and lots of sun and heat. What a sight, those falls, and this was just dry season – I want to go back and check out the falls, and the flooded forest, in rainy season: it must be a different place then.
Ponika Restaurant does great food – try the chicken pie! Riverside Guesthouse’s Mr. T has the best information.
First stop of the day: Chhlong, now a small, rundown town off the beaten track, but once a main center of French colonialism, as witnessed by a few dilapitated grand dames of buildings. After moseying around town for a while, we went on to Kratie, a small town along the Mekong, famous for its Mekong dolphins. We stayed at You Hong Guesthouse, near the market. The guest house was nice, but one of many power cuts and the world’s lousiest – and echo-iest – singer at a party close by kept us up that first night.
The next day, we did a morning walk around the town, and an afternoon walk on leafy and quiet Koh Trong, another Mekong island.
The following day, we went to see dolphins (we counted about 9!) and the Kampie rapids. We ate some fresh palm fruits at the dolphin site too. In the afternoon, we took the bus to Stung Treng, near the Lao border.
Check out mekongdiscoverytrail.com for more information about Kratie and Stung Treng. Star Guesthouse does good breakfasts. Kratie offers some breathtaking Mekong sunsets, too.
The next day, we got up early to take a bus to Kampong Cham, one of Cambodia’s largest town, located on the Mekong. Upon arrival we checked into the rather rundown Bophear Guesthouse (not recommended). Then, we went for a city walk, had dinner at the Mekong Crossing, and finally An and I (it was Bert’s turn to be in sick bay) had a massage. And what a massage: the best I ever had in Cambodia. Days later I still felt results: hands and feet without knots, a light feeling allover my body. Highly recommended: Snadai Chamnane (“Skillful Work”, no lie!), located at the east end of the transport stop towards the riverside, in one of those newly built blocks.
The following day, we rented bicycles, and after a tasty bowl of noodle soup laced with coriander, we cycled to Wat Nokor, an eclectic mixture of an eleventh-century temple and a modern working pagoda. This temple has some of the prettiest apsaras (heavenly dancers, carved in stone).
In the afternoon, we rode across the bamboo bridge to and around Koh Paen, a delightful small island in the Mekong river.
After a long and uneventful bus ride from Phnom Penh to Tbeng Meanchey, capital of northern Preah Vihear province, we checked into the brand-new architectural mess that is Heng Heng Hotel. We went for a wander around town, and arranged a taxi to take us to the renowned Prasat Preah Vihear, a temple built between the ninth and twelfth century, and subject of many troubles between Cambodia and Thailand.
The next morning, the taxi picked us up and off we were to Preah Vihear temple, a two-hour ride over almost finished new roads. Gone are the days that reaching Preah Vihear is a nightmare. The ride up the cliff on which the temple is located was an event in itself: built to be ready as quickly as possible, it has parts with an incline of up to 35%. Our automatic Camry struggled in first gear with the AC off, and needed some cooling off halfway, but we did make it up in just a short while.
The Angkorian temple’s location is breathtaking: high up on a cliff, overlooking the northern plains of Cambodia. A steep staircase, and several walkways lead us through a number of enclosures up to the central sanctuary, and finally a most fantastic view (albeit rather hazy because of the many fires used to clear the land). The temple itself was not the most impressive I have visited (there are but few stone carvings left), but the location makes up for it all. Do visit this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tourists were few: the temple is most easily reached from the Thai side, but the border has been closed for quite a while now, because of the ongoing row between the two countries.
Late afternoon we returned to Tbeng Meanchey, and went for a walk towards the Sen river. Coming back, we had dinner at the cute little night market, and were amazed by the fan-driven carrousel.
On the 18th, at 20h, I picked up my sister An and her partner Bert at the airport. A tuktuk brought us to our guesthouse, Narin 2 (St. 111). (I had made reservations at my regular stay, Seng Sokhom (St. 111), but our rooms had already been passed on to people who arrived earlier.)
The next day, we went for a walk around town, stopping at the Olympic Stadium to watch the semifinal of the World Cup Volleyball for Disabled; unfortunately, Cambodia lost to a much stronger Poland. In the evening, we went to my favorite Indian restaurant, Aman, on St. 81. Their mutton curry special is sublime.
Then came Sunday, big breakfast day. Place of choice: the Lone Star Saloon (St. 172). After having eaten a big breakfast, we started drinking beer, and didn’t stop till late at night. After the Lone Star, we met up with two fellow Aarschottenaars, Steven and Willem, and had more beers at Sebastian (St. 13, behind Wat Ounalom), and White Moon Bar (St. 172). And then we were hungry, so off “eating ants”. I took the gang to my favorite Khmer restaurant, Ta Khae, on St. 184 near the French Cultural Center. We ordered some tasty food: cow stomach with fermented fish paste (“prahok”) sauce, ant salad, laab, and a few more dishes alcohol abuse made me forget about. Obviously we washed it down with more beer, and some medicinal wine, courtesy of the owner. After dinner we said goodbye to Steven and Willem, put An to bed, and Bert and I went for one final pitcher of beer – we both struggled finished it I hate to admit; a Royal D (the hangover cure: rehydratation salts and vitamins) and off to bed it was.
The following day, we were slightly hung over, so we took it easy: we visited O’Russey market, had lunch at another one of my favorite eateries, Bites, a Malaysian restaurant on St. 105. Unfortunately, An was feeling a bit under the weather, so she spent the rest of the day in bed. Bert and I met up with Willem and Steven, and we went for a walk around town, with another visit to the Olympic Stadium. In the evening, we picked up Willem and Steven’s girlfriends at the airport. After that, Bert and I had a simple dinner: a cup of noodles at one of the many minimarts that have been mushrooming in PP lately. The day after, we would leave to Preah Vihear.
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