My home in Chambok

While in cambodia, i found out about this ecotourism project at a national park south of Phnom Penh that i wanted to go. Fortunately for me, there is a head office of the organise in Phnom Penh.
Mlup Baitong

Chambok Eco Tourism Site
www.geocities.com/chambokcbet/

I walked into the office and was greeted by several surprised staffs. They rarely had independent travelers like me turning up at their office just like that. I was attended by lovely sylvie who helped answer all my queries. She told me that some of their staffs are going to the branch office near the national park and she said i could tag along with them! Otherwise going there on my own would be a chore with many change of transport.

My good friend Sylvie email Add
aedmlup@online.com.kh

On the day of departure, i was told we would leave at 2pm. Because of the heavy work load, Rithy, Sunheang and 3 other staff only manage to clear everything at 4.30pm.

Off we go, 5 grown man squeeze into this extremely small car. Since i was the "guest" i got the comfortable front seat. And for the first time in my life, i had 2 drivers!! One person is driving and the other squeezed into the same small seat!

The ride there was very a very pleasant one. I learned alot about the people in cambodia, Mlup Baitong, the way the organisation functions and the many limitations they face while operating.

It was dark and late by the time we arrived at the branch office and for safety reasons, they invited me to stay overnight at their branch office. The people at the office were really very nice, making sure i am well taken care of. The laughter and conversation lasted the whole night, even while lying under the mosquito net. The whole day while being just an ordinary one, exists as a very special experience to me. If you ever do meet these guys, do send my regards to them.

At Chambok, i was introduced to My Phon Thy(pronounced Tee) tel: 017363480, my guide for the stay there. He is a very nice young chap who speaks very good english and really wants to do more for his commune. There are a few activities that you can do there. Waterfall, rivers, lakes, caves etc. However compared to elsewhere in Asia, the experience is rather average. 40m waterfall in the dry season. Measured by Thy personally using a vine!
Bat caves

This commune Chambok is actually very backwards in terms of infrastructure. There is no proper electric or water lines running in the area. For electricity, they depend on fuel generator which can be expensive to maintain and for water, they depend on 1 single pipeline running from the waterfall into the homes in the village. Of course i asked Thy to bring me to see it. This single improvised filter here provides water to the several houses at the foot of the hill. In fact, there are many more villages that do not have proper water supply.1 single important pipeline

In the afternoon, Rebecca a german volunteer from Mlup Baitong comes to the village to teach english and general knowledge to the people here. Students here not only include children but also the village chief as well as my homestay host Cham who is already a father. Spent an afternoon with the kids Tu en(black ass they call him), Ali(shy village girl), Luck(hip dressing 16 year old), Phuck(16 year old sweet girl).

Meals during my stay is had at the Women's restaurant. This is the place where the ladies in the village rotate to work for supplement income. Because for most of the time, i am the only "guest" around, i was always invited to eat with all the people working there. Truly an unique experience. Rice paper in the makingThroughout the 2 days in Chambok, my guide Thy was with me all the time, bringing me to where i want to go Waterfall He told me that there is short cut down the waterfall back to the village and this was it! Slide down a 5m long tree trunk!

On the last day, Thy said he wanted to bring me to do some swimming. Needless to say, i was glad and i merely made a passing remark that it would be great if everyone could go together.

When I arrive at the swimming spot, i was surprised to see EVERYBODY there! From Mlup Baitong, the women's restaurant and even Rebecca gave her class a day off and everybody went to swim with me! The boys from the classEverybody i know was there!Black Ass and PhuckLuck doing our signature chicken dance!Cham my homestay host at the bottomPhuckLady from women restaurant(Also Thy's Aunt)

Singing at the top
Which we have to climb past HUGE red ants infested rocks Chicken dance!
and more chicken dance!

Because it is my last night there, Cham thoughtfully prepared a dinner party for me and what is for dinner? Roast chicken! After so much chicken dance, we ought to have some chick!

After a sad goodbye to all my friends in chambok, i made my way back to the main road with Thy. Thanks to all the people and hospitality i received from the people there. It has made this the highlight of my stay in cambodia. Angkor wat doesnt even come close. I certainly see much hope in the people of this commune.

Total expenses

Homestay: US$3/night
Entrance to Site: US$3
Meals: US$2.5/meal
Guide: US$15/day

Compared to many other villages i have seen in and area cambodia, the price here is actually very inexpensive. And you know that the money will go towards providing a better living environment for the people here. Definitely a MUST DO if you are in the area.

Who says you cant sit in the boot of a car?

We are Hitch Hikers?

Day 9 and 10, this is the 2nd last post on taiwan. Come next week, i will embark on a 7 months journey through several countries. I have lots of interesting things planned out and also meeting some new people. I am sure it will be as much as an adventure as taiwan.

Now back to taiwan, we had arrived at hualien the night before and had found and booked a minsu. It looks very good on the website and the price is not expensive. But when we met the lady who was supposed to drive us there, she told us that the place was "full" and that we will be sent to another place. I did not like the idea of this at all but it was very late and there way no way we could find another place at this hour. Reluctantly, we went along with her. We were quoted 1500/night for a room in a small hotel, the price is the same as before but the decor and style of the place was totally different. No more homely minsu but cold hard hotel. Throughout our meetings, they asked what we plan to do in hualien and was pushy in promoting their services and they were not exactly cheap. On to happier stuff, FOOD!!!

Xiao Long Pau? it is more like our normal Pau at home
Food Galore!
This shop has only no menu because they only have 1 dish, Wanton!!

The next day we have our rafting trip!(900NT) The view was great and there was a few nice rapids even though some parts of the water was moving far too slowly. We were told this isn't the season for rafting, the water level is still too low. Some parts of it, we even had to be pulled by the boat. Rafting park
Our packed lunch, taste far better than it looks

At night we went to walk around hualien scouting for food! Wandered to a Nan Bin Night market where all sorts of food and games stores were available. It was drizzling slightly so not all the stores were open. Found a pavilion by the sea side and sat there while we chatted and ate.

Nan Bin Park
View from the pavilion
snail like thing on the left was fabulous, i couldn't stop eating and went to get 2 more servings!
They sell food from other countries as well
After dinner, we saw a stall selling fireworks! Needless to say, we suaku Singaporeans of course went to get some! It was super duper fun! We got so addicted that we kept going back to get even more, even bigger!


Day 10, we head to the all famous Taroko Gorge! Most places offer tours for around 700NT/pax or over 2000NT for whole cab. We did not need any guide and we did not want to pay so much for it. Initial plan was to get a public bus there for 150NT/pax, the hotel lady was very persistent in selling us her service even though we declined her many times. At long last, she said ok she will send us up there 1 way for 150NT/pax, same price as the bus. Same price and in a private car, why not?

Turns out there is another group of 4 already going up for the tour and they have seats left.. no wonder she is willing to go that far. Nonetheless, her loss is our gain.

Taroko National Park
Lots of marble formations
The light at the end of the tunnel
Looking for Sun Wu Kong!!

We came prepared with battle suits!
It really is a 水濂洞, it isn't even like raining inside. Its like a thunder storm!
Drying our ponchos
We were the only ones there
Lesson from kimble, always bring fruits on a hike :D
More majestic formationsRemember i said earlier that we paid 150NT each for a 1 way ride up. Well after that we have a problem. We have no means of getting back down...

My guide book says that there is a bus that comes every half an hour or so and we did verify with the people there, nobody seems to be able to comfirm it. We decided to try our luck and wait... and wait... and wait..... Ok there isn't any bus that is coming.

So what happens if you are ever stuck somewhere and needs to get away?? you thumb your way out!!!

Shortly after the video, it started to rain and we had only 1 umbrella. HAHA it was damm hilarious. The 3 of us were squeezing under 1 small umbrella with our thumbs out. There was lots of people who slowed down and said "hello!" "Good luck" and a few "HAHA". 5 mins into the rain, a car actually pulled up after us! The driver motioned us to get in and we just ran with everything we have got.

Hitch Hike - Checked!! Nothing too difficult for us :D
The soft spoken driver is actually one of the rangers of the national park and is on his way home in hualien, coincidentally in the area near our hotel. We chatted a bit and got to know more bout hualien through him.

At night, me and amelia went back to the night market to TaBao food back for audrey. Her new shoes plus the hiking we did today caused her leg to have a big blister.

Along the way to the night market, a little boy on a small bicycle suddenly appears and said he wants to follow us. Yeah why not?
So we were walking and asking bout the boy, how old is he, what is his name etc.

Suddenly amelia turned around to me and said "Is this boy a ghost?"
HAHAHAHAHA i couldn't stop laughing the whole night. Then we started to discuss methods to identify ghosts. Really interesting evening.

I shall call him Ghost Boy
Just for the record, ghost mum came later to bring ghost boy home
They have cigarettes UFO catcher! WTF?!
Our food back for audrey(Or Audray now)

Next post will be the last on taiwan. Meeting someone special. To whoever it may concern, finally its here!!