Ban Lung, Ratanakiri

We arrived in Ban Lung to be greeted by a crowd of hotel owners, all vying for our attention. We picked one and off we went to the Tribal Guesthouse. We took one of the higher priced rooms as the cheaper ones were pretty dingy and ended up with a great room in a chalet separate from the main hotel. Once we had negotiated some clean sheets (they try to get away with giving you dirty sheets in most budget hotels in Cambodia) we set out for supper. We decided to go it alone (without the guidebook) and ended up in a pretty interesting little place with a funny menu, well just take a look at the picture below, fancy some "pregnant egg", "tin mushroom" or simply "?" (see last option)... we had a good laugh and ended up ordering chicken and noodles.


The next day we took a short walk around the centre of town (which consisted of just a few sandy 'streets') , walked around the local market and watched the local life go by. The people here wear pyjamas as well and as you can see the children start from a young age! All very laid back.
We decided that the best way to get around the surrounding countryside would be to rent a motorbike. Our hotel was charging double the price on the street so we found some guys with an old motorbike who were willing to rent it to us for $4 for the day. We filled up with petrol at the nearest 'petrol station':
decided on a route and off we went!

Our first visit was to a famous volcanic crater with a lake inside that you can swim in! We had in fact specifically come up to this area to witness this spectacular natural treasure. We were very excited. We zoomed off on our bike, the wind in our hair and masks covering our faces from the dusty roads.
I couldn´t see a volcano on the horizon but presumed that it may be covered in jungle. We reached our destination, parked the bike and ran down to the lake. We reached the 'volcanic crater' aka 'just a big lake':
and tried not to be too disappointed as we realised that there was no volcano, not even a crater, just a lake. On the positive side it was still a very nice lake and we made the most of it. We walked around the whole lake, through the forest which was beautiful, watched some local children playing and relaxed for half an hour in the sunshine. Swimming was ruled out as an option as the edge of the lake was covered in rubbish and we didn´t fancy swimming with the it.

Still we loved our moto and sped down the road to a nearby waterfall which was really impressive.


We had an awesome lunch of burger and chips (just what we needed after days of noodles) at the hightly recommended Sal´s restaurant, where Sal herself served us in her nightdress (I kid you not - she hadn't had time to get dressed she said) and headed off for a jaunt around the countryside. We passed wooden houses on stilts:

Villages where people shouted hello to us as we passed them:

Groups of kids playing and wondering who we were:

And rather unpleasantly I witnessed a pig being beaten to death with a stick as we passed by. I didn´t take a photo of that but urged Al to speed on to escape the noise of the pig´s screams.
Onwards we drove, up a hill near to the town where children were playing near a Buddhist monument
and I tried out my skills on the bike

For sunset we took the bike down to a big lake on the outskirts of the town where we watched locals fishing and water buffalo eating grass on the shore.


The perfect way to end a day of motorbiking in Ban Lung? A warm shower to wash off all the red dust that has turned your skin orange!

We awoke at sunrise the next day and made our way into town for a very long bus journey. The bus came and we began the 10 hour slog back to Phnom Penh with a couple of baguettes to keep us company. Amazingly the bus only stopped to refuel at a petrol station and didn't stop at any restaurants. (As we were at this crowded petrol station we saw one very smart guy throw a lit cigarette onto the ground right next to someone refuelling their car - maybe a sign that this country still has a long way to go to educate its people and through this become more developed).

We only spent one full day in Ban Lung. It is certainly interesting to see these off-the-beaten-track parts of the country but we decided that maybe it isn´t always for us. We could have stayed longer, gone trekking in the forest or something, but this part of Cambodia is really underdeveloped which makes tours like this difficult as you don't always know what you're getting. We were also a bit annoyed with Lonely Planet for recommending the 'volcanic crater' which doesn't remotely resemble a volcano or a crater - just a lake. We've learned to not always take what guidebooks say as the gospel truth, sometimes in their enthusiasm for a country they hype up the mediocre and turn it into a 'must see' attraction. We would recommend a visit to Ban Lung for those visiting Cambodia with time on their hands (the bus journey here is very long indeed and it's the only road from the south) and it's a good place to go if you want a taste of typical Cambodian rural life. Although poor, the people here are relaxed and friendly, there are good hotel options and some surprisingly good restaurants.