Cambodia 2015

Tuesday3November

Second wake-up at Lakeside Guesthouse.

Today, we take the bus to Andoung Tuek village, where we can reach Chi Phat, the starting point of our small trek in the Cardamom Mountains jungle.

First stop in Sre Ambel.

1 hour later, here we are in front of the motorized boat that will take us to our destination.

We are on the Preak Piphot river. It will take 2 hours of navigation to reach Chi Phat.

But quickly, torrents of water soak our luggage and, incidentally, our small selves...   Fortunately, the heavy downpour was short-lived...

Upon our arrival in Chi Phat, we can eat. We are at the Wildlife Alliance and Chi Phat community, an ecotourism-based NGO that works hand in hand with the villagers to preserve the region.

The Asian buffalo (Bubalus bubalis).

Short walk in the surroundings

Our guide Tuy Vanak who will accompany us for these few days.

The (small) rapids of the Chhay chrey river.

Return to the village for dinner. On the right, the hostess with whom we will spend the first and last night.

Wednesday4November

5:30 AM, early wake-up to start our expedition to the Cardamom jungle where we will stay for only one day... We will be 5, not counting our guide and the cooks, as a friendly Spanish-Berlin-American photographer joins our small group.

The journey begins with a motorized boat.

Then a few small boats come to dock with our vessel. These are the same boats we will take later to finish the navigation.

Our local Mac lunch...

That's it, here we are on our small boats gliding on the mirror-like water of the Stung Preat river.

We disembark in the middle of the jungle.

The cooks accompanying us pull up their socks over their pants and soak them with a mysterious product... They are simply protecting themselves from the leeches that our calves will encounter all along the way!!!   Obviously, we hasten to do the same with mosquito spray as a repellent!

It's not a leech we'll encounter first, but a Nephila pilipes spider, very common at these latitudes.

3 hours of walking in the dense tropical forest of the Cardamoms, with some reasonable elevation changes at times...

Lunch break along the river.

Listen to the strident sound of these invisible insects (some kind of crickets?)... Truly impressive!

Refreshing fresh water... but with its crabs!

Our cooks at work.

Graphium Doson butterflies come to quench their thirst...

Our satisfying plate.

We resume the trails. In just 1h30 we will be at our bivouac where we will spend the night.

The leech is indeed present but doesn't attack everyone! I removed one or two from my shoes, but Christelle was literally harassed by these little creatures. Her socks were bloody! Here's the little creature looking for prey...

Very thin, it measures 1 to 2 cm. But that's, of course, before gorging itself on blood.

And here is the small makeshift camp where we will stay until morning.

In our bags provided at the start, we had hammocks. We set them up under this shelter that will protect us from the impending rain...

A large centipede invites itself... Do not approach it because its bite is extremely painful and hospitals are very far away... So we are very happy to sleep far from this inhospitable ground, suspended in our hammocks...

The centipede Scolopendra subspinipes?

Thursday5November

7:00 AM, breakfast! Noodles and omelette... To be honest, it was hard to swallow...  

The small morning dew on the white flowers of the Cardamom Mountains.

An exuvia. Carapace left by insect molting. The source of the strident noise we heard the day before???

Weaver worker ants (Oecophylla smaragdina).

And a yellow caterpillar with black spots...

And we're off again for about 4 hours of walking to reach Chi Phat.

An agama specific to the Cardamom region, hence its Latin name acanthosaura cardamomensis.

The claw marks left by a Malayan sun bear (helarctos malayanus)!  

A "water tree". Cut a branch, it's full of water, just help yourself from the end of the spout!  

After 3 hours of walking, a change of scenery, we leave the tropical forest.

We cross paths with a Calotes emma agama.

That's it, the civilized world is approaching.

The first houses of Chi Phat

End of the walk, we'll be able to eat!

Below flows the small waterfall of Chhay kpos. It will be an opportunity for us to swim and clean up!  

A little further, a branch and its grey heron (ardea cinerea)...

Our meal.

We take the paths of Chi Phat again to reach our accommodation.

The house that welcomes us. The living room with its multi-plug TV... The bedroom, tidied by us...

The bathroom. It's not a bathtub but a water tank for showering with the pink basin. To the right, the toilet with the same system.

Back to the center to return the backpacks and eat. With the charming company of a Tokay gecko watching us from the ceiling...  

Friday6November

7:00 AM. We leave our hosts to meet the motorbikes that will take us to the bus.

Our big travel bags between the driver's legs, and us behind!

Crossing the ford on the Preak Piphot river at the end of the village.

One of the most enjoyable moments of the trip: the exhilarating speed of the motorbike, with the Cambodian countryside scrolling along the red and wet dirt roads...

The motorbikes drop us off at Andoung Teuk where we have to take the bus to Phnom Penh.

Short stop in Sre Ambel.

Grapefruits, kaffir limes, salak fruits, etc, etc...

Our bus. Approximately 4 hours of travel are needed to reach the capital.