As we leave Siem Reap & the beautiful Shinta Mani and the wonderful staff today, we have approximately 450 Kilometres to drive to Kratie, which sounds a like a reasonable days drive however the Garmin tells us it will take 6 hours!
Let’s see how go…. Driving through Siem Reap is chaotic with bikes, cars & trucks going in every direction on both sides of the road. On the outskirts of Siem Reap there are stalls BBQing meat & sticky rice in bamboo tubes.
Some of the Cambodian people drive what looks like a tractor with a very long handle to steer it and they pull all sorts of things.
We pass through rubber tree plantations with their little cups collecting the latex from the trunks. The trees grow very straight and are planted quite close to each other.
As we pass through the small villages people wave and call out hello to us, they’re very friendly. After stopping at our guides Wife’s family house we are given a lovely bunch of lotus flowers and pods, we meet his children and his wife then we drive alongside the lotus plants growing in the water.
After a quick lunch in a local restaurant we cross the Mekong river and then drive parallel to it for quite a way.
The road up until now has been good but it is deteriorating with a few potholes and a couple of stretches of dirt road around roadworks.
The Cambodian new year is about to start with 3 days holidays starting on the 14th April. Villages are starting to set up marquees with brightly coloured silk covers on their plastic chairs and loud music blaring out, it’s a real party atmosphere.
We arrive at Kratie at about 5:30 (9.5 hours after departure) and park our cars in a secure car park and are transported in tuk tuks to the river so we can catch a boat across to an island in the Mekong river and to our hotel.
We were met on the beach by a group of motor bikes who transported us & our bags up to the main path & from there we caught a tuk tuk to our hotel, which was a fun way to arrive. It has been a long hot day and we’re pleased to arrive at this gorgeous traditional hotel where we all had individual little wooden houses.
We thought we’d have a refreshing swim before dinner but the water temperature was about 35 degrees, so it washed off the dirt & sweat from the days drive nicely although not really refreshing.
Our room has a claw footed bath, great for relaxing in before climbing into bed. We are in a malaria area so mosquito nets are provided.
Another great day. Sounds like quite an adventure to get from your securely parked cars to your overnight accommodation. Enjoy a good nights rest underneath your protective mosquito nets.
Bernadette and Michael