On the trail of Mekong Dolphins

BANGKOK Beside Kampi, visitors can also spot the rare dolphins at the Koh Phdao community where there is a homestay situated on Roungeav Island, the largest island in the Cambodian section of the Mekong River (45 km long).

It is about 35 km from Kratie town going northwards in the same direction as Kampi. Some tourists cycle the route, but they need to set off very early to complete the ride and then catch the ferry for the last 10 km before the weather gets too hot. The other transfer options are to hire a motorbike, tuk-tuk or car to get to the river pier.

Halfway to Kampi (9 km from town), you will see stalls selling Krolan, or sticky rice, in bamboo sticks at Thma Kreae village. It is very tasty and an excellent food supplement for your backpack or an emergency meal, especially if you cycle to the pier. A backpack is the most convenient way to carry your clothes. Wheelie suitcases will invariably fail apart or slow progress.

Right across the narrow street from the pier stands Wat Sarsar Mouy Roy or 100 Pillar Pagoda (116 pillars to be exact). The temple was rebuilt in 1997 after being destroyed by the Pol Pot regime, leaving only three original wooden pillars that date back to 1529.

Since mid-2011, a section in the temple has been set aside for the Mekong Turtle Conservation Centre to save the endangered Cantor’s Softshell turtles. Visitors can visit an indoor hatchling facility and a large outdoor pond, constructed on the site of the temple’s original pond, where larger turtles are kept.

On Koh Phdao, you will be surrounded by rice fields and water buffaloes that are usually soakig up a clay mud spa to stay cool. Cambodia Rural Development Team, the NGO working in this area, has been striving to establish community-based tourism since 2007.

Guests can participate in the village’s daily activities such as working in rice fields or helping the community dig frog ponds and build duck pens. They can teach English to school children, work in vegetable gardens and learn how to raise farm animals. There are also boat trips to watch dolphins up close.

While Koh Phdao is a long way from town, visitors who are short of time can also cross the river from the town centre to Koh Trong to experience rural life. You can take a rental bike and cross by ferry to the island for a 10 km circular tour of the small communities that farm the river island.

Koh Trong looks shady mainly because of its orchards especially pomelo. On its west bank you can enjoy stunning sunsets over the Mekong River and there are several photogenic old Khmer houses, of which 15 are more than 100 years old.

Acommodation is limited to homestay, or a single resort. Only a couple of houses offer homestay on the island, but they are clean, offering good food and the owners are very friendly hosts. If you prefer privacy and modern comforts, Sala Koh Trong Ecolodge is a better choice.

Like all activities in rural areas this is a slow tourism experience where the event of the day could be fishing with villagers or helping to harvest fruit, plant vegetables and work in the rice fields.

Language is the major problem for homestay guests. Very few people speak English so if you are not fluent in Cambodian you will feel you are missing something. You will need someone to help you understand village lifestyle. The CRDT organises tours to Koh Phdao so the language problem is kind of alleviated by a trained tour guide. As for Koh Trong, individual travellers can contact the community’s tourism centre close to the pier or get help in English from KAFDOC (Khmer Association for Development of Countryside).

Stung Treng

Stung Treng is the main overland gateway at the Laos-Cambodia border. From here visitors cross to the Lao province of Champasak.

A new immigration facility on the Cambodian side is due to open later this year. It will make it more convenient for visitors who are travelling from Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathanito Champasak in Lao PDR and then to Cambodia via Stung Treng. There is a daily bus running from Pakse through to Phnom Penh and vice versa.

There is a small airport but no one uses it. Cows roam along the runway. There was a plan to upgrade it to be the main airport in the northeast due to its strategic location — near the border and surrounded by several provinces — Ratanakiri, Kratie and Preah Vihear.

Officials said a Canadian consultant completed a survey that challenged the assumption that Ratanakiri Airport was a better choice for a gateway. No final decision has been made on the role of Stung Treng airport.

The challenge for Stung Treng is to sweep away the image of being only a transit point on a backpacker route between Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. It needs to gain length of stay to pin down some of the tourism cash that flows with the backpacker tide.

Under the Mekong Discovery Trail project, services and facilities have been improved in O’Svay and Koh Phreah. The only missing component are the visitors. Despite all the progress establishing the Mekong Discovery Trail the experience remains a secret.

Stung Treng town nestles on the banks of the Sekong River, a tributary of the Mekong River. Due to its border status, there is a crossover of culture with both languages spoken quite fluently and a mix of both Lao and Cambodian foods and lifestyle traditions.

There is not much to do in the town itself, except to relax by the river. The weather is much cooler in the mornings for a trip to the market or to wander through small lanes and streets.

Worthy of a visit to support rather than as a travel experience, Le Tonle tourism training centre has a small guesthouse where it trains students to work in the hospitality business. There are just a few rooms cleanly maintained, but no air-conditioning and shared bathrooms. The cash spent staying here goes to the project to help them learn skills and earn a living from tourism.

Most of the tourist sites are outside the town so you will need to rent a motor bike to visit them all. About 4 km east of the town centre is Sre Po village where there is a weaving co-operative called Mekong Blue. Again this is a project to support locals and teach visitors about silk weaving, while there are hand woven fabrics for sale.

Mekong Blue, or Stung Treng Women’s Development Centre, focuses on improving living standards through education, vocational training and employment for vulnerable people, mainly women and their children. The distinctive product of Mekong Blue is its hand-woven silk that is exported to the US and Europe, while it can also be found in some shops in Phnom Penh as well as Siem Reap. The project recruits experienced weavers from Takeo province who are skilled in the art of traditional silk design and they teach those skills to other women at the centre.

Mekong Blue has two kindergartens set up in the centre and at a nearby village and provides school sponsorship to older children. It supplies books, stationary, school uniforms, sandals and even bicycles if they live far from school.

In addition the project supports mulberry farming. It buys cocoons directly from the farmer and this allows the centre to produce 100% Stung Treng silk products for Mekong Blue. Currently only 2% of the silk is actually produced in Cambodia. Most of it is imported from China and Vietnam.

For travellers fond of ruins, a ferry crosses the Sekong River and Mekong River to Thala Barivat the site of Prasa Preah Srey or Preah Ko.

All that remains of the once noble edifice is a humble pile of stone slabs. It was once a pre-Angkorian temple dating back to the 7th century in the Chenla period. Every April, a three-day ceremony is performed to ward off disaster, drought and disease.

The Irrawaddy dolphins remain the major attraction here at Stung Treng. There are five pools at locations some distance from the town. One spot is at Tboung Khla, 40 km south of town.

The area is not as commercialised as Kratie’s Kampi. There is no fee collection; no boat service.

The main dolphin route on the Mekong Discovery Trail is Damrei Phong about 25 km away, halfway from the town and Tboungkhla.

Once you arrive at Koh Preah, 37 km from Stung Teng, there is a good chance to see dolphins. It has a proper place to watch the rare mammals, but there are fees to pay for seats. Travel agent organise kayaking on the river to see the dolphins up close sailing through the Ramsar site.

Koh Preah is covered in bushes and forest. The river island stretches for a distance of 7 km and there is around 16 km of dirt roads.

Another popular tourist attraction on the island is the Sopheak Mitt waterfall, a truly hidden gem. It is almost on the scale of the more famous Khone Phapheng Falls in Champasack about 45 km away.

The falls are surrounded by thousands of islands and countless waterways. A roofed observation deck has been built for people to admire the falls, but it is poorly maintained. The best view requires visitors to venture on a rough trail to the side of the falls.

The Ramsar Site covers a 37 km stretch of the Mekong River and around 10,000 Cambodians depend on the river for their livelihood. It has a rich ecosystem and is an important fishing ground, especially in the dry season. The landscape of the Ramsar is fascinating because you are exploring a forest by boat rather than on foot. The entire forest is in a natural flood region during the rainy season and shelters at least 100 species of fish.

The village nearby offers homestay with clean bedding (in a private room or in the house’s common area), simple bathrooms and hearty meals.