3 Hungarians, 2 Americans, and a Latvian walk into a bar....

     Immediately after our friends Alison, Willa, and Julian left late on a Friday night, we left the next morning for our first “vacation” since arriving in Cambodia. It was a busy and enjoyable week with our friends Andras and Eszter, and their  friends Gabor and Olga. Three Hungarians, two Americans and a Latvian (and our two Khmer drivers), ranging in age from 27 to 59, were off on a week-long trip to two fascinating but far-flung destinations in Cambodia.

Vacation time!!!

     We met up in Phnom Penh, and then went to Mondulkiri, a more remote province in the east bordering Vietnam. It was a refreshing change to be in the mountains, where the temperatures are cooler and the tourists are fewer and further between. The drive there was about 8 hours from Phnom Penh, with the last portion on a newly-built national road that will surely invite throngs of tourists to visit there in the coming years. The ride passed nicely with all the usual interesting Cambodians views along the way – rice paddies, stilted homes, small village markets, interesting but relatively sparse traffic. It was generally uneventful except for an hour or so before our destination when we came upon the aftermath of a moto accident. Two motorbikes and five people lay in the otherwise empty road. Another guy had already stopped and everyone was quickly loaded into the bed of his pick-up truck to be taken to a hospital somewhere. They were all pretty banged up. It was a stark reminder of the fact that traffic accidents are the number cause of accidental death on Cambodia now that landmines are less of a risk than they used to be.

Our bungalow

     We stayed in recently-built bungalows built by a Khmer man who had lived in Hungary for 12 years. The room was clean and comfortable with cable TV and hot water; no need for a/c since the weather was so much cooler in Mondulkiri. At $8 a night, the price was perfect. We especially loved the "NO SMORKING" sign in our room. We decided it covered both smoking and snoring. The town itself offered three restaurants, a tiny supermarket, and many signs for tour companies offering elephant rides, trekking, and motorbike trips.

The main drag in Mondulkiri

This appeared to be the only other street in town

     We rode elephants – probably on the same day that people back home in Vermont were digging out from yet another winter storm. We rode through cashew orchards and stands of giant bamboo, with views of slash-and-burn agriculture and traditional Bunong hilltribe homes. After a leisurely picnic lunch, the elephants took a bath in the river and some of us joined in.

Steve looked like he might go overboard, but he managed not to.
The ride was bumpy, to say the least. I was wishing for a La-Z-Boy strapped to the elephant's back.

The youngest elephant handler.
Apparently each elephant is owned by several families and is their family business.

Steve jumped right into the water Khmer-style in his underwear to join the elephant for a bath.
(I did too, but without removing my outer layer of clothing.)
Note our driver, posing enthusiastically at the head of the elephant. This was his pose in every single photo.

Traditional Bunong homes, with a typical Khmer stilted house on the left,
as well as the spirit house in the foreground.

Slash, burn, plant, harvest, repeat.

     We saw avocado trees – this province is apparently one of the only places in Cambodia where they grow – and spent some time at a coffee plantation where they grow all kinds of fruit (in addition to the coffee.) We wondered how this part of the country might look in the green season, because at this time of year everything is dry and coated with a layer of thick red dust with columns of smoke rising from the rolling hills.

Bananas beginning to form inside their enormous flower.

This must be glorious in the green season...

     The following day, we visited a beautiful waterfall where all the other “tourists” were Khmer , and some of them were renting traditional hill tribe clothing to put on and have their picture taken in front of the waterfall. It reminded me of American families who visit those photo booths at county fairs to dress up in old-style Western garb and pose for a sepia-toned family portrait. Who was the very first person who came up with this idea? And do they do it all over the world? I know they do it for foreign tourists in many places, but how many countries do it within their own countries dressed as people from their own history? And if the Khmers dress up as their own indigenous people, why do we dress up as Cowboys and not Native Americans? (OK, is that the currently correct term: Native Americans?) Do white Australians dress up as Aboriginals for photos?

Khmer tourists in their rented costumes

  Locals enjoying a picnic at the waterfall.
The lady on the right is smoking something pretty impressive-looking,

The senior members of the group

Eszter and Andras

Olga and Gabor

              In the evenings, much beer and palinka (a Hungarian spirit) was consumed and luckily for us, the common language among all present was English with occasional detours into Hungarian. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our three nights in Mondulkiri and hope to return.

     From there,  we made a very long drive to Sihanoukeville on the coast, where we stayed just one night before heading off to a tantalizingly-named place called “Lazy Beach” on Koh Rong Samloen island. Sihanoukeville is exactly what you’d expect if you anticipated a beach town full of young tan tattooed tourists, a main drag lined with bars and restaurants, little shops selling flotation devices (though here the choice was mostly limited to those inflatable rings with animal heads that you might buy for $3 at Walmart), and tuktuks lining the road on both sides looking for business. We rolled into town with no reservations but found a nice little centrally-located hotel and splurged for $20/night, enjoying the brief luxury of wifi in the room. The next morning we spent a bit over two hours on a boat to get to the island. There were three Khmer crew, the six of us and another half dozen tourists. The wooden boat was big enough for all of us and our luggage, but limited in amenities. The ocean was full of gentle swells that seemed to get steadily bigger as we chugged along. At one point we were rising and falling enough that someone’s backpack went overboard and we had to go back for it. Everyone but me felt quite seasick, Steve worst of all, but we made it and were quickly distracted by the beautiful blue-green water, the light sand beach, and our roomy thatched-roof bungalows with hammocks on the front porches facing directly to the beach. The plan while here for two nights was to swim, nap, eat, drink and generally be lazy, and I would say that we all quite successful.

Absolutely worth the crazy boat trip.

Such balance...

This will do nicely.

We did take a “hike” through the jungle (it was really just a pleasant 25-minute walk ) to another beach with powdery white sand that squeaked when you walked on it. I’m not generally a big beach person, and have limited experience with tropical beaches other than Costa Rica, but I must say that it was beautiful. The water was clear and just the right temperature for swimming and there were a few crabs and shells and other oddities to appreciate along the beach. 

     We watched and listened to hornbills in the trees, heard but never saw monkeys, played quite a few games of Uno, enjoyed the delicious seafood and drinks at the restaurant, spent lots of time in hammocks, and generally basked in the feeling of being on an almost-deserted island doing almost nothing. It was relaxing and only slightly tinged with sadness knowing that we would soon be saying goodbye yet again to friends when we had to leave.

Hornbill

We celebrated Gabor's 28th birthday at Lazy Beach.

     That Saturday morning, we took the boat back to Sihanoukeville and drove to Phnom Penh where we said our sad goodbyes to good friends. Olga and Gabor were excellent company and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying their first trip to Cambodia. We’ve known Eszter and Andras since we arrived last August and have enjoyed many happy evenings with them in Siem Reap. I felt privileged to be invited along on this trip with “the kids” – and while I was well aware of the age differences, it didn’t  feel like it really mattered. Many promises have been made to see each other again – next time in Budapest!

Goodbye for now -
See you in Budapest!

Where are we headed next?
Vermont, of course - May 4th!