Monday, September 10, 2012

Sen Monorom Waterfall

Sen Monorum Waterfall is located at Sen Monorum District in five-kilometer distance from the provincial town by red soil trail, Along either sides of the trail, there are industrial plantations like rubber, coffee and cashew as well. The local people usually meet each other at Sen Monorum waterfall during the holidays and national festivals because it closed to the provincial town. Sen Monorum waterfall has three stages: - First stage: The waterfall has slow speed, one-meter height and 2-4 meter diameter. - Second stage: During the rainy season, the waterfall has strong speed, 6-7 meter height and 8-meter diameter. During the dry season, the waterfall has 7-9 meter height and 4-5 meter diameter. At the waterfall, there is a large space of resting and enjoying.-

Third stage: Locates at one- kilometer distance from the second stage. The waterfall has 1.5-meter height only.Getting to Sen Monorom is difficult, adding to its off-the-beaten-path allure. From Phnom Penh, it takes about 10 hours. The first half of the trip, to Snuol, is on smooth, paved roads. Once you pass Snuol, however, civilisation ends, and the road becomes a veritable roller coaster ride of bumps and potholes, your vehicle permanently cloaked in a cloud of red dust for the final five hours of the journey. Sen Monorom's atmosphere is distinct from the moment you arrive. It is one of the quietest towns in Cambodia -- just a few dirt roads and one roundabout set at the centre of a patchwork quilt of grassy rolling hills. The town is but a blip on the radar and you could pass it in barely the blink of an eye.

Mondulkiri and Rattanakiri provinces are both set on a plateau, giving them a distinct climate and flora from the rest of the country. Note that just as the environment is oddly unique for Cambodia -- with rolling, grassy hills and valley rivers -- so are the very mild temperatures. In the cool season, you'll appreciate having a jacket. While many may have an image in their mind of Mondulkiri being a heavily forested nature-lovers paradise, this is sadly not the case. Firstly, the high altitude and cooler weather makes the landscape more akin to England than the tropics, with low shrubs, deciduous forests, and vast, open fields spreading across the rolling hills.

Also, this province and Rattanakiri to the north were logged to a devastating degree over the last two decades -- mainly with the cooperation of Vietnamese and Taiwanese logging interests and the complicity of Cambodian government officials with well-greased palms.While there has been significant regrowth, visitors expecting untouched wilderness may be disappointed. The talk is that the commercial flights that once flew from Phnom Penh to Sen Monorom were cancelled because so much of the illegal logging could be seen from the air.Despite this substantial damage, Mondulkiri's beauty is still very much intact, with patches of forest, picturesque plains lined with wide, open dirt roads, streams and waterfalls, and minority villages whose traditional ways of life remains intact.Locates at Sen Monorum District in five-kilometer distance from the provincial town by red soil trail, Along either sides of the trail, there are industrial plantations like rubber, coffee and cashew as well. The local people usually meet each other at Sen Monorum waterfall during the holidays and national festivals because it closed to the provincial town.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Phnom Kraol

The Phnom Kraol Cultural Resort is located in Orayes Village, Srè Sangkom Commune, Koh Nhèk District; 3 km away from the town of Koh Nhèk District or 111 km from the provincial town. It can be accessed by the red pebble path. There are more than 135 families living in the Phnom Kraol area of 68 ha, whose main occupations are farming. This resort is managed by the Inter-commune Commission for Managing the Phnom Kraol Cultural Resort.

The Kraol Mount covered by forest provides plenty of opportunities for picnicking and hiking.
Its main point of interest is a place of worship on the mountaintop where residents and tourists always visit to pray for happiness and prosperity. Nowadays, it is a main tourist attraction which draws inbound international and internal tourists.

Busra Waterfall

Busra waterfall is located in Pich Chenda district about 43 kilometers northeast of Mondulkiri provincial town, Sen Monorom. Busra is considered by many to be the most beautiful waterfall in Mondulkiri. The waterfall is divided into three stages:

  • First Stage: The waterfall fall is 8 to 12 meters high and 15 meters wide in rainy season and 10 to 15 meters wide in dry season.
  • Second Stage: The waterfall fall is 15 to 20 meters high and 20 meters wide in rainy season and 18 to 25 meters high and 13 meters wide in dry season. The second stage is 150 meters from the first stage.
  • Third Stage: The speed of waterfall is faster than the second stage. This stage cannot be reached because it is in the thick forest. There are no marked paths and dangerous wildlife inhabits the area.


  • The double-drop waterfall is very popular with the locals who use it as a bathing and picnic spot. Its top level is around 10m in height, and the lower level drops down 25m to the gorge. It is in a scenic and pristine setting and offers great photo ops. Nearby is the ethnic Phnong village called Pichinda which has a small guesthouse. Some snacks are available at the falls, but bring food if you would like something more substantial. Then we head northeast to Bou Sra. We never rode north on this road before and I am surprised that right behind the first hill it is getting rougher than most we have seen yesterday. We cross a small river on an improvised bridge and are charged 500 Riel each by a bunch of kids.

    After that the road is getting somewhat smoother but still requires a lot of attention. There are deep grooves in the road, most likely left behind my heavy cars. Once you get into one of those it leaves you with only very few options other than just following it hoping not to get stuck. Yet the ground is solid and provides good grip for the tires. We keep going and after some time we do not see settlements anymore. The forest is relatively dense and in some places impenetrable. Both of us have to restart the bike a number of times and while we proceed with moderate speed it remains a challenge in many places to maneuver those relatively heavy bikes.

    The way I start this bike many times is I put it on the stand, climb on the moto and start it from this relatively comfortable position, before I flap the stand and go. However, I realize that the stand is about to break off and can hardly support the bike anymore. The road is getting tougher; there are many rocks and countless obstacles, sometimes forcing us to ride next to the road. And hills are pretty steep in some instances. Overall we move quite slowly. After about 40 minutes we have a break. I try to figure how Pongro is riding down those hills and ask him. I learn that he controls the speed entirely with the clutch.

    I am about to suggest using a lower gear. To demonstrate how he does it he takes the clutch clever and holds it tight. Oddly, at precisely this moment the clutch cable breaks. I does not take us long to realize that it is impossible to ride this bike without clutch. Ironically, today is the first day we go without the heavy set of tools and spare parts we usually carry and which includes a clutch cable. Pongro is still confident that we can manage to fix the bike here. Once in while people pass on small, old Honda's, sometimes badly overloaded but always very skillfully finding the way between all those rocks.

    We learn that the way to Bou Sra is still longer than the way back to Sen Monorom. Furthermore the road is getting tougher from here. And it is very unlikely we find somebody there who can fix the bike.One of those guys stops for some time and Pongro borrows some tools and wire in order to try fixing the moto. The Phnong guy joins and for some time they try hard. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that this won?t work out.