|
|
Post by hwinpp on Jun 21, 2011 5:33:19 GMT
Last Friday morning I took my small daypack, met two friends at Central Market and got on the Sorya bus to Banlung. I'd been there 5 years ago and I was anticipating huge changes. Alas, there weren't as many as I'd expected. The trip up was nothing special. The bus left at 7.45, we arrived at O Pong Moan at 3.30pm. had had two stops by then, one just before Skuon, one just after Kratie. At O Pong Moan (famous for honey pineapples) you get to the junction where the red road turns off to Banlung. The first half hour is easy, the road is newly graded and very smooth. But then you get to another junction, where the road splits. The right fork (southern) takes you onto the new road, while the left fork takes you along the old road. As all funding is going into the new road (which will hopefully be finished in time for the dry season, important is the bridge over the Srepok) the old road has got worse. So while getting up top O Pong Moan is faster than it was 5 years ago, we needed four hours and a bit to traverse the last 110km or so to get to Banlung. So going there took a total of 12 hours and cost 10USD.  Here's a bit of a close- up.  The junction at O Pong Moan and the red road heading to Banlung  We had one more short stop just after where the new road branches off and arrived in Banlung in a drizzle after nightfall. We'd picked the Sovankiri Hotel to stay at, 20USD per room, whether single, double or triple. It's nothing great but adequate with cable TV, ensuite bathrooms and air cons (no fans). Better options would be Norden House or Terres Rouges (that's added a pool in the last five years). The next morning we rented scooters (5USD each for the whole day) and went about our business, my friends to see some waterfalls and the reclining Buddha, me to see the border crossing with Vietnam. After a simple breakfast, to be frank it was a crappy breakfast, the 'pork over rice' was crap, the kuy tiev looked ok, with VN style herbs and fresh veggies served, the coffee was good (VN). Setting off down the main drag  The motorcycle rental place (and the Pajero we'd rented for the next day to go to Voen Sai, 60USD).  Heading out to the border  Rolling hills and 3 villages, Phum Thmei, Borkeo and O Yadav. No forests along the road  Somewhere along the way a, no doubt, authentic tourist attraction...    A pitiful little leftover spirit house in front of a rubber plantation   Pepper plantations going up right, left and center   Can't remember seeing these cigarettes in PP  And then, the big new attraction at the border   Then, after 1 1/2 hours, the border crossing, all the buildings you can see are on the Cambo side. They wouldn't let me walk around the corner to see the VN post, they did say that at the VN post the road was better than in no- man's land   Returned to Banlung after that but had to duck into this little restaurant in Borkeo because there was a heavy rainshower that lasted enough time to drink my excellent ice coffee and eat my lousy noodles. The owner and his wife had earned the money to open the shop in the casinos of Poipet and were from Kampong Cham. I asked them what made them decide to open shop in a place like Borkeo and they replied 'money'. In fact a lot of the people I spoke with were from other parts of the country and had gone there for business opportunities, true pioneers.  Mobile sweets vendor  And back in Banlung  |
|
|
|
Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 21, 2011 20:04:47 GMT
Interesting as always Hwinpp...I the second to last pic especially. ;D
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2011 20:48:01 GMT
The abandoned spirit house is timeless -- it could be 5 years old or 30 years old.
The building with the very steep roof is interesting. Is it a private dwelling?
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jun 21, 2011 20:56:03 GMT
Wow, HW, that was quite the trek! What made you all decide to go up there? From what you said in the OP, I guess you expected much more development. What's the deal with the casinos & the cheap (I presume) cigarettes right there on the border? Are those things not available on the Vietnamese side?
A couple more questions, please. What is the building in the pic right above the cigarette billboard? And are the pepper plantations springing up because it's rainy season?
I just love your trip reports because you include the good, the bad, & the ugly.
|
|
|
|
Post by mich64 on Jun 21, 2011 22:06:58 GMT
What would the sweets be that the man on the bike sells? Enjoyed the report, always so interested in reading about where you live.
Cheers!
Mich
|
|
|
|
Post by hwinpp on Jun 22, 2011 2:49:16 GMT
Interesting as always Hwinpp...I the second to last pic especially. ;D That man is selling one of the favourite childrens' snacks in Cambodia. It consists of either black or white sticky rice that is mixed with sugar. Then coconut meat is grated over it. The abandoned spirit house is timeless -- it could be 5 years old or 30 years old. The building with the very steep roof is interesting. Is it a private dwelling? I think it's the communal meeting place built in this particular ethnicity's style. Wow, HW, that was quite the trek! What made you all decide to go up there? From what you said in the OP, I guess you expected much more development. What's the deal with the casinos & the cheap (I presume) cigarettes right there on the border? Are those things not available on the Vietnamese side? A couple more questions, please. What is the building in the pic right above the cigarette billboard? And are the pepper plantations springing up because it's rainy season? I just love your trip reports because you include the good, the bad, & the ugly. The trip ain't over yet I was indeed expecting more progress. Starting with the road. It's worse than it was 5 years ago. This is due to a new road being built, which gets all the investment. Bad for the villages along the old road because the government will stop maintaining it completely meaning those people will be completely cut off when the jungle reclaims it or they will have to move. Banlung itself is 'same same'. The market area has been redone, some roads have been asphalted, electricity comes from Vietnam. But otherwise it looks more or less the same, the airstrip is in disuse because the only plane flying in has stopped flying, restaurants are few and empty and it rains, and rains, and rains because it's in the highlands. When we arrived it had been raining every day several times for 2 weeks already. The casino is for the Vietnamese. In Vietnam casinos are illegal (same goes for Thailand) so Cambodia builds casinos all along its borders. It brings in a bit of money but the locals won't benefit. I actually just photographed the cigarettes because I don't recall ever seeing them in Phnom Penh. Liberation must refer to the Vietnamese 'liberation', so having the advertisement right there on the border in front of the casino to welcome the Vietnamese punters is a bit ironic. The pepper plantations confused me too. Cambodia's famous pepper comes from Kampot in the south. It's been a pepper growing area for as long as Eastern Indonesia has been, probably for a thousand years. I'd have thought the government would invest more down there and try to build up the 'Kampot Pepper' brand. What would the sweets be that the man on the bike sells? Enjoyed the report, always so interested in reading about where you live. Cheers! Mich Explained above, Mitch |
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jun 22, 2011 3:22:40 GMT
The trip ain't over yet  Whew, that's a relief! Not only do we want more, dammit, more, but as far as we know, you're still stuck out there in that muddy hinterland. Thanks for the great answers. |
|
|
|
Post by hwinpp on Jun 22, 2011 6:10:11 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jun 22, 2011 17:08:16 GMT
HW, that picture of the mountain redoubt is fabulous. I had to look twice to see it wasn't a painting. Really beautiful.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2011 18:01:04 GMT
I really like that last set of photos, it makes the relevance of such a trip much clearer.
WTF was the Norden House doing there? Did it have a lot of local customers?
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2011 18:14:55 GMT
Well told as always, hwinpp. I'm glad you put the prices in for the rental of the scooter ($5.00) that's pretty good. And $20 for the motel, seems amazingly cheap to me. And the red chairs! Nice touch.
|
|
|
|
Post by hwinpp on Jun 23, 2011 2:20:08 GMT
HW, that picture of the mountain redoubt is fabulous. I had to look twice to see it wasn't a painting. Really beautiful. It's a hotel, with some bungalows for rent. A nice place but deserted. Once the new road is finished local tourists will start arriving, then this place will get customers, and probably have to lower the prices. 95% of local tourists refuse to pay more than 15USD for a room, and they'll probably pack 10 people into one! I really like that last set of photos, it makes the relevance of such a trip much clearer. WTF was the Norden House doing there? Did it have a lot of local customers? Norden House belongs to a Swede who used to own the Scandic Hotel in Phnom Penh, you might have heard of it, was very popular while he had it. He got fed up with PP maybe 4 years ago and moved to Ratanakiri to do dirt bike tours all over the northeast. There are 6 or 7 bungalows on the property and all but one are rented long term to NGO people so he's doing ok. He also told me it was easier getting back to civilization via the VN border than taking that 12 hour trip back to PP via Cambodia  Well told as always, hwinpp. I'm glad you put the prices in for the rental of the scooter ($5.00) that's pretty good. And $20 for the motel, seems amazingly cheap to me. And the red chairs! Nice touch. LOL! I'm writing this also for a Cambodia based expat forum and that's why I put in the prices, distances, driving times and road conditions. Right at the market in the middle of town there's a big guest house that caters to independent travellers (actually most do as there's not much organized tourism), the cheapest fan rooms are going for 3USD ;D Those red chairs aren't very common, usually they're light blue, made of plastic and the cheapest sitting instruments since logging has come under control. |
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jun 23, 2011 3:10:04 GMT
He also told me it was easier getting back to civilization via the VN border than taking that 12 hour trip back to PP via Cambodia So did you test that out on the return trip? |
|
|
|
Post by hwinpp on Jun 23, 2011 3:58:23 GMT
On day 2 we got an early start, our intention being to get to Voen Sai on the Sesan, get on a boat, then head upriver a bit to see some minority village with its graveyard. We'd be back in Voen Sai for lunch then see another minority village on the way back. This is how it started out  We reached Voen Sai in about an hour, a little village with a small market selling some vegetables and prahok   People at the landing point, waiting for the ferry    This is where the ferry went. From there to Siempang is 3 hours on a motorbike I was told. From Siem Pang there are minivans back to Stung Treng, so no backtracking involved if you do this loop with a scooter or dirt bike.  None of these boats were ours  Instead this band of brigands turned up, practicing their English, which consisted of A, B, C, D...  I went on a little look- see around town, nothing much...   Vietnamese pot bellied pigs replace the regular pink porkers we get  And finally I got the missed call telling me our boat was arriving  As soon as we were on the boat it started raining    After about an hour we arrived at the Kachok village. The Kachok are supposed to be closer to nature than the tribes that live in the vicinity of Banlung  These young women were collecting water  A second boat arrived right after us  |
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Jun 23, 2011 5:07:42 GMT
I don't know why but every time I look through your threads I get hot and sweaty with the humidity.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2011 5:31:26 GMT
"Closer to nature?" How much closer to nature can you get?
This last set of pictures is particularly stunning.
|
|
|
|
Post by hwinpp on Jun 23, 2011 7:19:44 GMT
Wow! You're all up early! He also told me it was easier getting back to civilization via the VN border than taking that 12 hour trip back to PP via Cambodia So did you test that out on the return trip? No, we already had our return tickets and none of us had a visa for Vietnam. What he does is drive to Pleike, maybe 3 hours away, then fly down to Saigon. Banlung has an airstrip but it's not been used for 2 years. Medical supplies used to come in by plane. I don't know why but every time I look through your threads I get hot and sweaty with the humidity. Yes, most of Cambodia is like that. Least so in Siem Reap, I liked the weather there best. Every time the Philippines get a tropical depression we get rain as well. "Closer to nature?" How much closer to nature can you get? This last set of pictures is particularly stunning. The Kachang are supposedly the least willing to accept outside help, neither from the government nor from NGOs. They also live in the most remote places and still do the buffalo sacrifice. BTW, this river, the Sesan, is actually the river that Captain Willard sails up in Apocalypse Now. And Colonel Kurtz's natives are these hilltribes and the scene where they sacrifice the buffalo is based on reality. The Krachang and the Jarai (another tribe that doesn't want to assimilate, gave the French the hardest time during colonial times) are allegedly the last to do this buffalo sacrifice. |
|
|
|
Post by onlymark on Jun 23, 2011 7:41:57 GMT
Mosquito's. That's what I also think of - mosquito's.
What do you do. Do you use any form of protection?
|
|
|
|
Post by hwinpp on Jun 23, 2011 8:30:33 GMT
I don't use anything except try not to get bitten.
If I'm out in the boonies the minimum is sleeping under a fan, if possible I get air con rooms.
At home we use Raid or Baygone to keep the house mosquito free.
Here we have many more dengue cases than malaria cases (those are mostly along the Thai border). Nothing you can do about dengue.
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jun 23, 2011 13:09:56 GMT
...head upriver a bit to see some minority village with its graveyard. We'd be back in Voen Sai for lunch then see another minority village on the way back. HW, are these minorities simply tribes, or actually a genetically different group of people from the general population? And are the two minority villages you saw two distinct peoples? I suppose the Krachang and the Jarai are indigenous peoples who would naturally consider the French & subsequent governments interlopers. Is that correct? Also, do they speak a distinct language(s)? This whole thread is intensely interesting -- so completely rural. You've taken some amazing pictures for it, too. Really, you make us feel we're there. Love your people pictures -- the little boys and the women gathering water, especially. Boy, those are narrow, low-gunwaled boats and a big, fast-moving river! We reached Voen Sai in about an hour, a little village with a small market selling some vegetables and prahok Prahok? Lots of questions, I know, but this is all so interesting and beautiful, so your fault! |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2011 23:33:37 GMT
Quote from hwinpp:
Jeez....hard to believe. What does it mean by 'fan' room? Is there a fan attached somewhere in the room?
|
|
|
|
Post by hwinpp on Jun 24, 2011 7:39:03 GMT
...head upriver a bit to see some minority village with its graveyard. We'd be back in Voen Sai for lunch then see another minority village on the way back. HW, are these minorities simply tribes, or actually a genetically different group of people from the general population? And are the two minority villages you saw two distinct peoples? I suppose the Krachang and the Jarai are indigenous peoples who would naturally consider the French & subsequent governments interlopers. Is that correct? Also, do they speak a distinct language(s)? This whole thread is intensely interesting -- so completely rural. You've taken some amazing pictures for it, too. Really, you make us feel we're there. Love your people pictures -- the little boys and the women gathering water, especially. Boy, those are narrow, low-gunwaled boats and a big, fast-moving river! We reached Voen Sai in about an hour, a little village with a small market selling some vegetables and prahok Prahok? Lots of questions, I know, but this is all so interesting and beautiful, so your fault! The minorities are different tribes (in Thailand, Burma and Laos they're actually called hilltribes, which lumps them together a bit, ethnic minority is the name they're given in Vietnam, Cambodia and China). In Cambodia they mostly speak Mon- Khmer languages, meaning they're all related, albeit distantly. They consider themselves the 'older relatives' of the Khmer so they do see a connection; Apart from the Jarai and the Krachang there are more integrated groups, such as the Tampuon and the Kreung in Ratanakiri and the Phnong in Mondolkiri, one province south. There are other ethnicities spread all over the country but they've practically disappeared, one tribe even down to 10 members who speak their own language (forgotten their name). That area of South East Asia has always been particularly inaccessible. The Viets, Thais, Lao and Khmers used to go there on slaving expeditions up to the 19 hundreds, so people there have been paricularly distrustful of all outsiders not just the French. Funnily enough, those on the VN side sided with the Americans in the Vietnam War (known as the Montagnards), while those on the Cambodian side of the border belonged to the first Khmer Rouge supporters. Prahok is the Cambodian version of fermented fish. There are many different kinds and Cambodians love it. It can contain whole fish, bits of fish, it can be creamy, lots of styles. As it's a bit pungent not everybody eats it. It can also give you liver flukes if prepared with infected fish...  Quote from hwinpp: Jeez....hard to believe. What does it mean by 'fan' room? Is there a fan attached somewhere in the room? Yes. A fan room contains a fan, either wall or ceiling mounted. If you sleep in the breeze it creates, it is highly unlikely a mosquito will bite you. Fan rooms and air con rooms are not always available in remote areas or very simple accommodation. Those places will then have a mosquito net and will offer you mosquito coils to burn at night. Sometimes you won't have electricity to operate them. The Cambodians are good at improvising though. I've stayed a couple of times in huts that used a car battery to operate a fan for the night. The owner brings the car battery to a shop the next morning that's on the electricity grid or has a generator, and the battery gets refilled for a fee ;D |
|
|
|
Post by hwinpp on Jun 24, 2011 8:41:04 GMT
And so we entered the village   A raised herb garden  Near the village a lot of corn being grown   Then about 30 minutes walking distance along the river the graveyard. It reminded me of the Tampuon graveyard downriver (that I'd visited 5 years ago), with the same male and female statues and the buffalo skulls inside.  After the graveyard we returned to the river. Our guide to the graveyard was a man in his 60s, he was wearing KR sandals! When we asked him about them he said he was ex KR, the whole village had embraced the KR. His sandals were good though, he was quite proud of them. Leaving  Second time heading straight into the rain that day...  Then taking the Pajero back to Banlung  Homesteads and vehicles along the way   We stopped at a Kreung village along the way back but as it was raining I just got into the communal house and had a smoke while the others got wet for the third time that day. I'd been there before anyway, so had seen the boy and girl houses. The village was prospering, the houses were sturdier, there was a classroom and it seemed cleaner overall. The guide said it was because of the money coming in from visitors and a couple of NGOs that had adopted the village as it was right beside the main road... ;D Back in Banlung, at the market    And a familiar sight in Cambodia, somebody on a drip, riding a motorbike ;D  Last dinner at a BBQ place just around the corner from Terres Rouges BBQ'd whole veal and veggies  Fresh beef salad and char kdau sach moan, chicken fried with holy basil  And finally, leaving the next morning, we said goodbye to the disused airstrip heading out of town  |
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Jun 24, 2011 9:14:42 GMT
Your photos are great HW!
I loved these the best:
The children peeping at you around the corner of the house.
The herb box kept level with garbage bottles.
The little kid pointing at his choice of balloon whilst being held onto by mom.
|
|
|
|
Post by hwinpp on Jun 24, 2011 10:07:30 GMT
Thanks, Tod.
The village was practically empty. We just saw the few women collecting water and these children. The adults were in the fields or at the market or whatever, working anyway.
One thing that was pointed out, the houses aren't on private land but on land belonging to the village, no fences either.
The rice and cornfields are in private ownership though.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2011 12:04:57 GMT
More great pictures. I like the way the structure is build so above the ground, they must be used to a lot rain over there? btw - why does the person on the bike have a drip, is there a reason that it's such a common sight?
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jun 24, 2011 16:35:02 GMT
Geeez-looweez, HW! This last group of photos alone would have been worth the price of admission. And your background information, along with your excellent answers are teaching me so much about not only Cambodia, but the surrounding countries. The Cambodians are good at improvising though. Another parallel with Mexico, the reason "Sí se puede" is such a catchphrase here. Ditto the drip, I think, which seems to be considered a cure-all here, along with excessive use of antibiotics. But you never see anyone running around the streets here with his drip. Absolutely love all the pictures, but that young buffalo(?) pic is really super. In the picture of the crop being grown near the village, I think that is ginger and not corn. Whatever, a great photo. I'm glad to see all that traveling around in the rain culminated in a yummy meal. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2011 17:00:03 GMT
I like the little girl standing in the cart.
|
|
|
|
Post by mich64 on Jun 24, 2011 18:05:56 GMT
Hi hwinpp, really enjoying your adventure in Ratanakiri. In reply number #13, the photos of the market, what are those black eggs from? I love the picture of the three children shying all together on the stairs. Cheers, Mitch  |
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Jun 24, 2011 19:50:58 GMT
What is special about KR sandals? How did you identify them?
|
|
