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| The Wooky having a well earned rest |
I would take a motorbike over an elephant as a means of transport any day of the week. But more of that later.
After another hair rising minibus ride, we breathed a sigh
of relief when we reached Sen Monorom in one piece.
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| Our wooden hut at Nature Lodge |
So it was with some relief that we soon found ourselves
settled into our stilted wooden hut at Nature Lodge, just a couple of
kilometres outside Sen Monorom. We had
a large comfortable bed with a mosquito net, a view across the rolling hills,
and a hammock on the balcony outside.
Time to relax which we did in no time.
Nature Lodge is a rustic place with about 15-20 wooden huts
over a large area so you are about 30 metres from your nearest neighbour, all huts
are on stilts, and there is a large bar/restaurant area and lots of friendly resident
animals including half a dozen horses, as many cows, a German Shepherd, a
Rottweiler and unknown number of cats – that is not to mention the numerous
geckos both small and large, colourful birds and butterflies and bats, frogs in toilets, fishponds in the toilets, and beetles falling from trees in the bar.
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| Our lovely bedroom |
We were spending 4 days here and we wanted to meet elephants. Paul also decided he wanted to do a bit of
dirt biking- something he hadn’t done for some time and was itching to do after
pootling about on scooters which handle like battery powered roller skates. I would have been happy to let him head off
on his own but somehow he managed to persuade me to have a go too.
Dirt Biking
There was a dirt bike rental place in town which was run by
a German guy, Rene, who also arranged tours of the area. He came up to see us at Nature Lodge and he
really was helpful and optimistic. He
seemed to think that because I passed my direct access motorbike test on a
500cc 7 years ago, that getting on a 250cc dirt bike would be a doddle (so long
as I had a bit of a practice run to begin with and familiarised myself with the
bike, gears etc).
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| Us on our bikes (minutes before the baguette incident) |
Obviously Paul didn’t need any coaching and just couldn’t
wait to get back on a bike with a bit of power but we both knew that me getting
back on was going to be a completely different kettle of fish. Why I didn’t just opt to stay at the Lodge
and let Paul and Rene have a fun time I’ll never known but at the same time I
was determined to overcome my fear and so off I went on a little practice run
and it all went rather well. To begin
with anyway.
It took us a while to get organised with gear and stuff but
once I got to grips with riding a geared bike again, and they lowered the
suspension so that my feet could actually reach the ground (I’ve only got
little legs) I felt much better, fairly confident and off we went.
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| Where we had lunch |
It all started to go horribly wrong when we reached our
first stop which was a waterfall. As I
came to a stop my legs didn’t quite reach the ground because I was on a slope so
I panicked and promptly dropped the bike.
No harm done except a bruised ego and Rene tried to lower the seat a
little further to accommodate Miss Little Legs and after that stopping seemed
to go without a hitch.
The waterfall itself was lovely although it as it was the
end of the dry season this was one more place which was suffering from lack of
water. It was a beautiful spot
nevertheless and we sat here chatting to Rene about his life in Cambodia (his
Cambodian partner is expecting their first child and he was clearly over the
moon but still in a certain amount of shock at the prospect of
parenthood!). He was an interesting guy,
has travelled all over but his passion for Cambodia is obvious, both the
country and its people, but his frustration with all things corrupt was clear
but then it seems corruption is a way of life and endemic throughout most of
Asia.
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| Us and Rene with our trusty bikes |
We also spoke about illegal logging that goes on in
Cambodia, the fact that it is the government that benefits from it and
therefore it is hard to see what can be done to stop it. The illegal logging is clearly damaging the
landscape from both an environmental and aesthetic point of view.
Rene had quite a few stories to tell about running a
business in Cambodia, all the different branches of the “police” that he has to
deal with. For example, there is a
branch of the police called “sign” police.
You must pay an annual fee for some kind of licence to display a sign,
but in order to get the licence you must pay the sign police a bribe. He leaves matters like this to his partner
otherwise he admits he wouldn’t have a clue although he does speak Khmer fairly
fluently so he is able to deal with most situations.
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| An elephant with his mahout |
After a bit of a chat, a little rest and some time for me to
recover after my dropping the bike we set off again. And I managed to do OK pretty much until I
had a crash with a mobile bakery. In my
defence, I was turning left from some scrub land onto a dirt track, I had checked
both ways before heading off, when a scooter laden with more baguettes than your
average Greggs (a popular high street English bakery for any non-UK readers) appeared to my left and headed straight for me.
I fell off rather spectacularly (naturally) but the mobile
baker managed to remain upright, although his baguettes went flying. Rene later informed me that he saw the other
guy appear over the brow of the hill, travelling quite fast (for a mobile
bakery), and had motioned (and told him in Khmer) to slow down. However the baker clearly didn’t, headed
straight for me and crash, down I went.
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| Lots of tummy rubbing |
The baker apologised, saying he couldn’t slow down because
his brakes didn’t work (although that didn’t explain his inability to steer out
of the way). That little nugget of
information made me feel slightly more confident in my riding ability but by
that time the damage had been done and my confidence was shot.
My injuries were limited to a cut elbow and bruised
ego. Apart from that, it was clear I was
going to live to see another day and we quickly set off again before I lost
complete confidence!
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| More tummy rubbing please :-) |
We carried on for the rest of the day at a lightly slower
pace for my benefit. Looking back I’m
surprised I didn’t ask to be taken back and leave the boys to go back out on
their own but they both indulged me and I suspect Paul was a little disappointed but he was kind enough to say he enjoyed himself.
We had lunch at a lovely café alongside a watermill, set in
beautiful gardens growing all manner of tropical fruits and riding around we
saw some stunning scenery but the highlight was heading to one of the villages
to see our first glimpse of elephants.
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| Watermelon stealing horses |
Elephants are traditionally well loved creatures for a
variety of reasons and it is easy to see why.
They are obviously absolutely massive but surprisingly gentle and
sure-footed. Their eyes belie an intelligence which becomes obvious the longer
you spend around them, and while they seem to be constantly hungry they seem to
display manners that you don’t expect from a creature that could crush you with
its trunk or foot.
After the elephants had deposited the tourists back in the
village and we had fed them with some hastily purchased bananas from one of the
local people, we watched them return to
the jungle with their mahouts where they would spend the next day or two. We climbed back on our bikes and set off back
to Sen Monorom where I, for one, was glad to get back on two feet again. Paul loved his day dirt biking, particularly
skidding through sand and over uneven rocky roads and I think we have decided
that next time, he ventures out alone.
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| Toilet frog |
Elephants
The second trip in this part of north east Cambodia had to
involve more elephants. At Nature Lodge,
where we were staying, they organise various trips involving elephants or
jungle trekking and it seems that they are one of the more ethical
organisations involved in this type of tourism and they work closely with the
local Bunong people.
The Bunong people are an ethnic minority living in north
east Cambodia. Elephants have been a
very important part of the Bunong people’s culture for hundreds of years. They are used for transporting goods and
people and are very much an important part of the family.
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| We saw this little fella while we were waiting for our elephants |
And Bunong elephants do not understand the Khmer language,
they only respond to the Bunong language.
Each elephant has a mahout who is responsible for the elephant and who
caters to his needs. Mahouts and their
elephants are known to have extremely close relationships and during the Khmer
Rouge regime when many elephants were slaughtered, many mahouts retreated to
the jungle with their elephants in order to ensure their elephants’ survival.
It is good to know that much of the tourism industry in Sen
Monorom works with the Bunong people to ensure that a service which is in
demand via tourism is provided ethically, that education forms part of the service,
that elephants are provided with the care they need, plenty of rest and enough
food to sustain their huge bodies and the work that they undertake. They work for no more than 4 days per week
and for no longer than 4 hours in total on any given day. Their mahouts are financially rewarded
sufficiently to ensure they comply with these restrictions.
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| The view from our elephant |
And elephants can eat their body weight in cashew nuts and
fruits, given half a chance although another favourite is young pineapple
plants and they do love a banana.
On the day of our elephant trek we set out from Nature Lodge
with our guide, a young lad, who had been working at the lodge since he was 10
years old. He was now about 17, spoke
excellent English and was a good companion.
He accompanied us to the Bunong village we had visited on the bikes where
we would meet our elephant and mahout.
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| Another enormous Asian moth |
While we waited for the mahout to find his elephant in the
jungle and bring him back to the village we visited a traditional Bunong house
which is round, made from bamboo and palms, with very low doors at opposite
ends, a low ceiling, and a fire in the centre (yes, a fire!). There are raised seating areas either side
which presumably double up as beds.
As
well as family members, dogs, cats and pigs all have the run of the place. These dwellings are preferred by the older
generation but more and more the younger generation prefer to live in more
modern structures with modern appliances.
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| Feeding our elephant bananas |
It seems it is the same the world over, the youth wishing to
move away from traditional ways and although it’s sad that these traditional
lifestyles are dying, it is perfectly understandable. However, we were tickled that our elephant’s mahout
had a modern mobile phone and used it at least as much as any teenager I’ve
ever met!
After our visit to the traditional Bunong home we crossed
the village road to meet our mahout and his elephant. Much to
our horror we realised that this poor elephant (although no lightweight) was
going to have to carry the both of us on his back, while his mahout drove him from his seat on the back of his neck, all the way to the river where the
elephant would have lunch (3 hours of munching) and then a nice bath in the
river.
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| Our elephant enjoying a good scrub |
Although we felt a certain amount of guilt expecting this
majestic creature to carry us for 2 hours to the riverbank, we were reassured
that he was more than able to carry this load.
We also noted that he showed none of the signs of neglect or abuse. He was, even for an elephant, quite a porky
specimen, he seemed in really good condition for his 65 years and although I
know nothing about the temperament of elephants he appeared to be gentle and
content. After a little while, the mahout dismounted and walked alongside us most of the way, chatting to our guide (or on his mobile phone!).
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| Enjoying a good scrub behind the ears |
However, our elephant clearly wasn’t too impressed having to
transport the two of us on his back and protested by stopping on a regular
basis for sustenance in the form of cashew nuts (a particularly
favourite). I’m afraid I cringed when
our mahout used the bull hook a couple of times when our elephant demonstrated
a particular streak of stubbornness but most of the time he was persuaded
verbally to get moving.
After a good couple of hours spent clinging on to the wicker
basket, being bounced from side to side, we arrived at the river where hammocks
were erected for us, and our elephant was sent off into the jungle to refill
after his arduous task of carrying the two of us. At this point we were both nursing very sore
bottoms and quite relieved to reach our destination relatively unscathed.
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| One in, one out! |
I cannot stress enough that travelling by elephant is not
the most comfortable mode of transport by any stretch of the imagination. Camel is by far more comfortable which
surprises m but nevertheless it is true. Elephants lumber along and you are constantly
in fear of being turfed out of the unstable and rickety basket, wondering how
much longer the bamboo is going to hold out, which all provides for quite a
stressful journey.
Once at the river, the elephants were dispatched and Paul
and I resumed positions in hammocks, and after dinner (rice and vegetables in a
banana leaf with soy sauce) we promptly fell asleep for a good couple of hours.
We have adopted this native custom of a lunchtime nap with surprising ease and getting
out of the habit is going to be tough.
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| Getting ready to climb on for the trek back to the village |
A few other tourists on similar treks joined us at the river
but we weren’t in a particularly sociable mood at that point (and we were
asleep) so we remained snoozing in our hammocks until our guides woke us up to
tell us it was time to shower the huge beasts.
The mahouts trotted off to retrieve their respective
elephants from the jungle and when they returned we fed them bananas (one of
the many way to an elephant’s heart) and once all 5 elephants were gathered by
the riverside, they were led into the shallow waters and the scrubbing began.
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| Me and my elephant bringing up the rear! |
I should mention at this point that you are encouraged to
help wash your appointed elephant as part of the whole experience. Unfortunately, I was still suffering the
effects of my baguette collision and Paul couldn’t shake off a chest infection
so decided we wouldn’t risk further injury/infection. However, what really decided it for us was
the mention of remaining upriver of all elephants at all times in order to
avoid wee and poo is huge quantities.
I
had nothing but admiration for the rest of our group who waded into the
waters after these words of caution.
Have you seen how much urine an elephant can produce? Think bath size proportions and you’re on the
right track!
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| Saying goodbye to our elephants |
We enjoyed watching the elephant bathing though, almost as
much as the elephants seemed to enjoy the attention. They had obviously rolled around in mud
somewhere in the jungle and a lot of scrubbing was required. Once we had clean elephants, we were ready to
head back to the Bunong village.
Paul decided he would give our elephant a rest so I rode
back in the basket alone. It was
slightly more comfortable but only slightly.
Once again, I was quite relieved to get off at the other end although
quite sad to say goodbye to our elephant.
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| Bring me a beer! |
We returned to Nature Lodge and had a bite to eat and a few
beers. We ended up chatting with the
other tourists who had been on the same trip that day, exchanging stories and
discovering that we were going to be in Sihanoukville at the same time as Danni
and Patricia, two Canadians who were heading back to Canada in a week or so. We made vague arrangements to meet up if we
were in town at the same time (which is unusual for us as we don’t seem to make
many friends – we have far too much fun annoying the hell out of each other
rather than being polite to relative strangers).
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| The obligatory sunset shot from the veranda of our hut |
We enjoyed Nature Lodge – the staff were friendly, the food
was tasty although the menu a little limited and the animals always entertained. The horses in particular one morning when
they stole someone’s watermelon, as well as the German Shepherd and Rottweiler
who were both tarts and were always on the lookout for lots of tummy
rubbing. I could have done without
beetles dropping on my head in the outside bar area but it could be a lot worse
and you can’t complain when you’re in south east Asia.
And finally, we had the pleasure of the company some more Tokay
geckos and although we never actually spotted one, we heard them every night
making their distinctive call.
While it has to be said that Paul was less than impressed
with Sen Monorom, I really loved it as it was quiet, not full of tourists and
we got to meet elephants.
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| The pond in the toilet complete with pretty blue fish |
Next stop was to be Kratie where we were hoping to see some
endangered Irrawaddy river dolphins. All
we had to do was decide on how we were going to get there. We had to choose between spending about 7
hours in a slow but relatively safe coach, or opt for a roller coaster and terrifying
(but much quicker by about 3 hours) ride in a minibus, or travel in an 11
seater minivan which would not try to break the speed of sound but which would
squeeze you in with up to 23 other people if the stories were to be believed.
The story of that journey will follow.
Australian Grand Prix
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