A hiking advenure in northern Cambodia

Our hiking trip started out with a long van ride where we passed many farms, houses, and villages. It was interesting to look around at their different way of life (we also love reading and drawing on our new Kobos when we are in the car for long rides). One of the things I noticed was that most of the houses were built on stilts, with space at the bottom of the house. The space at the bottom is often used as a work space, drying rice or other crop. Some people use it as a gathering space for their plastic chairs or pallet made beds. These beds host visitors and can be a place for gathering for a meal. Many people seem to have outdoor kitchen areas with small fires going. There are definitely a lot of hammock hung under houses and some motorbikes parked too. 

We entered a national park and took a long winding switchback road to the side of a mountain. There were lots of people gathered along the side of the road to wave to the van. We waved back and later found out they come down from the hills looking for donations. Along the road there were several forect rangers who monitor the narrow road for safety, especially at turns. Since it was Sunday, some of the workers seemed to have their families with them. After a long van ride, it was nice to be out of the car even though we weren't really sure where we were!

Then we met our local guide and headed off on a path... which truned out to be a dirt trail that wound over rocks and through a jungle. We passed a lot of cashew trees and signs about not picking the nuts! In total, we went for a long 3-hour hike. A highlight was when we stopped to see some ancient ruins (one of the sites was built in the year 802!). There was an elephant and a tiger mostly still whole, plus you could see the remains of some buildings. There was also a natural swing made from a vine which was fun. 

On this hike there were long stretches of walking without much information - but we made it fun by playing games, talking and singing songs. Our family played a lot of word games and we practiced our multiplication tables. The guide said "only 20 minutes more" about 5 times... so we kept walking and another hour later we were at the van enjoying delicious fresh fruit and cool water under the shade of a tree.

After we were finally done our long hike, we decided to go to a very pretty waterfall where we got to swim and play underneath the waves. It was a busy days for the locals at the waterfall site, many people had mats with picnics on them. It was nice to see so many people playing and relaxing - and of course, dressed up in red taking New Year photos! The waterfall was big and a loud. The pooling water was cool but the bottom was sandy. There were even fish nibbling at your feet which was a bit freaky! Mom and Bella got close to the spray so they definitely cooled off! 

We finished our day with another steep set of stairs and a van ride back to Siem Reap.

Love Alex :)