So, India is now in the rear view mirror. It’s hard to know how to feel about that; it was the big opener to our trip with all focus on it in the build-up. We will spend no longer in any country than we did in India (unless our plans change which is altogether possible). It did us proud and I think we’ll struggle to find any structures more impressive than those we saw in India, be they temples, forts or ruins, with a couple of notable exceptions (Angkor Wat and Borobodur). We’ve been culturally spoilt, basically. On top of that we saw some beautiful nature and wildlife, the food was astounding and we met some great people. That said, we were ready to move on; the harassment and horn blowing of Rajasthan a great strain on our mental fortitude.

Not only is India behind us, but we’re also not in Nepal, where we expected to be right now and perhaps the destination we anticipated the most. With a mere five days before our flight (the cost of which is down the drain), we were told it was a really bad idea to go, so we did a last minute pivot and have ended up in Cambodia, a country that had come on and off our list in the planning stage for various reasons.

We can safely say we’re super pleased we came here: the vibe is super chill, there is authentic adventure, nature and beauty all around. Nepal will have to wait.

Day 44 – Arrival to Cambodia

We arrived in Phnom Penh Airport at 7am and had an 8am ‘minivan’ to catch to Kratie so we were immediately on the clock. We left the airport, hassled by a SINGLE taxi driver. What is going on? we thought. Is there some sort of national holiday? Oh wait, we’re not in India, where you can’t move a foot under your own steam without several tuktuk drivers vying for your attention. Dreamily, we ordered a Grab (Uber) and enjoyed a slow and leisurely drive to the minivan terminal in the city. You may pick up on my sarcasm here, specifically relating once again to the counterpoint to India, where the taxi drivers drove dangerously and chaotically (in large part). Safe to say, we were already glad for a change of pace.

It was 4 hours east to Kratie, a small town sitting aside the mighty Mekong River. Kratie drew us in with promises of the rare freshwater Irrawaddy dolphin and sunsets over the river. Before finding our way to the homestay, we stopped for a lunch of summer rolls and noodle soup which was truly divine. We were chuffed to find the cost of beer down from £3 to 80p. Two please!

Our homestay was out of town, a thirty minute walk through a rural village area – one long street down the riverside with traditional stilted houses on either side, children running out shouting “Hello!” and offering a hand to shake or a fist bump. Very, very cute.

Our homestay was a traditional stilted house too, and really cool. It just had dorms and single rooms and so, because it was crazy cheap, we got a single room each. It was strange to sleep in separate rooms for a few nights, but squeezing two into a single bed in the hot Cambodian evening with just a low powered floor fan blowing through a somewhat restrictive mosquito net would have been a disaster, so we made the right decision.

We spent the afternoon settling in, and the evening exploring Kratie by night which had street food stalls a small fun fair and was bustling with activity.

Yup, they’re insects

Day 45 – Kratie, Dolphin watching on the Mekong

There are a couple of ways to see the Irrawaddy Dolphins, of which there are less than 100 in Cambodia, and not many more in Myanmar. One is by kayak, the more adventurous and environmentally friendly route. The other is an hour long motorboat tour. We opted for a half day kayak tour and we’re in town for 7.30am and plonked in the back of a trailer and driven to our river entry point some 30 minutes upstream.

The kayaking was actually hard going! The wind blowing and the river quite rough. Crossing the river took about 20 minutes, so wide it was. We ploughed on with our group, safe in our lifejackets. The first couple of hours was more of a Mekong tour than a dolphin tour, and we wound our way down small river rapids, along currents, past little islands and eventually took a break on a small beach in the middle of the river where we had a light paddle.

Onwards and we were in the dolphin zone. Other kayak groups had arrived and motorboats were in play too, all looking for the dolphins that hang out here. We saw a few of them! Just the odd fin and a bit of their back really. In the distance we saw one jump a bit, which is apparently very rare.

I brought all my camera gear but honestly it was too rough to remove from the wet bag. At no point did we feel in danger, but we got very wet. No pics, soz!

When we got out we were bloody exhausted. Who is doing the full day tour? I don’t envy them. One of the guides said we had been quite lucky to see the dolphins as they’re much harder to spot when it’s choppy, and that when it’s calm you see many more, so we resolved to take a motorboat tour at sunset the following evening… How often do you get to see Irrawaddy Dolphins anyway? Google them, they’re absolutely hilarious looking.

We felt a bit delirious from our exertion and hadn’t fully recovered from our overnight plane journey, so spent the afternoon napping in our respective bedrooms.

It was that night that Billie encountered some nightmarish guests in her room: She was awoken by an enormous thud. Thinking someone was trying to get into the room she turned on her torch and found two MASSIVE geckos on the floor. Terrified, she of course called me for help, as if I’m some sort of veteran reptile handler with the capacity to do anything more than her… I dutifully came anyway and they had disappeared of their own accord, slightly mysteriously. Billie later identified them as Tokay Geckos, nearly as big as a human forearm, very aggressive and not afraid to bite someone. Fairly terrifying stuff, so let us be grateful they fell on the floor and not on the bed where Billie lay asleep… Needless to say, she had a restless night thereafter and when I heard the ominous croak of a gecko from the rafters above me about thirty minutes later, I too had a few worrisome thoughts.

I was right to, because that night (and the following), I had a some night-time wildlife encounters too, though of a less dangerous sort: ‘Twas the middle of the night that I visited the toilet, and let me just say I’m glad I turned the light on and checked the bowl before emptying the tank because it would have been unfortunate for both me and the frog if I hadn’t. That’s right, a bloody frog was in the loo, two nights running. It’s much bigger than the picture suggests and I had to play with the flusher and bum spray thingy for quite some time to wrangle him out, all the while jumping from leg to leg in need of a wee.

Day 46 – Kratie, Koh Trong Island

Oh what a beautiful day this was. Our favourite in a while. There’s an island in the middle of the Mekong called Koh Trong (Koh meaning island). It’s about 9km long and is inhabited by some folk. There’s a ferry that runs when it’s full enough to be worth it for them to make the crossing. We arrived at the departure point just as it was crossing away from us and ended up waiting a good hour and a half for it to come back and depart again.

We got on with locals and tourists alike and made the short journey across. When we got off, there was an enormous beach, almost sand dunes really. We walked along a pathway of wooden planks up to the island proper and hired two bicycles – the choice way to explore the island.

The island road was lined with beautiful stilted houses with colourful gardens. Cows munched on hay and we passed the odd person on our cycle round, but not many at all! We had fun taking pictures and enjoying the breeze in our hair.

It was hot as hell though, and when we passed the island’s bougie hotel we had to stop to buy some drinks, swim in their pool and eventually eat lunch there because it was so hard to leave.

I also snapped some lovely birds in their garden!

We got back on the bikes and made our way round the island at a slightly faster pace, aware that the last dolphin boat left at 5pm and the ferry was not one to rely on for a quick exit. We passed a small Vietnamese floating village – just a few houses really. We were told that when these Vietnamese fled here illegally, they weren’t allowed to buy land so they built houses on the water instead. What a way to live…

We ended up waiting a good hour for the ferry, but the people watching at the port was top notch. We eventually boarded and were joined by two cows this time!

With thirty minutes till the last boat, and Google maps describing a thirty minute journey, we jumped aboard our scooty and put pedal to metal! We made it and a lovely chap took us out on his yellow boat. The sun was setting dramatically, with god rays shining down on the Mekong.

The water was much smoother and we saw a whole load of dolphins, some very close by to our boat as our skipper would head over to where he thought they were then turn the engine off in advance so we slowly floated towards them without disturbing them to much (we hope!).

It was still just their fins and some of their backs, but it was really special every time we got a glimpse. Taking pictures was the hard bit as they’d come up to breathe for a second then go under and come up somewhere else a couple of minutes later. I managed a decent one though!

Truly knackered, we enjoyed another divine meal, prepared ourselves for another night among the geckos, and looked forward to our trip to Mondulkiri the following day, where we’ll pick this up!