27th – 28th October 

Pagoda Sunset 

The bus to Kratie (pronounced “krat che”) had the usual long stop at a random road side eating place, as well as the many other road side stops to drop off and pick up locals. It also flew down the roads! It was comfy enough though. It was sooooooooo hot arriving in Kratie, after the jungle this stifling dry heat was immobilising, I was sweating immensely walking from the bus stop to the guesthouse. The balcony guesthouse provided a much needed haven! I really liked the vibe & layout here. They have a restaurant on the first floor and rooms up the top floor off a really cool open wall hangout, with swinging chairs, beanbags and the nice balcony that looks out over the Mekong river that I’d come to love so much. The rooms were a bit warm, but very spacious and individual fans helped keep it cool enough at night.

After a chill on the balcony with a pineapple juice and some lunch, I got chatting to a guy from Peru who was heading off for sunset at the nearby Phnom Sambok Pagoda (temple). One thing I love about Asia is you can always jump on the back of a motorbike! 🏍 

Ok, the sunset view wasn’t amazing, as it was a bit obstructed by trees, but the pagoda was really cool! The steps leading up were lined with a procession of life size monk statues, much like one I visited in Sri Lanka. This pagoda had a peaceful feel to it, we chatted about Peru as the sun went down, we also had a little chat to the monks there at the time before heading back to the hostel. We then went into town to see if we could grab some food from the night market, but by then everything was packed up, so we went to a restaurant and had a small meal, then had a couple of happy hour beers on the balcony before hitting the hay. I was so excited about tomorrow, the chance to see the elusive Irawaddy River Dolphins!! 

Irawaddy River Dolphins

Wildlife is my passion and the thought of catching a glimpse of such a rare animal was too exciting!! It’s so sad that there’s estimated to be less than 100 of this species of dolphin left in the wild, when I get home I’m interested to follow up on their conservation strategy. 

TIP: This is another area of Cambodia that is less frequently visited by travellers – it’s a small town but I really enjoyed my short time here. If you’re travelling overland into Cambodia from Laos Kratie makes the perfect stop over! Just make sure you make some time for the dolphins! And I would definitely recommend staying at the Balcony Guesthouse.

I set off in a tuk tuk with a German couple in their 60’s and a young French couple to an area just up the Mekong river where these special animals live. The small boats took us out onto the river and to my delight we saw a fin slice through the water within minutes! There were some points I was a little unsure of the ‘chasing’ methods of the boat drivers to show us the dolphins, but generally I think they were an ok distance away. They were beautiful and so different to other dolphin species with completely different shaped heads – we saw at least 5 elegantly gliding through the water – a really special moment. HOWEVER, it is extremely bloody difficult to get a decent picture of dolphins, especially on your phone!! So my one regret of that day has to be my obsession to try and get a good picture and video.

TIP: Remember not to spend all your time behind a camera lens. I know it sounds obvious and I’m sure it’s been tipped a million times over, so this is just a reminder. I enjoyed the experience far more when I put that camera down and used my eyes!! 👀 

Included in this little tour was ………. a visit to the Phnom Sambok Pagoda! 😂 I was happy to visit again, and after a tip from the French couple, I decided to go in search of monkeys in the trees around the Pagoda! (Also hard to photograph on your phone, I took a many better ones with my camera). They’re so funny to watch, I followed a young juvenile venturing between two groups of adults testing his jumping abilities, too cute!

Back at the hostel I had some time to write more of my blog, once again enjoying a refreshing ice coffee on the cool balcony overlooking the Mekong – love it!

A Slice Of Rural Cambodia 

Later in the afternoon I took a mini ferry over to Krong island – a small island in the middle of the delta with a rural community living on there. I hired a bicycle and rode round the whole thing. I bloody loved it! A real slice of rural Cambodian life with no cars, hotels and plenty of farmland. Catching the ferry back, the sun was setting and I felt a real relaxation 😌.

As I’d missed the small night market the previous night, I went straight from the ferry to the centre of town. I bumped into a guy who had chatted to us the night before and we wandered round the tiny market picking out some bbq fish & other bits. It turns out he was there for a year to assess the effectiveness of some of the habitat conservation work going on in the area (a month on my mind escapes me as to exactly what conservation work he particularly focussed on). It was really interesting and he was only a week in to his work there. We went back to eat our food on the balcony and enjoy happy hour drinks. I went to bed early with an early bus booked the following morning to Siem Reap!