Sen Monorum is a super place. Very small town and very dusty red dirt tracks but its a cool place to visit. I arrived at midday on Saturday 3rd February and met a lady from Norway as I got off the minivan. She kindly took me to her hotel (Holiday Guesthhouse) which was just $5 per night with a private bathroom. I had a wonder around the town then chilled in the Green House opposite which was one of two places that actually had wifi in the area. I booked myself on a day trek the following day with the help of my new Cambodian friend Den, (who the old lady had previously met). It was a little challenging finding someone who wanted to do a trek (one issue when travelling alone!) but Den was so helpful and with a few phone calls to his friends, he managed to find 2 Irish people who had booked to do a day trek so I joined them in the jungle the following day. We had a Pnong villager to guide us through the forest with his 4 dogs and a big machetti. It was a good laugh..great company and a great adventure scrambling through the trees, climbing up mountains and jumping in the waterfalls! It was a long day trekking for 7 hours so I was glad to return to a nice retreat at the Nature Lodge. I had my own little bungalow and private bathroom with a warm shower and i had a duvet! It was $10 but so worth it! It was 2k out of the main town so I had dinner with the Irish guys in the restaurant which was a little more pricy than other places ($4 for a curry) but still tasty! Attempted a skype session with the parents which was a little tricky and then watched some homeland in my comfy double bed.

The following day I made the most of my bungalow so checked out at 11am then headed back to town to the cheaper Guesthhouse and had a stroll around the market. Den took me to Bo Sera Falls, the biggest waterfall in Cambodia. It took a little longer than expected as we got a flat tyre so ended up pumping it with a bicycle pump all the way to the next village. We stopped about 5 times and took turns to pump it up :) great fun! It was so dusty on the road (or should i say dirt track) and every time a car or motorbike passed we would have to cover our faces with a scalf it would just go everywhere! In fact when i arrived back at the Guesthhouse it looked like i had literally rolled around in the red dust. It was well worth the journey though, the waterfall was stunning and nobody was there apart from a few locals trying to sell some purses. We sat and chatted, Den attempted to teach me some Cambodian and we explored the different levels of the fall, took a dip to cool off and headed back before the sun went down. He invited me to dinner so we went for some pizza before meeting his mates ina bar which was essentially a wooden hut. They all had amazing English so they would alternate between Khmer and English for me. It was so cute chilling with them.

On the 5th I went to the Elephant Valley Project. We were picked up in a truck and were driven a few k out of town. In the morning we walked to see two of the rescued elephants and carried some bamboo trees down the hill for their dinner. They normally just eat the trees in the forest but there was one elephant who needed fattening up.
Lunch was delicious - it was tofu and veg or a beef dish with rice. It was a buffet and they made plenty for people to even go back for a second serving. And yes i sure did...:) They provided fruit for dessert. The lodge was like a tree house looking over the forest, it was incredible. A group of us were staying for 2 days which involved volunteering in the afternoon. To our suprise we ended up sorting straight nails from bent nails in a shed for about an hour and then chilled in the lounge area all afternoon on the comfy seats. Not quite what we expected to be doing but it was better than what the other volunteers had to do in the morning (carrying a load of rubbish up a hill!) Dinner again was delicious :)
The evening consisted of poker, beer, chats and star gazing with a cool bunch of people. They were all really laid back so it was a good laugh.
I was volunteering in the morning too. Our task was to dig 6 holes in the crumbly soil so we could stand wooden beams up to build a den. We cut and carried down the wooden beams too. 2-4 people per log (apart from the builder who carried 1 log by himself - im not quite sure how that was possible, they were incredibly heavy we couldn't believe purpose eyes!).
After a tough and very dirty morning with 3 new blisters, we went to see a group of 4 female elephants, 3 of which were being rented by the project to keep them saFe and away from their owners. I thought it would be more interaction with the elephants but now i realise why we just observe them im their natural habitat so they can have as much of a normal elephant life as possible. It was so nice to see happy and enjoying pulling sown trees im the forest. On the first day one of the elephants came up to us as it could smell the bananas that were in Kiehas bag! That the picture you will see with everyone patting her. They are not bothered by us at all.
After seeing the elephants we said our goodbyes and got dropped back in Sen Monorum town. So I went back to my Holiday Guesthhouse, booked my bus, had a beer with two couples from the elephant project and met Den for dinner. He took me to a place where you cook your own meat on a bbq. It was tasty! We chilled with his best mates again (first in a house/barbers, then back at the local pub!)

Now I'm on the bus heading back to Phenom Penh for the night before catching a bus to Battambong. This bus is luxury ..i have my own seat yey so might actually try to nap for an hour!