Northern Cambodia: Kratie and Beyond

The first thing I realized after taking my seat on the bus out of town was that - in terms of picking a travel day - I had made a very poor decision. Yeah, 1 to 2 million people flood into Phnom Penh for the Water Festival, which means that 1 to 2 million people have to flood out of Phnom Penh at its conclusion. I pondered this fact as our bus sat thoroughly wedged in downtown gridlocked traffic. Hmmm..... Live and learn, if you're lucky.

So the ride north to Kratie turned out to be slightly longer than I had envisioned, but in the end, it wasn't all that bad. The highlight, beyond the stunning scenery, was a showing of "Fist of Fury"on the bus dvd player. It really is amazing how bad copies of early 80's Hong Kong kug fu flicks dubbed in Khmer can make the travel time fly - before long, we had arrived.

Kratie is a smallish town on the Mekong river about half way between Phnom Penh and the Lao border to the north. A mellow little place with untended horses wandering main street and run down French colonial-styled buildings slowly mildowing in the humidity. It was pretty similar to a few of the towns I had visited down on the southern coast, but just a little more lively. The bustling market made it easy to track down my new favorite tropical delicacy, the dragon fruit. I also managed to score my cheapest room of the entire trip: $3.00, with swarms of flies thrown in for free. What a deal! No hot water, but for three bucks, you really can't complain.

Kratie also happens to be famous for its nearby population of the endangered Irrawaddy river dolphins that congregate a few km upstream at a place called Kampi. I'm not kidding, there really are dolphins in the muddy Mekong - only about 75 left in the entire country, although a few still swim free in Laos, apparently. So, obviously, where there are dolphins there are bound to be dolphin tours. After enduring the hard sell tactics of would be guides, I decided to skip the (relatively) expensive tour and just rent a motorbike for the day instead. Since the best time to spot the dolphins is during the low water months of April and May, I figured my money would be better spent elsewhere. Locals don't dive for cover as I approach (but the kids, who happily wave and shout "hello" as you ride past, will run and start screaming bloody murder the moment you stop your bike).

Taking a small road paralleling the river, I took off to the north, with the goal of visiting the largest wat (Buddhist monastary) in Cambodia. Like everything else, it is completely understated and really off in the middle of almost nowhere. I didn't get very far before running smack into the tail end of a victory parade. Turns out one of the boat racing teams I had probably watched in Phnom Penh was making its triumphant return to their home village. Dozens of men walked along side their (now wheeled) boat banging on drums, shouting, waving to the locals who lined the roadside. They were all as excited to see me as I was to see them, so I joined the parade on my motorbike for a few minutes before zooming off. A very cool way to top off the Bon Om Tuk experience.

Further along the road, I passed the parking area for the "dolphin tours" which was quickly filling with tourists. Apparently they would climb into boats and their guides would motor out into the middle of the river and begin the hunt for the elusive dolphins. Two miles beyond that, I pulled off the side of the road for a drink of water and, lo and behold, right in front of me (to be fair, maybe 200 yards away) was a pod of five or six Irrawaddy dolphins repeatedly surfacing and diving! HA!! I had found the dolphins myself and for the next half hour a couple of local kids tending their cows and I sat on the river bank and enjoyed the show. Before long the tour boats had arrived and (perhaps vindictivly) blocked our no-fee-paying views. Oh well, not only had I been in my first Cambodian parade, I had also seen my first river dolphins. Quite a morning - and what a great way to end my stay in the country.

If all goes well, it's off to Laos in the morning.