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Sweet Cambodia, once again when I crossed that border, everything seemed to feel a bit better. My first destination was Ban Lung, a small town, usually used as a hub to get to the Virachey national park, which is were I was headed for some trekking. The bus ride from the islands to this town was the most expensive transportation yet, and the worse. I am not one to complain about seating arragments, smells or departing on time, but this pushed me a little. We left 1 hour late and they had overbooked the bus (which i think is a very common thing, since I heard from other later that week the same had happened to them), and since I was the only one going to Ban Lung, when they were loading the passengers they kept telling me 'just wait' to figure out what bus I should go in. Well, being the last one on, all seats taken, the asile was already full, as were the stairs, so I got to sit with the luggae! YAY! sprawled between a 3 foot tall space, laying on peoples luggae, beside the toilet, barey any ventilation, rolling around with every turn, it was so bad, it was funny. It got even funnier when they dropped me off in the middle of an intersection, threw my bag on the road and drove off. A few minutes passed when a man waved me over from the shop across the road, he pointed to his van and nodded 'yes' when I said Ban Lung?, so I got in. Minutes later he motions me to get out of the van and then drives away with my things in the back seat. To confused to care, I sat in his shop and waited half an hour. Not sure where he went, but he did come back and drove me to Ban Lung along with a few locals and farm animals, safe and sound I made it! Ban Lung, a town covered in red dust, everywhere had much more to offer then just being a hub for the NP. It didnt take long before I met a great group of people went to Yeak Laom volcanic crater lake, a small round lake with slightly warm water where you can spend the day, have a picnic and swim with all your clothes on like the locals and help them practise their english, such a beutifull spot. There are also three waterfalls within 10km from the town, which I obviously did not waste time to check out, KaTieng, KaChang and ChaOng all had a little something different about them. My favourite being KaChang where you could swim directly under the waterfall if you could make it to the downpour as the wind/mist it would create felt like you were going through a small hurricane. My last couple days there were spent on the moterbike going through small villages in the north where differnt minority groups live (there are 12 different tribes living in this area). One village where we stopped the people were so friendly and curious we ended up spending an afternoon there and later spending the night with one a family whos husband could speak a few words in engligh. We ate rice, drank their traditional rice wine and smiled, since words were usless most of the time. Probably the best 'homestay' expereince yet. The next day we hitched a ride heading south to the town of Kratie, skipping the trek since all tours were only going for two days one night which would only allow to trek on the outskirts of the NP which I had no interest in doing. Maybe another time. Next stop Kratie!
It did not take long to get a ride close to Stung Treng a town 3 hours away. The family was so nice that they even invited us to have lunch with them and filled what room we had in our backpacks with mangos. Again, no english, but we didnt need it :) We made it to Kratie just before the first of many beutiful sunsets. Driving into town felt nice, I knew i was going to like it here, and I guess i was right since I spent a week, taking a vacation from travelling. It can get exhausting. Kratie is best known for being the home of the Irrawaddy freash water dolphin that live in the Mekong. These poor creatures are now endangered after the hunting that took place druing the Khmer Rouge takeover. I did make it out to see them, and even paid the ticket to get a close view on the boat. very worth it for me, and I was very suprised by the similarity that they had to the baluga whale compared to the regular dolphins I had seen. Another great activity Kratie has to offer is the 'Mekong Discovery trail', a network of bike paths to help with local rural development and allow visitors to see the counrty side from Kratie to Stung Treng. If I had of known, I would have stayed a night in Stung Treng and did some kayaking and cycled down to Kratie on the trail, but no wireless left me not so much in the know anymore. Since I had the time....I did complete four of the trails around the Kratie area, with the River Life Explorer trail being my favourite. I got comfortable here, it was the first time it crossed my mind 'i think I could live here'. Even the venders in the market and the tuk tuk drivers knew me by name and would always be surpised to see me the follwing day yelling out 'your still here? When are you leaving?', and the popular sentance 'maybe tomorrow?' was used a few times. Made some good friends, tourist and locals, had amazing dinners at peoples houese metting their family and friends. It was difficult to leave, but Phenom Pehn was waiting and I still had my return to rabbit Island in mind.
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