Mondo Trekking Cambodia Style 💚 Complete Story

Trekking trek·king

Webster’s Dictionary defines Trekking as

1. chiefly South African a: to travel by ox wagon b: to migrate by ox wagon or in a train of such

2. to make one’s way arduously;

Mondo mon·do

Webster’s Dictionary defines Mondo as

1. slang: extreme

 Well I wasn’t going to Africa (even though wanted to), and I was surely not going by ox wagon anywhere, so it was going to have to be an arduous journey. I was on my way back to Cambodia. I had been there twice before but back in the early 90’s when it was still called Kampuchea and Pol Pot with his band of renowned were still blowing stuff up, torturing, and killing people. Going anywhere through the jungle was extremely dangerous at that time even by ox cart. There had been approximate 7 million Cambodians give or take the 1 to 3 million the Khmer Rouge murdered, and there was still over 8 million landmines floating around. My Brother and I had taken the train from Battambang to Phnom Penh and according to the gentleman we asked it took 12 to 14 hours and as long as there was no “bang bang bang” then it would not take longer. Now the tracks are gone and you can make the same trip by bus in less than 6 hours. Yes Cambodia has changed for the better. I was planning to try my luck trekking in the outer provinces of Mondulkiri or Ratanakiri.

 The flight from San Francisco to Bangkok was just as long as I remembered, and while I was going to try and make it into Cambodia the first day, I had brain fade so I spent one night in Bangkok and booked a mini bus to Seim Reap for the next morning.

Off to Cambodia

The people I met on the mini bus had paid for their Cambodian visas in Bangkok and while I am not sure what they paid you can bet it was too much. Visas are available at the border for only $20.00. I smiled as met two girls in line at customs who had paid $41.00 each in Bangkok. But what do you expect they were from Poland. Of course when I went to pay the immigration agent told me it was $20.00 plus a 100 baht service charge ($3.50). I just laughed and said “No Service Charge” and didn’t pay. Some things never change. On our first trip here they tried to charge us $50 dollars per visa and when I wouldn’t pay they confiscated our pass ports. There was no American Embassy at the time so it took us 4 days to get our visas back but in the end we only ended up paying $20 dollars each. Now the guy from the mini bus service that took us across the border was telling the people I was with that the continuation bus we had paid for in advance was not coming until 3:30 and that  it took 5 hours so we were better off taking a cab which he would arrange, I’m sure for a hefty commission. So I checked with the bus people and they said it leaves at 2:20 (which was in 45 minutes) and that the trip takes 3 hours. Despite this, the guy from the mini bus service still almost talked our group into taking a cab. After all this, the guy then had the gall to ask me for tip. I said you tried to rip me and my friends off, here’s a tip, “don’t try to rip people off and you might get one”

Seim Reap

 After arriving in Seim Reap I found a nice hotel with a pool, air-conditioning, hot water, and free Internet in which they wanted $15.00 a night.  I talked them down to $11.00 plus when I paid in local money it saved me another .50 cents a day. Even though my main goal was to trek you don’t go to Cambodia and not see Angkor Wat. It is one of the wonders of the World and still fascinates me even after seeing it four times.  For old time’s sake, I spent a day there and then two days in Battambang.

Phenom Penh

 I went to Phenom Penh to get trekking info, but found that the place was a pussy whipped version of its old self. In 1991 there was only one stop light in the whole town and it didn’t even work.  Everyone drove on whatever side of the road they felt like, there were hardly any farangs there. Because of the traffic, the only way to cross the street was to do what we called the Phnom Penh shuffle, you just took little steps, moved real slow and let the traffic flow around you. It was downright scary if you hadn’t had a few beers. Now, there are tons of working lights and everyone stops for them. When I returned, the local bus from Battambang only cost $4.00 and included an assigned seat as well as air conditioning.  I was still the only farang on the bus but the people are really friendly. I stayed at the Capitol Guest House which is one of the first of its kind in Cambodia and has been open since 1990. It was legendary for its information and its complementary marijuana but now marijuana’s illegal and the owner has his own bus/travel company. They weren’t as much help since their buses didn’t go anywhere I wanted. I wanted to get to Sen Monorom in Mondulkiri Province first, because it seemed to be the far least traveled so I figured it would be better for trekking. However, I couldn’t find anyone who could even tell me how to get there. Maybe you can’t get there from here? I befriended a gentleman who wanted help with a resume and in turn he would drive me anywhere I wanted (with my writing skills he got the raw end of the deal). We finally found a guy who sold me a ticket for $15 and he even arranged to have someone in a tuk-tuk pick me up at my hotel at 6am the next day and take me to the bus station. Dinner time!

Dinner in the Market

 The food in the market here is Great! You can get anything from beef soup to barbequed frog legs. I had 9 large barbequed prawns, a stick of barbequed squid, a beer, and “boke la hong”. Boke la hong is a green papaya salad in which they take fresh garlic, chili, dried shrimp, lime, tomato and start to mash it in a mortar and pedestal. Then they throw in a small whole crab (this one was dead but I’ve had it were the throw um in live) Add a bunch of sauces beans, peanuts, and other stuff that I’m not sure what but it’s delicious. Cost for everything $5.50.

Sen Monorom

 The next morning I’m up early waiting for my driver to take me to the bus station but by 6:15 the guy is still a no show. The guy from the Capitol calls him (he forgot) well at 6:45 a guy shows up on a motor bike, where is my tuk-tuk? Anyway I get on the bike and off he goes, but the guy keeps having to stop for directions. Finally we get to the proper bus station but the guy wants me to keep away from the ticket counter while he goes up. Ding, Ding, Ding bells go off in my head because I realize the ticket I had was crap. This guy just went and paid for it now. After he leaves I go up and ask the price, laughing it was only $9

The road was in good condition so the ride only took 8 hours. Sen Monorom is a tiny town with a few restaurants and hotels. I get a great bungalow for $6 a night, have a few beers, and hit the sack. The next day I try and gather information for a trek, and it doesn’t look good. The trips are expensive and what other farangs are here aren’t interested. It’s a bust so I stay for 3 days and figure I need to move on.

Ratanakiri

 I take the bus from Sen Monorom to Ban Lung in Ratanakiri Province. It started out on a paved road and our bus driver decided to race another bus up a long hill. (buses don’t move to fast up a hill) Oblivious to head on traffic my bus pulls alongside the other then side by side they plow up the hill until our bus finally wins. After 4 hours, I change buses and continue to travel along the paved roads. Then it started to rain and the bus driver was going too fast so as we went around a curve the rear end kicked out. The driver over corrected, and I thought we were going to flip. Eventually the road turns to a dirt/mud road and after about 1 hour we stop in front of a hand stenciled sign on a post that says Ratanakiri.

 We turn left down this dirt track to find that it is so narrow in some spots that bamboo is scrapping the side of our bus, and it was so bumpy I could not read my book (I thought I could read anywhere). But damn, this lady with a cute little baby was able to breast feed (maybe she has Iron Nipples)

Randomocity ran dom au ci tee

Webster’s Dictionary defines Randomocity as

1. Well he has no definition But what the hell does he know he’s been dead for over a 100 years.

2. But my daughter Kyley defines it as the act of going up to people you don’t know and striking up a conversation with them.

Note:  All good travelers have it it’s the best way to hook up and gather information.

 We stop for some food and a piss so I strike up a conversation with an older white gentleman and his wife. They are on their way to visit a friend and ask what I am doing so I tell them I am trying to find some good trekking. A tall Aussie over hears us and walks up to me and introduces himself as David and says he and his girlfriend are also looking to trek. I told them we would meet up when we arrive in Ban Lung and that I was interested in maybe going for 3 or 4 days. His girlfriend was named Seema and she told me that she heard that the bus takes 20 hours. I told her I would check. Nah, we will be there in a few hours. The trip only ended up taking 11 hours total and 6 of them were off road. As we arrived, the hotel touts swarm us. I don’t like touts! There must be 20 of them, 2 or 3 for each hotel and there was only 6 farangs on the whole bus. I tell David and Seema that we can meet at Tribal hotel at 11:00 am tomorrow which had been recommended to me by a local business owner back in Sen Monorom. The other farang was a girl who looked to be about 20 but she obviously hadn’t developed Randomocity yet and ended up taking off by herself. I walk off towards the Tribal, I stop at a busy little local restaurant for a beer while on the way.

Revenge of the Pong Tee Kong

 I was sitting at this table having my second beer when these 3 locals asked me to join them. There eating eggs and ask if I would like one so I said “what the hell”. But it’s not a normal egg, its Pong Tee Kong a fertilized duck egg that they let grow till it is half duck half egg. Then they soft boil it. You bust open the top, squirt lime juice mixed with pepper, and salt down the hole, and then finally spoon the muck out. “Fucking gross” But I can eat just about anything.  Well I Thought I Could, that night well let’s just say the duck got its revenge.

Turns out the young girl from yesterday’s bus was from Norway. Her name was Ingrid and she was staying at the Tribal also. After talking to her, I found that she had already put a deposit on a 1 day trek but said she would rather go with us and would try and get her money back. The Tribal hotel is a pile of (you fill in the blank), $10 a night for a room with a fan, and very old and run down. I had to move from the first room because the fan sounded like a car with metal on metal breaks. My hot water worked that night but in the morning nope. I go to the counter and tell them and we try 3 more rooms and no luck. They take me to an out building and what do you know, hot water. But, while I’m shaving its gets cooler and cooler. Well I can deal with that but then it just starts to drip out of the faucet. I’m out of here! I figure the guy that recommended this hotel to me must have been a relative of its owner. I would have been better off trusting the touts. Ingrid was able to get her money back and would meet with the rest of us later but was a bit upset because she left her shoes out last night and someone had stolen them.  She couldn’t understand why someone would want them and said that they were dirty and smelly. (later turned out that they must have thought they were dirty and smelly too because they washed them for her).

 We all meet at 11:00 and I find that 2 more people are interested. David and Seema had been checking treks out all morning. The one they like was through the park service in Virachay National park. But it was 7 days and a little over $230 dollars each which is expensive for Cambodia because it cost $13.00 per day each just to be in the park.

 All 6 of us went to the parks office after lunch to get more info while the 2 new comers opted out and said it was too many days. Instead they signed up for a 3 day trek but with a day there and a day back it was really only a one day hike. But David, Seema, Ingrid and I were in, now it was just a matter of negotiating the price. I first worked on the guy in the office till he said that was as low as he could go, he said I would have to talk to the boss. I asked Seema if I should, she just smiled and winked at me. I had to find him first and when I did, I went into along winded spiel about how I couldn’t go because it was too expensive and this and that shouldn’t cost too much. I am not sure if he bought it but in the end he dropped the price to $210.00 each

Day One

 We all met at the office at 8:00 am and went with the Guide to the market on the backs of motorcycles to get our supplies. Not sure why they didn’t pick them up the night before but we weren’t going to walk today so I figured we had time. David and Seema went off on their own for stuff they wanted and then we all began our two hour motorcycle ride to this little town in order to catch a boat up the river for an hour or so to a small village where we spent the night.

The people were really shy. I got my Frisbee out, I always carry one, it usually breaks the ice but they even took a while to warm up to that. After dinner and some local rice wine, Ingrid and I slept in hammocks with built in mosquito nets while David and Seema in his tent.

Day Two

The next morning we were off by 7:30 am and the hike was fairly easy for the first 4 hours and then we walked up a small river for 2 hours’. The water got so deep I had to take my camera of my waist and put it in my pack which is a good thing because I ended up slipping right after and landed waist deep in water. We camped in a small clearing right on the side of the river. The local porters were amazing. They built a structure out of bamboo to hold the hammocks and roof to lay traps over in case it rained which is a good thing because it rained hard that night.

Day Three

 The next day it got tough. We walked for 4 hours and the trail was almost nonexistent. The main guide and 2 local porters had to cut through the bamboo and sometimes it was so thick we had to crawl on our hands and knees. This would not have been so bad but it was really steep and some places were loaded with leeches. At lunch we decided to push to the grass lands because the leeches and mosquitoes were so bad. Seema was paranoid about leaches, the porters were getting tore up because they only had flip flops on and I was the only one with insect repellant which washed off when you went through water. Almost 5 hours later we came out of the jungle and it was amazing. It looked like a scene from Jurassic Park, We camped by a river and this time the local guides used trees to make a place for our hammocks. David found a spot up the hill behind us to set up his tent for him and Seema.

Day Four

 Seema and David came down for breakfast looking a bit haggard, in the middle of the night ants cut through his tent and even popped his self-inflating air mattress. (they were big ants). No hiking today. It was great to just rest and explore the area and the best part of all it seemed free of leaches and mosquitos. Ingrid found a fallen tree down by the creek to lie on and read while I did the same from my hammock and then I helped David and Seema try and ant proof there tent. 

Day Five

 The guide had some trouble finding trail off the grass lands, but then down we went. The trail back was crazy steep and the guide keep messing up so we had to backtrack a few times. It turns out no one had gone on this trek for over 8 months and what trail there was had grown over. He cut down another steep hill to a small river and got a perplexed look on his face then just disappeared. Ingrid asked me were the guide went I told her I think he screwed the pooch and was mad at himself so he left. She didn’t look too happy. We hike for another hour and it’s ugly. The drops in the river are big, so we had to climb down trees over slippery boulders using bamboo like rope and in some places the water was almost chest deep. The girls seem a little nervous but what the hell we have the porters with the food and I figure if it takes a day or two extra to get back “no worries”. In fact I’m on the jazz thinking what a great adventure this is turning out to be. Smiling, I turn around looking back up the drop I had just negotiated and there’s David. He’s got his monster pack on his back (probably 70 pounds) and Seema’s on the front.  He’s not just smiling he is grinning from ear to ear. I’m thinking “Crazy Aussie” (I have done my fair share of trekking over the years but I have never met someone who could so surefootedly carry so much weight so tirelessly. His e-mail address should be ubertrekker). Then around the corner the guide sits like it was all cool “I found the trail”. David checked his GPS and in 2 hours we only made a little over ½ a mile. We ended up walking almost 9 hours but what a spot to camp! There was a nice water fall and a spot to the side where you could jump off about 20 feet into a deep pool.

Day Six

 Today was only going to be 6 hours but it had rained that night and the river was so high at one point I throw mine and Seema’s packs to David across a narrow swift spot. He was tall, surefooted, and had been able to make the crossing. Seema was short and had to swim.

 And the leeches, they were everywhere. After 8 ½ hours we made to our village. When I pulled off my left shoe David looked and just said “Holly Fuck”.  My foot was bloody and still had 5 leeches latched to it. When I pulled them off they really bled. And Seema, she had been leach free the whole trip. Nope, she had one on her leg which she had me pull off. The guide bought a chicken to cook for dinner, David some warm beers, and with some local whisky and all the walking done it was time to relax.

Last Day

 It was an easy 2 hours by boat and then a stop for breakfast at a small restaurant on the river bank and then an hour in the back of a truck back to Ban Lung. For Ingrid and Seema, this had been their first trek (they picked a great one) and I would trek with them again anytime. And David, well the way he can walk, I’d have to make sure I wasn’t getting in over my head. What an experience! Tomorrow it would be time for everyone to go their separate ways. David and Seema off to Laos and Ingrid was talking about Vietnam. The four of us shared a great dinner, a few beers, and a bottle of wine at the Tree Top Hotel.

And as for me, that had been the trek of a lifetime which was made that way not just by the terrain but by the people I shared it with.

On The Road Again

The next morning I was off to Vietnam to visit my best friend Richard. It was funny, usually I check into places before I go but I had made a rookie mistake and I left Cambodia through this new but seldom used border crossing. I had just a vague idea of where I was going, I didn’t have a map of Vietnam or even know the name of the city I ended up in. But “no worries” with my Randomocity by my side things always work out.

CHEERS