My first trek

So on the first weekend that Gina and Jo are here we decide to go trekking. We use a local guide, Mony, who is an experienced guide and an expert about this province. For the trek we will go to some very remote villages deep in the jungle, see some waterfalls and rivers and hopefully see some wildlife. The trek starts about 90 minutes from town then through trails deep in the jungle - so each of us will be riding on the back of a moto with one of Mony's experienced drivers.


The morning we leave is the windiest day I've seen yet here in Cambodia. At times the gusts are so strong I think the moto will blow over. Another issue with the wind is the dust is kicked up even more - so in addition to our moto helmets we are all wearing either surgical masks or scarves to prevent us from breathing in the dust. My driver, Mr. Rith, speaks no English but is the joker of the drivers. He loves to yell things to everyone and often pretends we have lost our breaks and we are going to crash. He also likes to yell whenever we drive across a stream or river. Can't understand him but he is funny and an excellent driver!


We drive for about half an hour on the good road then start down numerous dirt roads. Eventually we start driving into the jungle. I would refer to this as woods but they say it is jungle. It is more like thick woods at home. You can clearly see the sky when standing at the bottom. There isn't that much brush and undergrowth although I am told it grows heavily during the rainy season. There are some huge trees - many kinds I can't identify (some are mahogany trees but many of them are being illegally logged I am told) and many huge vines which often engulf some of the trees. We can hear lots of birds and the sound of insects but see few animals.


We drive along little trails through the jungle - at times the trails are so small branches are hitting our legs. Mr. Rith must not realize I am about 6 inches taller than him - he keeps driving under low hanging branches and numerous branches and vines hit me in the helmet if I don't duck in time. Actually he may be doing this on purpose - it would fit his personality, although he would probably laugh each time he did it if it was intentional. Eventually we seem to be following no trail - just weaving between trees and bushes for over an hour. This would be a great place for a horror movie or to strand a tourist or two - never to be seen again...


Eventually we come to a little village of maybe 15 huts. Some are built in traditional Bunong style - a round hut with a thatched roof while others are more Khmer style, a house on stilts. There are many animals wandering around the village - chickens, small pigs, dogs, and a few water buffalos. There are mostly children walking about and only a few adults can be seen. We stop at a local school and Mony brings us inside. It is a small hut with a dirt floor, with a few posters on the wall of the alphabet and a dry erase board at the front of a room in front of several benches and desks. This is the town's primary school. Very basic and I am told about average for these smaller villages. Again, if students want to continue on to high school they will have to move to Sen Monorom - thus many students don't get an education beyond primary school. We drive through the village and go another mile or two and come to  another medium sized Khmer style house on the side of a hill.


We stop at this house and spend about 15 minutes here. The family is gathered under the house, where the stilts are. Often this is the area that the family keeps animals, their motos, dishes, makes a fire, and hangs out there during the daytime. In this instance they have a few hammocks there and some of the adults are laying in them. The house is a medium sized home and if I understand Mony correctly, 4 adults (2 parents and 2 grandparents) and 5 children (estimating ages 2 - 14) live there. My guess is it is only about a 20' x 15' in size. From this house you look out over the numerous rice fields below. This family is like many of the Bunong in the area - they are farmers who basically grow just the food they need. They also hunt and gather items from the jungle to survive.


After our brief stop we head down to the dried out rice fields and then down another small ravine. Eventually we get to a small river and the guides decide the best path to use to cross. The water is about a foot deep at the shallowest point. Mr. Rith uses his driving skills and we get through without getting wet.


We stop at the other end of the river and there is a small pond here. There are about 7 water buffalos wallowing in the water and a few local men on the edge of the pond. We put our motos on the shore and Mony breaks out our lunches - stir fried rice with vegetables and a roll. We sit on the edge of a fallen tree and enjoy the peace and quiet of this little hidden pond. Mony tells us there use to be many animals around here but all of the logging and hunting in this area has made most of the animals flee to other areas.


After lunch we head through the jungle further until we end up at another small village.  This one has maybe 40 huts. As we are passing through we see a man standing next to a cart. Mony stops and asks if we want to have an ice cream. I say no figuring this is some joke and we ride away. About 100 yards down the road I see two kids walking along eating a popsicle - that was indeed an ice cream man that we just passed!


After another hour or so we come to a ravine. Mony tells us we must walk the bottom because it is a bit steep. We walk down the path and the drivers walk the motos down. At the bottom is a large river with many small waterfalls. There are several children swimming in the water - which ranges from a few inches to maybe 6 feet deep. Amazingly, there are no adults with these children who range from age 3 - 12 or so. We walk along the edge of the river taking photos and putting our feet in the water. The water is warm and very clear - actually there is almost no liter or plastic to be found here which makes it all the more beautiful! Mony and another driver, Mr. Dall, decide to go swimming. They invite us but we are all rather reluctant because we have all been warned about possible bacteria and parasites in the water here in Cambodia - better safe than sorry. Mr. Dall is a rather large man with a large belly - the other men say he is pregnant. Every chance he gets he strips down to his underwear and jumps into the water. Mony says he does this because he is fat and gets hot easily. Mr. Dall keeps trying to get us to join him but we just dangle our feet in the water and enjoy the location. Mony swims over to one of the small waterfalls and then submerges himself under the waterfall. After about a minute he sticks his hands out of the waterfall - that's all you can see is just a hand protruding from the falling water - nice picture!


After the swim, Jo and I follow Mony and trek up along the far bank of the river and deep into the jungle. He shows us some different types of trees and plants. He tells us about some of the monkeys and birds that live in this area of the jungle and is able to mimic all of their cries and sounds. We wander around for about an hour before finally ending up back at the edge of the river and where Gina and a few of the drivers are relaxing.


We head out and drive back through the jungle and at times along the edge of some large mountains - one slip from these drivers and we could plunge 50 - 100 feet within seconds. Eventually we get to an area called the Sea Forest. Here you are on top of a large mountain and can see for miles in all directions. There are still large area of forest that can be seen but many hills have been logged and few if any trees exist on those hills. The local people use the slash and burn style to clear the land - so often smoke can be seen from parts of the jungle where they are trying to clear an area to farm. The burning seems to only get rid of the undergrowth - the logging, mostly illegal, seems to be the main reason all the trees are disappearing.


We stay at the Sea Forest until it starts to get dark. We then start the drive home to our guest house. These motos, Honda Dreams, are said to be very reliable. The biggest drawback is the headlights. The highlights are built to shine brighter the faster you go. That is fine when you are cruising around on a good road, but as you slow down on a bad dirt road the light dims and it gets harder and harder to see. Slowly we make it back to our guesthouse and it's about 8pm. We invite the drivers and Mony to join us for a drink at the restaurant. Gina, Jo and I have had a good day of trekking and Mony also seems happy with the trip. After the drink we tip the drivers and shake their hands and they depart. We then have dinner together talking about our day's adventure.