Perhaps the most exciting part of this adventure so far has been the sighting of the critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphin. These dolphins are endemic to the Mekong river and over the years due to changing fishing methods and human development these dolphins now number less than 90 surviving adults and a few calves. They live in a few deep “pools” along the river, there were a number of them living just near the Cambodian-Laotian border, the Laos government dammed the river to provide electricity and water supply to their population, this however, reduced the deep pools and the last dolphin became entangled in a fishing net and drowned a few years ago.
Starting our day with a cycling circumnavigation of Koh Trong was delightful. Locals preparing for their day waved and greeted us as we enjoyed the cooler weather to ride the 10km around the island. Children bathed and with beaming smiles greeted us as they left homes at 6am to make their way to the school, seemingly happy to walk or cycle to class, and often alone even though perhaps aged 5 or 6. How lovely to live in this idyllic community, when I think of Australian children ferried to and from school by watchful parents, perhaps this community could teach us all something.
After a delicious breakfast of crusty baguettes, omelette and coffee we then cycled to the ferry, a smaller ferry than the day prior, passengers only, with no motorbikes, we crossed the river to our waiting bus. Another interesting drive through productive agricultural areas, banana plantations stretched for kilometres, yam plants uniformly planted in mounded earth rows, their leaves a gorgeous green shade against the red earth, coconut trees swaying in the breeze, their fruit harvested regularly and pawpaw trees with growing green fruits.
We arrive in the Kratie province where we are to board small wooden boats. Apparently dolphins are attracted to yellow so these small boats are all painted yellow, they’re lined up in rows of yellow all gaily bobbing on the waters edge. Our guide has only seen the dolphins a few times. They are not like bottle nose dolphins who jump regularly out of the water and are curious about humans, these shyer animals live in pods of 6, calve every 4-5 years, perhaps more often on occasion. We were only on the water (river pool around 20 metres wide, up to 70 metres deep and 500 metres long as part of the mighty Mekong) for around 15 minutes when a pod appeared, and excitedly with a calf. The calf had been born in February and hasn’t been seen very often. I took a lot of photos - many of the river I have to admit, but managed to get a couple of good photos of the dolphins in amongst them. Such a privilege to see these creatures, it was amazing. They breach regularly, but randomly, making it had to guess where they’ll appear next and they rarely completely clear the water. Although advertising pictures along the rivers edge suggest the opposite! The government is trying to protect this rare species, but locals still fish with large nets and further down the Mekong in Vietnam, electric shocks are used to fish the river, which occasionally kill these beautiful creatures. They are one of 3 species that appear to be a cross between a dolphin and a whale, they appear dolphin like but have a snubbed nose like an orca. Their numbers have been in decline but a small rise has been noted in recent years. We enjoyed around an hour on the river watching these wonderful creatures, it was a wonderful experience.
From Kratie we continue north to the small town of Stung Treng, a small village on the confluence of the Sekong and Mekong rivers, we are booked into the four rivers hotel, pretty basic but affording magnificent views of the river. The town itself is quite small with a couple of streets of shops and a central market area. It’s a nice wander and easy to explore. Dinner that evening was at a waterside (the only waterside restaurant) restaurant. Located not far from our hotel with a steep climb down to the entrance then multiple levels up and down once onboard, it was a fun clamber. The food offered was delicious and ranged from USD$5 to a special fish that was $100/kg. Needless to say the expensive fish wasn’t ordered, but the plates of fish, prawns, bok choy, Mornington glory, and beef with pineapple shared amongst us was a fabulous feast. Apart from the food the view of the evolving sunset was perhaps the most spectacular sunset I’ve witnessed. The colour was intense, at one stage split into two with one side in orange hues and the other in blues, I’ve not seen such colour like this. We watched a fisherman on an isthmus casting his circular net out into the river,it was mesmerising. With an orange background it was very special.
A busy day followed, starting out at 7 we travelled north to the Laos border to the tiny village of Preah Rumkel where we boarded three small wooden boats to travel about 45 minutes northward. The clouds started to blacken around 15 minutes into the trip then the heavens opened with torrential rain reducing the visibility so much that we couldn’t see the boat in front of us. The boat captains decided to take shelter under the riverside trees until the worst had passed. We were soaked to the skin!
Fortunately the rain passed around 15 minutes later so we continued northward to Sopheak Mitt where we hiked around an hour up over mountain sides to reach the waterfalls marking the Cambodian-Laos border. The hiking was hot and sweaty in humid conditions, but wet clothing and shoes made it tricky. The jungle conditions were interesting, we had a local leader complete with a machete guiding us through gorgeous forest/jungle, he slashed our way through some areas, pointing out edible berries and plant roots. The soft wood trees - the sproung trees - tower over the canopy, tall magnificent treasures which the bordering countries are not interested in culling as they are not able to be used as furniture. They are truly magnificent perhaps reaching 100+ feet tall. The canopy provides valuable shelter and shade, more enjoyable walking conditions for sure, although the wetter areas provide great leech conditions! We were fortunate that only two leeches decided anyone in the group were tasty enough to have a climb on! The guide saw both and flicked them off before they could attach to ankles! The amount of germinated seeds on the forest floor amazed me, plants perhaps 6 inches high with seed pod attached were numerous.
We hiked around 5km up and down mountain sides before coming to the waterfalls, you could hear them in the distance for some time and once in the clear they were a wonderful sight. It’s low water season but the volume and ferocity of the water coming over these falls was impressive. I guess I thought it would be a high waterfall dropping 100+ feet into a lush pool below - maybe I was hopeful of swimming in that pool! This is not the case, the falls are around 100 metres wide and perhaps 15 metres high with massive boulders to flow around, making the basin it emptied into a thunderous washing machine of swirling, choppy water moving very quickly. The return hike was more downhill and much more navigable. The boats waiting for us provided a welcome spot to sit and enjoy the return journey down the river on a sunny day! Or at least a sunny portion of the day!
Arriving at Ou Svay mid afternoon we hopped into single and double kayaks to paddle around 4km downstream. The river is a bit murky from recent rain activity but the sights were fabulous. We paddled through river forests where the tree roots are shaped by the fast flowing river, looking like hair swept back after a blow wave! Some roots wrapped around the next tree like they were hugging, it was fabulous. They provided a labyrinthine maze to navigate our way through.
We had some experienced kayakers and some newbies, it was fun for all under the watchful gaze of the guide and his assistants. We stopped at a small Island down river called Veun Sien village to enjoy a swim in the Mekong and an afternoon tea of red dragonfruit and rambutans, delish! The kayaks were loaded into a larger boat and we climbed back into our small boats to head up stream to the bus. The weather started close in again as we went up river. The clouds blackened, we reached the bus around 5 minutes before torrential rain started again. Such is life in the start of rainy season
So exciting that you got to see the dolphins!
Also, love the black and white shot of the clouds over the river and the boat!
Oooh that sunset would make a glorious wall photo