Thursday, Feb 14, 2008

I know its been a while since my last update but internet has been really expensive here and there and slow az. As I write t his now, I am facing a beautifully peaceful river, also in front of my favorite tree I have seen in a week. So, starting from a few days ago:

And the latest "here" and "there" are Kratie and Rattanakiri Province, among others. Early on 12 February I sadly left Courtney and Mel and hoped on a bus to a small town called Kratie, whose highlight attraction are freshwater dolphins and a good sunset. I chose not to embark on the expensive journey for the brief moment of seeing a mammal breathe then submerge not to be seen again by my eyes, so I enjoyed the quiet town and became reacquainted with Kryie whom I had met in Siem Reap at Ta Prohm. She was with Johanneke, another girl who we met on a bus trip from Siem Reap to Phnom Phen. The town was so quiet and I met many locals and enjoyed an early night and morning to relax with before yet another bus further north to the province of Rattanakiri.

This was a great place: small, excellent guesthouse and an even more spectacular environment. I traveled with Johanneke and this other girl named Erika and split a room to make it a bit cheaper. We woke early the next morning and rented bikes to ride to the crater (volcanic or meteoric) lake, "Yeak Loam." It was beautiful and some of the first freshwater we were able to swim in. I hiked a few kilometers around the circumference of the lake. There we met other travelers, two from England (Joe and Joe) and Yanna and Sanna (from Germany and Holland respectively). We made plans to meet up that evening for drinks at their hotel and left to seize more of the day.

I hired a private motorbike driver to give me a tour of two local waterfalls that were popular in the area. The first, Katieng, was very large, and beautiful, and best of all.. quiet--no one was around. The second, Cha Ung, was crawling with people but the falls were a tad bigger and slightly more aesthetically pleasing, but again, the large quantities of Cambodians bathing in the river denied me an opportunity to sit quietly with the waterfall; although, it did give me a cultural appreciation for those in the country I have been traveling and enjoying quite a bit.After our ride through Rubber Trees and Rubber Nut shrubs I returned with enough time to veg-out, recoup some energy and spend the night with new friends. Tomorrow I go to a new country: Laos.