12.06.2014
Again in the early morning on the 9th of June I had to take my next bus to Sen Monorom. So I left my homestay without breakfast and took the small boat. Of course the bus was not leaving in time. I had to sit and wait for 1,5 hours and then the public bus was slow as usual. So I arrived quite late. But as Julie recommended me a place, there was no stress. A Spanish girl from the bus, Lorea, was staying there as well. We decided to do a 2 day jungle trek with elephant riding on the next morning. To stay in the Mondulkiri area was already quite an adventure. The dorm bungalow and the entire hostel was full of hairy grubs and other strange insects. In the night I could get a first impression of the monsoon, as it was raining and storming all night. The sound under the metal roof has been strong, as there seemed to be a tree over the roof, which is losing heavy fruits from time to time. I couldn`t believe my eyes the next morning, as I saw that no branch was hanging over the bungalow. Creepy. What a good start for a jungle tour.
After some minutes in the car our trek started on a good footpath through some forest and some wide meadows - nothing like the jungle we imagined. Everything was muddy and slippery from the rain. The weather was perfect for a walk, as the sun was behind some clouds. We saw a waterfall, which was full of red muddy water. Sadly the local guide couldn´t answer a lot of my questions, so it was quite a boring walk to the waterfall we planned to stay the night. Nara, the guide, showed us on the way a leech, like a little grubs on the ground. I already could get an impression at the fight you will have with them, as I took off my shoes to cross a river. In that time I already had 3. I pulled them but with two sucking ends they always gluing on you with one. It is burning as they suck. I won the fight and run over, just to find out, that Lorea found a huge full one on her leg as she put out the shoes. Nara made some fire and set up a plastic plane roof for our hammocks in case the rain comes back. Lorea and I had a quick bath and set up the hammocks. After the bath we rubbed ourselves with garlic, as they say it helps against mosquitos and sprayed us and put on long pants in the socks. Just as the dinner was ready, the monsoon said 'HI' again. We layed in our hammocks, drinking some rice wine against the cold and the boredom. But as it was finished there was nothing to do at 7:30pm then go to sleep.
The night was cold but ok. There was no fire in the morning as all wood was wet. But we had a lot leftover from dinner. We saw another waterfall, bursting full of water. Happy that it was not raining anymore, we packed our still wet things and left for a trek through some real jungle. Suddenly I found myself fighting with the little Vampires, trying to get in my socks and shoes, seeing hand-sized poisoned scorpions, a hand-sized coloured spider hanging in our way and cutting a way through bamboo and other fast growing plants. I had to wait till a next waterfall to get more water, as mine finished in the night. The ground was super slippery. Every time we stopped for some seconds to check for some leech, there came more around us. I wondered if they can smell my good blood, so I made the test. One was coming straight in my direction. I made a huge step behind it. It stopped, put one end in the air like it smells around and changed its direction towards me. I got a bit scared and we walked faster to get out of the jungle. After two hours we arrived at some burned and planted areas. In one Nara´s brother waited for lunch with us. We made a soup in bamboo and a normal pot full of instant soup. As we wanted to leave, the rain started again. We waited for 10 more minutes and really it stopped as we stood up. Happy to not get wet Nara told us to cross another river, this time without a tree laying over it. From the rain the current was quite strong, so we hold hands as we walked through. I wanted to get rid of my old shoes anyway, but actually just after Angkor Wat. Finally we arrived at a river, where an elephant was taking a bath. We put on our bikinis and went in. For the ride for the next village we put on the last dry cloth that we had and sit on the huge old lady. In slow elephant speed she walked up the hill. At some point she stopped and looked left. Second´s later heavy rain smashed us from the left side. The wind blew strong high on an elephant´s back.
My primark rain jacket is not monsoon safe, so we hoped that the
elephant would walk a bit faster that we would finally arrive. Thinking of a
cold shower and a cold bungalow, my mood sunk rapidly. As we arrived at the
hostel and saw that the owners didn´t hang up our washed things before the rain
as we asked for, we got really pissed. But a Cambodian table BBQ safed the
night. Early again we left today to Phnom Phen with a bag full of wet, dirty and
smelly cloth.
Again in the early morning on the 9th of June I had to take my next bus to Sen Monorom. So I left my homestay without breakfast and took the small boat. Of course the bus was not leaving in time. I had to sit and wait for 1,5 hours and then the public bus was slow as usual. So I arrived quite late. But as Julie recommended me a place, there was no stress. A Spanish girl from the bus, Lorea, was staying there as well. We decided to do a 2 day jungle trek with elephant riding on the next morning. To stay in the Mondulkiri area was already quite an adventure. The dorm bungalow and the entire hostel was full of hairy grubs and other strange insects. In the night I could get a first impression of the monsoon, as it was raining and storming all night. The sound under the metal roof has been strong, as there seemed to be a tree over the roof, which is losing heavy fruits from time to time. I couldn`t believe my eyes the next morning, as I saw that no branch was hanging over the bungalow. Creepy. What a good start for a jungle tour.
After some minutes in the car our trek started on a good footpath through some forest and some wide meadows - nothing like the jungle we imagined. Everything was muddy and slippery from the rain. The weather was perfect for a walk, as the sun was behind some clouds. We saw a waterfall, which was full of red muddy water. Sadly the local guide couldn´t answer a lot of my questions, so it was quite a boring walk to the waterfall we planned to stay the night. Nara, the guide, showed us on the way a leech, like a little grubs on the ground. I already could get an impression at the fight you will have with them, as I took off my shoes to cross a river. In that time I already had 3. I pulled them but with two sucking ends they always gluing on you with one. It is burning as they suck. I won the fight and run over, just to find out, that Lorea found a huge full one on her leg as she put out the shoes. Nara made some fire and set up a plastic plane roof for our hammocks in case the rain comes back. Lorea and I had a quick bath and set up the hammocks. After the bath we rubbed ourselves with garlic, as they say it helps against mosquitos and sprayed us and put on long pants in the socks. Just as the dinner was ready, the monsoon said 'HI' again. We layed in our hammocks, drinking some rice wine against the cold and the boredom. But as it was finished there was nothing to do at 7:30pm then go to sleep.
 |
| The camp for the night in the jungle |
The night was cold but ok. There was no fire in the morning as all wood was wet. But we had a lot leftover from dinner. We saw another waterfall, bursting full of water. Happy that it was not raining anymore, we packed our still wet things and left for a trek through some real jungle. Suddenly I found myself fighting with the little Vampires, trying to get in my socks and shoes, seeing hand-sized poisoned scorpions, a hand-sized coloured spider hanging in our way and cutting a way through bamboo and other fast growing plants. I had to wait till a next waterfall to get more water, as mine finished in the night. The ground was super slippery. Every time we stopped for some seconds to check for some leech, there came more around us. I wondered if they can smell my good blood, so I made the test. One was coming straight in my direction. I made a huge step behind it. It stopped, put one end in the air like it smells around and changed its direction towards me. I got a bit scared and we walked faster to get out of the jungle. After two hours we arrived at some burned and planted areas. In one Nara´s brother waited for lunch with us. We made a soup in bamboo and a normal pot full of instant soup. As we wanted to leave, the rain started again. We waited for 10 more minutes and really it stopped as we stood up. Happy to not get wet Nara told us to cross another river, this time without a tree laying over it. From the rain the current was quite strong, so we hold hands as we walked through. I wanted to get rid of my old shoes anyway, but actually just after Angkor Wat. Finally we arrived at a river, where an elephant was taking a bath. We put on our bikinis and went in. For the ride for the next village we put on the last dry cloth that we had and sit on the huge old lady. In slow elephant speed she walked up the hill. At some point she stopped and looked left. Second´s later heavy rain smashed us from the left side. The wind blew strong high on an elephant´s back.
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