Stung Treng and Ban Lung

Our inquiries and efforts in Laos to find a kayak trip on the Mekong river had led us to the small northern Cambodian town of Stung Treng. We got off to a great start here as when Ben was off searching for hostel options he bumped into a friendly couple, one half of which was from Brasil. After explaining that Patricia also hailed for this tropical country, solemn promises were given to return quickly for lunch together. The food and conversation made us feel welcome right away.

After satiating our appetite, we wasted no time in tracking down the local Xplore Asia office to arrange paddling. We met with Mr. Theara and agreed to begin the next day with him as our guide. This long awaited adventure sounded incredible – a 30km downstream kayak through the trees of a flooded forest in the middle of the Mekong River, with a stop in a village that is only accessible by water. We were super excited and wow did we get lucky weather…

We took a fancy four wheel drive van to make the trip by road further upriver. After leaving the main highway we could see why Theara had said that a regular car wouldn’t make the trip. There were huge ruts filled with water and his expert driving kept us from getting stuck several times. At the end of the dirt track we reached the river, grabbed our gear and were eased out into the river by the friendly current. For the next 2 hours we bobbed and weaved through a sometimes dense submerged forest with a mix of tree species of varying size. We later found out from Theara that some of the trees were under about 10 metres of water during the wet season and it became apparent that even the small trunks rising out of the water belonged to rather big plants. We soon gained confidence and began threading our way through obstacles, treating them like gates on a challenge course. With the current taking most of the strain from our muscles it was incredibly fun and we hardly noticed the hours pass.

As we emerged from another dense section of forest into the open river our guide pointed to the far shore and told us that there was the landing to the village where we would have some lunch. The local kids were intrigued to see two pale skinned people clamber up the muddy bank and soon overcame their wariness when we pulled out some new pens we had brought for them. Ben, never one to be bashful, was impressed by one little fellow with a slingshot. Theara seized on the opportunity for a little demonstration and set up a water bottle as a target about 20 feet away on a log asking the child to take his best shot. With practiced ease he drew back, let fly and with a loud crash the bottle was knocked off its perch. First shot! Ben decided to get in on the action and took a few shots just to prove that it actually does take skill to hit something. The kids certainly enjoyed his performance…

We took a tour through the village and got to see one of their prized possessions, a dolphin carcass that fishermen had discovered washed ashore. They buried it to encourage decomposition and had just put the skeleton on display after several years of waiting. These dolphins are endangered and only found in a few locations on the Mekong making their discovery fairly unique. They hope in the years to come that it will become a tourist attraction and a source of income for the village.

We met the village leader, a gregarious and outgoing lady who chatted animatedly with Theara who translated as much as possible. Some very traditional village ladies in Cambodia have a habit of chewing a concoction of tobacco, a small round fruit and ground snail shell paste all smeared inside a special tree leaf. As they chew it, they spit out a deep red liquid that looks like blood and not only stains their teeth badly, it seems to also cause them to fall out! Ironically, they believe this practice is good for the teeth, despite the fact that they clearly have the worst teeth amongst their peers in the village. Theara related a funny story about a Cambodian lady who carried on this practice somewhere in the western world and when a passer-by noticed a pool of blood red liquid on the ground near the old lady he called an ambulance! A dentist would have been more appropriate… The people of the village were really friendly and we had a nice send off by the river as we boarded our kayaks to continue the paddle. The clouds continued to vanish and beautiful blue skies and sunshine graced us for the rest of the afternoon. After another great few hours and even more daring manoeuvres through the living obstacles, we reached the end of our journey. Fortunately a long wooden fishing boat was waiting for us and we didn’t have to self-propel upstream. Everybody was in great spirits after an amazing journey.

We had met another couple of travelers who were briefly stopping through Stung Treng and were adamant that we had to check out the Treetop Eco-lodge in nearby Ban Lung. Although it was a bit out of our way, we couldn’t resist. After a great sleep thanks to our adventure that day, we left in the morning for the three hour minivan ride. This mode of transportation in Cambodia is really great as they provide door to door service and so it was that we were dropped at the end of a red dirt road in Ban Lung outside the Treetop sign indicating a wooden walkway into the jungle.

These kind of fantastic things happen on the road occasionally when another traveler grabs you by the arm, looks you in the eye and says with scary seriousness: “You have to go”. If it is even remotely in your power, you don’t question it, you just go. Traveling can take you down difficult roads at times and help you to learn things about yourself, but after repetitive lessons, a little escape feels glorious. Here was our escape in the form of bungalows perched in the jungle, connected by wooden walkways like an Ewok village and united by a large wooden platform restaurant and lounge. And the price was right at $12 per night. Yeah, the simple things…

The other thing we had heard about Ban Lung was that it had a pretty incredible fresh water swimming hole in a nearby volcanic crater surrounded by dense tropical forest. Finding the strength to leave our jungle paradise we set off walking down the road. We regained our energy with a really delicious bowl of noodle soup and made our way out of town following the side of the main road. After the long walk, the swimming hole was very refreshing and we set ourselves up inside a little gazebo to relax during a brief rain.

Back at the bungalow, we were inspired by the view and space to finally give Ben a much needed haircut. Things had gotten a bit shaggy over the last few months. Patricia did a great job and did not waver despite a few moments of uncertainty due to the shear volume of work ahead of her. From Doctor to Hairdresser - what a multi-talented lady!

The Treetop experience was incredible and totally worth it, if only for a single night. We felt refreshed as we left the next day to return to Stung Treng to begin an ambitious three day adventure by bicycle. We could already tell that Cambodia would be very memorable…