Bokor National Park, Cambodia

Bokor National Park, Cambodia
Thursday 11th – Friday 12th Feb

Clinging to the Southern tip of the Chuor Phom Damrei, Bokor National Park is a MUST SEE if you're ever in the South of Cambodia. The Park has many alluring animals such as tigers, elephants and leopards, but sadly due to illegal logging it will be a miracle if you're lucky/or unlucky enough to see anything!

Our journey began at 7.30am when we were picked up by a mini bus and taken to the foot of the Bokor Hill, down a dirt track on the outskirts of Kampot. Bokor Hill does actually have an unmade road, forged by the French in the 1920s but during the time of writing this blog it has been closed for redevelopment. So the only way for tourists to see the National Park is to climb the 1080m elevation.

It would be impossible to do this trek without a guide, as the foot of the hill is down a unsigned bumpy, dusty dirt track.

Overall there were 9 people climbing the hill, with just 4 of us staying over night at the Rangers Station. Actually 11 people altogether including Khoom and Nett, our guides for the trip.

The minute we stepped off the mini bus to start the trek, the heat hit us instantly, Nett gave us plenty of water and a staple Cambodian lunch of rice with veg and a fried egg on top, that was unfortunately packaged in a Styrofoam box...shame they have moved over to this un-environmentally friendly Western way of packaging their food! I prefer the good old banana leaf, plus it lasts longer in the heat!

With our bags fully loaded with food, water and over night supplies we began the steep climb through the jungle. After a short while we stopped off at the check point (usually based on the road) where our guide paid the entrance feeof $5 each to enter the park. From here we were under the cover of the trees in the jungle, and the 3 hour near verticle climb began. Having sat behind a desk six days a week to save up for this trip it was certainly a shock to the system. I think for Jonny too. Elliott seemed to be handling it well although he was looking a little pale after (again) suffering from food poisoning the night before. However, having been a fitness trainer back in London he was certainly in the best shape out of the three of us.

After several stops and plenty of water we had finally made it to the unmade road near the top of the hill. Here we ate our lunch and waited for a pick-up to drive us to Bokor Hill Station. Jonny and I nearly stood on a snake, but other than that we all made it in one piece!

The pick-up was running a little late as the road is so treacherous in some places it managed to get stuck! After about 30 minutes the pick-up arrived with an old mattress in the back, which actually acted as a trampoline on the journey up to the Hill Station! Although the bum breaking, bone shacking journey would have been impossible without it! Battered and bruised, we finally after 1 hour had made it to the abandoned and eerie Bokor Hill Station (1080m).

In the 1920s a small community was created and a grand colonial hotel, known as Bokor Palace, famous for its casino stood proudly at the top of the hill. The view from the location is stunning, a panoramic view of the jungle and River below.

The Hill Station was abandoned twice; once in the 1940s when the Vietnamese and Khmer Issarak forces overran it while fighting for independance against the French, and again in the 1970s when it was left to the invading Khmer Rouge. (Lonely Planet, 2008)

Today, all that is left of the Palace and community, including a further casino, church and post office are their skeleton structures. It really is very ghostly, particularly when thick mist creeps through these old abandon structures. Images of Pol Pots sick regime and blood shed of the Khmer Rouge have a heavy imprint on this this landscape.

After spending a few hours exploring, we walked a short distance to the Rangers Station for a well earned rest. Here we also said our good byes to the other 5 people that were only doing the one day trek.

Bokor (Continued)…

Myself, Nett, Jonny and Elliott and a Dutch guy Bauldvjn were left. After a shower and rest, Nett began to prepare our dinner. It is unbelievable how hard the Cambodian people work!

The food was good; rice, clear vegetable soup, stir fried vegetables and beef cooked separately for the meat eaters (which was everyone except me).

After dinner Elliott persuaded us to go back to Bokor Palace in the dark in search of Ghosts! Although we didn’t see any this is one creepy place to be in the day light let alone at nightfall. I have never seen so many stars, it was magical.

At 7am we woke for breakfast. As Nett was trying to cook, clean and make lunch for us all, I couldn’t bear to anymore, so I helped him clear up and wash the dishes. Judging by his huge smile it was certainly appreciated.

By 9am we were ready to go, the boys full of energy decided to storm off ahead leaving Nett and I to chat and leisurely walk behind. With 7 hours of trekking through the jungle ahead, I knew slow and steady and conserving water was the way forward. Nett and I chatted about cultural differences, with Cambodian women trying to bleach their skin white and western women trying to burn their skin brown! It was actually quite amusing…women…none of us are happy!
After trekking for about 4 hours we came to the ‘Great Hornbill Waterfall’, but as it was the dry season it was bone dry! So we just explored the huge boulders that are usually submerged in rainy season. After exploring the waterfall, we then passed through a grasses plain with flat boulders (possibly granite) with many pitcher plants growing at ground level. From here we then descended into the jungle, where we sheltered for lunch and the burning hot sun. After about 30 minutes we started our steep Indiana Jones trek down through the jungle, literally swinging from tree branches to stop ourselves falling!

After a further hour we passed old Vietnamese graves and a small cave near a waterfall. Here inhabiting this remote cave deep into the jungle lives a Vietnamese monk, unfortunately he wasn’t there when we arrived but evidence of his presence was still there, such as cooking pots with roots from a particularly plant that are believed to have healing qualities. Apparently many Vietnamese people embark on this pilgrimage to show their respect to those that lost their lives in the war and to visit the monk for pray and healing.

After a quick wash in the waterfall, we continued trekking for a further 3 hours down through the jungle. This unofficial path was made by poachers collecting illegal hard woods from the National Park. I have no idea how they get the trees through as we could barely fit ourselves through the path! In some places it was so steep and dry I spent most of my time sliding. At one point I stumbled down a vertical drop, tripped over a tree route and started gaining almighty speed, as I came hurtling down the hill luckily Nett was at the bottom ready to catch me. Jonny followed shortly after on his bum. Elliott, with his socks pulled up to almost his knees was a sight for soar eyes, but made it gracefully down taking one step at a time having seen mine and Jonny’s attempt of getting down! Mr perfect who’s name I could never pronounce (Bauldvjn), didn’t trip at all and managed to look cool the whole time…boring! :o)

Needless to say we didn’t see much wildlife having made so much noise, just a snake, lizard and hornbills which was certainly the highlight!

After stumbling down the jungle for 3 hours we finally reached civilization passing through a small village and fruit plantations. Throughout the jungle trek clear evidence of illegal loggers taking hard woods was still very apparent. Having walked to the road we stopped for a well earned rest and drink. While we waited for a van to drive us to the Kompong Bay River a short distance away. The Chinese have also made their mark on the landscape, with a huge hydro-electricity damn being built.

As soon as we reached the river we dived in for a refreshing swim before we boarded a small boat to cruise down the river to enjoy the sunset. We arrived back into Kampot by 6.30pm on the dot!

Kampot, Cambodia

Wednesday 10th Feb

To break the journey up we decided to take the bus from Sihanouk Ville to Kampot which is a little further to the East but still on the South Coast of Cambodia.

We bought the bus tickets from our guesthouse in Sihanouk Ville, which cost $6 each. The journey took about 2.5 hours (110km). According to the Lonely Planet (2008), the population of Kampot is 37,400 (Newquay is around 22,000). It is a great base for exploring nearby caves or tackling the challenge of Bokor National Park.

Kampot is much more chilled out and less touristy than Sihanouk Ville. When we arrived a very friendly tuk-tuk driver offered us a lift for $1 no strings attached!

When we arrived at the recommended ‘Blissful guesthouse’ it was fully booked, so we decided to stay a few doors down at the Magic Sponge. Recently renovated (previously a bank), the rooms are large, clean and comfortable. The facilities are also very good, with a TV lounge, crazy golf, a pool table, hammocks and free bicycles to explore Kampot. My only gripe is that although the restaurant is very good there was not a single Cambodian dish on the menu! Still this is a good place to have a break from being a traveler!

After chatting to William, an Alaskan guy working thee, he recommended watching a film in the TV lounge called City of Ghosts. Filmed in Cambodia at the Bokor Hill Station, it was a great film to watch before embarking on our trek the next day.

Any family member thinking of watching this film please note all land mines in the National Park have been cleared! Second thoughts don’t watch it! :o)

There were two options for exploring Bokor National Park in Kampot; the first being a one day tour up to station Hill. The other was a two day trek, staying over night at the rangers station and then a 7 hour trek through the jungle the next day. We opted for the latter, which cost $45 each through a tour operator called Smile Tours.

Island and Snorkeling Trip, Sihanouk Ville, Cambodia

Tuesday 9th Feb

By the time we got back to the guesthouse after the trip to Ream National Park Elliott had recovered and was disappointed he had missed the trip. So that evening we booked a further trip with the same company to three islands and a day of snorkeling for $12 each.

The snorkeling trip was excellent, from 8am to 4pm we spent the day exploring some of the remote islands aound the coast of Sihanouk Ville, including Bamboo & Tekeay island, which have some basic accommodation. Other islands were completely uninhabited and there we just snorkeled, the visibility wasn’t great but we did see plenty of coral and fish.

We also met a really friendly Spanish guy, Juan Jose, who we got to know quite well having spent the entire day with him.

Tekeay island is probably one to avoid, although absolutely stunning the island is used as a base for the police and was a little unnerving when they demanded a $1 for just being there! I’d imagine as more tourists go to the island the bribes might get higher! While we were on Tekeay we swam in a natural pool that was really warm, it didn’t smell of sulphur so we couldn’t quite work out where the hot springs were coming from?

The highlight was the BBQ on the beach!

Ream National Park, Sihanouk Ville, Cambodia

Sunday 7th – Tuesday 9th Feb

Ream National Park was certainly worth a visit, from the mangroves to the deserted beaches it was a welcome break from the chaos of Serendipity beach.

The Park has a few Rangers that work 7 days a week and earn $30 a month! Their job is to patrol the National Park for illegal activities and guide tourists on the boat trips within the park. Our guide was called Sokdee, he was quite young and spoke a little English.

The day consisted of taking a boat trip to a small village, a 30 minute stroll through the jungle to arrive at an almost deserted beach! A long the trek there was evidence of a road being built, we managed to find out that the Chinese were already in the process of building a restaurant and hotel complex in the National Park. Sokhu, another Ranger we later met, said that despite there pleas the government continues to sell chunks of land to developers. Evidence of logging was apparent in the Park.

The village was wonderful, small but fully self sufficient, with a school and great community spirit. We had lunch on the waters edge before heading off on the boat to see the mangroves up close. A huge wooden tower had been constructed, which we climbed up for a great view of the mangrove below and National Park in the distance.

The trip was made even better by meeting Vivien, a lovely lady from Canada who was 67 years old traveling through Cambodia...she was very inspirational and gave us lots of good traveling advice.

Sihanouk Ville, Cambodia

Sunday 7th – Tuesday 9th Feb

After a pretty good nights sleep at the Apex guesthouse we got up early enough for a quick bite to eat and jump on the 8am coach that picked us up from the guesthouse.

The journey to Sihanouk Ville took around 5hrs. The most obvious difference to Thailand was the roads, Cambodia is less developed and many of the roads are not yet tarmac.

According to the Lonely Planet 70% of Cambodia’s rainforest has been chopped down. However, on the stretch from the Koh Kong border to Sihanouk Ville the rainforest still looked incredible! Although the closer we got to Sihanouk Ville the more palm plantations I could see, but still not as many as Thailand!

Upon arriving at Sihanouk Ville bus station a sea of taxi drivers, tuk-tuks and mopeds were at the ready, all trying to tout for our business. The first was trying to persuade us to pay 500 baht (10 pounds) for a five minute ride, hoping that tourists arriving in Cambodia from Thailand would give up their baht or be confused with the riel currency. Eventually we ended up paying 16,000 riel ($4 dollars) which was still twice the amount we should have paid!

As many of the Lonely Planet recommendations were full (probably as it was coming up to Chinese New Year), our tuk-tuk driver took us to the GST guesthouse, which is on the main street across the road from Serendipity beach.

The accommodation was all of $7 dollars per night and was pretty basic, but it did have a good restaurant and internet facilities.

Serendipity beach was absolute chaos, just like Perranporth beach in the height of the season but worse! Tourism businesses line both the beach and the shoreline there is not a free patch of sand or sea! Covered by water sport facilities to bars and restaurants!

There was something sad about this place, I felt that the Cambodian people were so poor that any opportunity to make a dollar from the tourism trade was seized at every opportunity.

There doesn’t seem to be any regulations, with bars and restaurants offering drugs and prostitution and notices in hotel rooms informed tourists of the problems of child sex exploitation. In addition pollution can be seen everywhere, plastic bags line the streets and beaches, and dirty water outlets from the restaurants are pumped into the sea!

Our immediate reaction to this place was to get out as soon as possible, however, we decided to give Sihanouk Ville a chance, as Serendipity beach was only a small part of this area!

We decided to pay $17 each to go to the near by Ream National Park a few kilometers away. The day trip included breakfast, lunch and all transportation. Unfortunately, Elliott couldn’t make the trip as he was suffering from food poisoning.

We arranged the trip through ‘Saroum Thearity’, one of he many tour operators just off Serendipity beach. This was actually a good find, as it was on a side street that had many shops including the ‘Cambodian Children’s Painting Project’. A registered NGO that sell children’s artwork for $4 and the money helps provide: meals, fresh clean drinking water, first aid, dental care, mentoring and family support, school sponsorships and supplies, eco awareness projects, clothing and footwear and educating the children to protect and love the environment...check it out: www.letuscreate.org

With this wonderful project I actually felt that thee was still ‘serendipity’ about his place!

Crossing the Krong Koh Kong Thai/Cambodian Border

Saturday 6th Feb

After negotiating a price through one of the tour operators on Koh Chang island , we managed to arrange transportation, accommodation for one night at the Koh Kong border and then further transportation to Sihanouk Ville for 1200 baht (24 pounds) each.

Everything was so well organised on the Thai side, they have certainly mastered the art of tour organisation!

The journey from Koh Chang to the Koh Kong (Thailand/Cambodia border) took 5hrs. The shock, I think for all of us was the transition from the ultimate laid back and well organised Thai side to the chaotic mayhem on the Cambodian side.

The first thing was that upon arriving at the border, before the mini bus had even had the chance to switch his engine off, a Cambodian guy had climbed on the mini bus and started collecting bags/rucksacks of the roof. As we thought that it was part of the transportation arrangements none of us questioned it. We were couriered over the border by another person who seemed overly helpful! By the time we had made it through immigration & quarantine (temperature check for swine flu), we ended up paying 1200 baht for our Cambodian visa, the immigration police, corrupt as they are, refused to let us pat in dollars, meaning that the visa should have cost $20 but it actually cost $38!

If the pain of that wasn’t bad enough the two overly helpful Cambodians had their hands out in return for helping us with visas and luggage. Then they kindly put us in a private taxi, not the mini bus we had already paid for! The taxi driver rook us to a currency change in a street market and told us that we must pay him 4800 Cambodian riel (just over $1 each) for the toll. By the time we had finished getting a poor exchange rate, ripped off by the taxi driver who told us that Thai baht and US Dollars were no longer accepted in Cambodian! We had well and truly arrived in Cambodia gringo style!

However, on a positive note the taxi driver did drop us off at the right guest house at least!

The guest house, Apex, was very good, nice friendly staff, a good restaurant that does in fact accept Thai baht, US dollars and riel! The guesthouse even had a swimming pool!

After finding an ATM we decided to call it an early night as wee were still a little shell shocked from the border crossing!

Koh Chang Island

Having booked our accommodation from the guest house in Bangkok for 400 baht each (8 pounds). A lady picked us up from our guest house and walked us to the coach. The journey should have taken 6 hours but as we were on ‘Thai time’ it took 8 hours, with a break half way.

I knew that going to Koh Chang again after 10 years was going to a shock, particularly after reading in the lonely planet (2008), ...’they’ve paved paradise’!

The first major difference was the transport to the island; ferries are regularly taking people and cars across. No more little boats taking hippy travellers over! Again according to the lonely planet ‘backpackers are out and rich tourists are in’. However, despite this there are still some remote areas to explore.

We stayed at Island Lodge, White Sands for 500 baht a night. The Tree House (originally an old hippy hangout) has been relocated to Long Beach on the Eastern side of the island, as its original destination ‘lonely beach’ is no longer lonely. However, the original Tree House can still be seen.

I can’t believe how many times I have taught the tourism ‘life cycle’, but to see the transition from remote secluded island to mass tourism is a shock to say the least! However, having said that there a still a few spots that the backpackers can retreat to but on the whole mass tourism has well and truly taken over the Western side of the island.

Having hired some mopeds for 200 baht a day, we explored the entire island. The West side (with the best beaches) is wall to wall resorts, bars, restaurants, bungalows, shops, elephant treks you name it it’s there! The Eastern side is less developed but is covered with palm and rubber tree plantations. I guess this might turn into development land in a few years, although this island is a National Park the government (I think) have created some sort of law where you can you land for agricultural purposes, however after a certain numbers of years this land use can be changed. A good way to sneak in if you’re a developer!

Towards the end of the road on the Eastern side the tarmac road ends and a sign for the Tree House, Long Beach can be seen. Off the beaten track only the brave or stupid will journey down this dirt track to reach the last remaining secluded backpackers haven. Definitely well worth a visit if your bum is made of steal :o)!

As we were staying on the Western side we spent a few days exploring. On the southern tip there is a beautiful beach and bar, which is very peaceful and easy to get to on moped.

In the evenings eating in the restaurants on the beach children as young as 6 approach you trying to sell flowers, is scary to think they are wondering the beach alone at night!

Island lodge is a good place to stay; it’s not on the beach which means you will get good nights sleep! Ippie, a Thai lady that runs Island Lodge works from 7.30am-10pm at night, and in the 7 days that we stayed she did not have a single day off! The Thai’s work incredibly hard to say the least!

Just a short distance from White Sands is Pearl beach, which is very rocky but good for snorkeling. Here we met an English guy called Matt who owns ‘Paradise Palm Resort, which has a gym by the beach. As Elliott wanted to work out ‘at muscle beach’, Jonny and I decided to base ourselves there for the day. The visibility for snorkeling wasn’t great but we did see a few corals and fish after cutting ourselves on the sharp rocks getting in.

Matt had married his Thai wife 9 years ago. We asked him various questions about Island Life and what is like to live on Koh Chang. He owned 49% of his business and his Thai wife and family owned 51%. Sewage from the apartments etc is collected in tanks and paid to be taken away. Recycling is sorted and collected throughout the island.

The tarmac road was completed a few years ago when Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra...was so impressed with the natural beauty of Koh Chang he wants the island to become a popular eco-tourism destination like Phuket. http://iamkohchang.com/news/in-2002/thaksin-to-develop-koh-chang.html

I believe that either he or another minister (no longer in power today) owns a resort on the island. Good use of tax payer’s money!

The police are also based on the island and there is a strict curfew of 10.30pm last orders, or you could face a hefty fine if your business selling drinks after this time.

Koh Chang is still a great island to visit, from the hippy backpackers retreat to the luxury resorts!

Bangkok continued...

Bangkok is an amazing city, it's so diverse from the Grand Palace & spiritual Wat Phra Keao budist temple to the chaos of Khao San Road.

Reading up in the lonely planet I have realised why the restaurant that we went to with Fherm was called Venice. Bangkok was once called the 'Venice of the East'. Canals transported goods and people. The Mae Nam chao Phraya (Chao Phraya River) was the superhighway! The Thais considered themselves Jao Naam (water lords)...although times have changed and roads now dominate the city.

The Grand Palace & ancient temple was certainly the highlight of our visit to Bangkok. After trying to persuade a tuk-tuk driver to take us from Khao San Road to the temple we gave up and decided to walk there in the rain! The tuk-tuk driver wouldn't go straight to the temple as he wanted to take us on a detour first ...surprise surprise!

We managed to get there in time to spend an hour wondering around before it closed at 4.30pm. The entrance fee for the Grand Palace & temple was 350 baht (7 pounds), but free for the Thais and rightly so. The highlight for me was the Emerald Buddha, which was North of the Palace and linked by connecting gateways to reach the Royal Monastery. Inside the monastery people pay there respect to the Lord Buddha and His teachings. The Emerald Buddha is enshrined on a golden traditional Thia-Style throne made of gilded carved wood, known as a Busabok. Although famously known as the Emerald Buddha it is actually made of green jade and was first discovered in 1434 in Chaing Rai. At that time the Buddha was covered with plaster until a flake from his nose revealled the green stone which was first thought to be Emerald and thus the legend of the Emerald Buddha first began, over 500 years ago!

Coming back into Khao San Road after this peaceful expereince was another reminder that it was perhaps time to venture on to some chilled out Island Life. With that we booked our tickets to Koh Chang island (400 baht each...8 pounds). I think both Jonny and Elliott found Bangkok quite a culture shock. Poor Elliott spent those 4 days in Bangkok sleeping in a cupbaord and all of us were suffering from lack of sleep!

The mixture of chaos, heat and lack of sleep certainly takes it out of you!