Travel to Ratanakiri

My friend Maria and I decided to go to Ratanakiri Province. Ratanakiri is a Province in eastern Cambodia where traditional people live as they did many years ago. The people are a mixed race of Khmer, Lao, Vietnamese, Chinese. It is very far from Phnom Penh. If you go directly to Ratanakiri, it takes about one day, but if you stop in Kratie, where you can see the Irrawaddy, it will take two days.

In The Kratie Province

This was my first time to see Mekong River, and these beautiful Provinces of Cambodia, so it was very interesting for me. We spent time along the river, and ate local foods which were not very expensive. It was cool and nice, and there were not many tourist. Early morning we took a van to Ratanakiri, which cost about $7.50 for one person. We left Kratie about 8:00am, and it took about six hours to arrive in Ratanakiri. The road is still very rough, and was under construction. On the way it was cool, and the view was very nice, with all the trees along the road, and everything was so green. It made us feel so good.

Arriving Ratanakiri

We arrived in Ratanakiri at about two o'clock in the afternoon, and it was very quiet and peaceful. The people are very friendly, there are not many tourists, and everything seemed to be very inexpensive. We found a guest house near Banlung Market, which was five dollars a night. We did not spend any time at the guesthouse after we checked in. because we wanted to spend our time sight seeing.

Peaceful

We took a motor taxi to get the Kachagn Waterfall. The falls were thirty meters high and were amazing and wonderful to see. I could not believe that I was there. Next we headed toward Yakloam Lake. On the way, I really enjoy watching the native people, looking through the jungle. I love the trees so much, everything made me feel so good. The air was fresh and the weather was cool and perfect.

Yakloam Lake

Yakloam Lake is an popular, well-known lake that most Cambodian people want to visit. We were swimming quite long, for about two hours, and we were enjoy our time so much. This is the first I visited this lake, and I learned about Cambodian geography. We returned to the town, and visited with friends, and enjoyed a meal together. The town is not so big, we walked around for about 30 minutes, and we felt safe. We planned to go trecking in the jungle, but it began to rain, and I was tired anyway, so we decided to stay in town and enjoy ourselves.

Explore the Culture

On the second day ofour visit, we went to Vernsite. Most of the people there were Lao who worked as fishermen and hunters. They spoke both Khmer and Lao. Next, we wanted to visit three villages that combine three races that lived together, so we paid 50,000 Riel, or about 12.50 USD to take a boat across and along the river. It took about 2 hours to arrive at the first village. This village was all Tompoon race. They could speak Khmer, and there is one school that teaches in Khmer. My foreign friends needed to pay an entrance fee of one dollar to the commune leader, but for me it was free. I realize their culture is different from my own. It seems like they still have the old Cambodian culture there. We saw a traditonal tomb, which was a new, small house that they build for the people when they die. They have a traditional celebration in front of the tomb, and make a statue representative of the person who died. For example, if the person was a soldier, they make a statue of a soldier to put in front of the tomb.

Toompoon Children

I learned many things from the Toompoon culture. I never knew much about it before, so it was very interesting to me. We met some children who seem very shy, and were afraid of my foreign friends, and even me. After a while, two girls were brave enough to talk to us. They showed us their school and where they live. Then I asked them to hold my hand, and soon we were friends. They had a great smile, and were friendly. We left the Tompoon village to see the other two villages.

KhmerLoue's House

Along the river we could see the interesting villages and the way people live. We arrived to see the Chinese village, and then the Khmer village, and finally the Lao village. We met some Chinese people who spoke Chinese with their family, but spoke Khmer with us. There were many stores selling things here, unlike in the Lao village. We walked through all three villages. I could tell the way they lived was different from the way I live. The clothes they wear, the foods they eat were different. We then began to head back to our Guesthouse. On the way back, we went to see the Date waterfall. It was not very nice, the water was not clear, and the environment was not clean, so we did not swim here. About 2:30 pm, we went to see the big Buddha on the mountain. It was beautiful, and we could see the whole city. We then returned to town a rested at our guesthouse. The next day we moved to another guesthouse where friends were staying. The price was three dollars a night and it was cheaper than the first. There was a nice restaurant, and the owner and waiters could speak English very well.

Relaxing Day

On the third day we did not go anywhere far, and enjoyed reading and watching TV with friends. In the evening, we walked around the lake and relaxed some more. We took a boat and played with the lotus flowers. Seeing the sunset at the lake was so beautiful and relaxing.

Having Fun

On the fourth day we left Ratanakiri at about 6:00 am for the bus station. From there we went straight back to Siem Reap, and it took about 13 hours. It seemed like a really long way back, because we did not stop anywhere. My trip to Ratanikiri was really great trip. It is a very peaceful place, and I learned many new things. I will not forget all the amazing things we did together and the great experiences we had. It was so fun to go on this trip.