Monday 6th December 2004
Caught the bus to Kratie and sat next to a Cambodian guy called Sam, who spoke good English. He was with his new wife and his Cousin Tevy, who was born in Cambodia, but has lived in California since she was a baby. She had such a pretty face with her huge, American smile and perfect white teeth. She was visiting the family for the first time in eight years. It was really nice to speak with them all. It made the seven-hour journey seem a lot quicker. It turns out that the three of them were also going to Kratie, where his parents live just outside of town in the forest. I asked him what he knew about the rare Irawaddy dolphins that I had read about and were the main reason I was going to Kratie, as this is the best place on the Mekong River to find them. He told me that his parents' house, where he was brought up, is on the banks of the river where the dolphins dwell and he told me a little about them. I decided there and then that I would go to see them as soon as I arrived in Kratie that afternoon. Sam asked me where I was staying in town and I explained that I would look for somewhere when I arrived. He gave me his mobile phone number and invited me to his family's house for dinner that evening. "Give me a call this evening and I'll come and pick you up on my motorbike" he said. I was a bit wary of being invited to a stranger's house in the middle of nowhere like that, which I suppose is a typical Western reaction, but I reminded myself of Michael Pailin and thought it was a perfect opportunity to live the kind of adventure I had imagined.
Sam and his entourage hopped off the bus a few miles outside Kratie where a couple of family members on motorbikes were waiting for them and I continued on towards town. When I arrived I found a room at The Star Guesthouse very quickly. As soon as I got my backpack into my room I went back to the reception area and asked them about a trip to go dolphin spotting. It was getting a little late, but the girl on reception said that it would be possible to get there in time and have a look around before sunset. She called out to a moto driver on the street and explained something to him and then told me to get on the bike with him at a cost of $5 to go there and back. He was really going for it to get me there on time. The place where you can hire a boat to go dolphin spotting is about 15 Km away in a place called Kampie, which is where Sam's family lives. We raced to Kampie on the moto, flying and bouncing over every bump in the road, whilst I waved to the locals who, just like back in Battambang were all really happy to see a stranger! It was great to be getting that feeling again that I had on the moto in Battambang. This was a feeling of absolute freedom and adventure. The road narrowed and entered the forest. The scenery was beautiful, riding through the forest, following the mighty Mekong and watching all the people in their homes, going about their lives between the road and the riverbank. Hats off to the moto driver. He got me there with loads of time before sunset and I made my way to the bank where there were a few people tending their boats. The moto driver did all the talking for me with one guy who agreed to take me out onto the river for $5. As they were discussing things I looked out over the river which was glistening majestically in the brightness of the sun as it lowered in the sky and I caught sight of something breaking the surface of the water and ducking back down. It was an Irrawaddy dolphin! I was really excited to get out there. The Mekong River is a humbling site. It is huge!
I felt extremely privileged as we headed out on the boat because I was the only passenger. It was a small wooden boat with a motor and I had my own personal boat tour. I'm so glad I came when I did. As we reached the middle of the river my guide stopped the engine. It was so peaceful and with the sun preparing itself to fall, there was an air of magic that I could really feel. Just the light lapping of the water on the side of the boat for an accompaniment. I waited for a while with my camera ready on video clip mode and eventually it happened. The sound of an air hole blowing, except it was behind me and I didn't catch it on camera! After some patient waiting and looking around I did get a slightest of movements on film, but it was nothing compared to what it was like to actually be there and experience the whole thing first-hand. The dolphins are very shy, don't come close to the boats and only surface for the briefest of moments, but it was amazing to be sharing the river with them in that moment as they gave me a tiny glimpse into their world. I'll never forget the stillness and silence on that boat. It was a magical space to find myself in.
The sun set as we drove back into town on the moto, a little less hurried than the journey the other way and I was really feeling the magic of this beautiful country again. I called Sam from a public phone in town, which was interesting. The public phone was basically a small stall with a mobile phone that they let you use whilst timing you with a stopwatch! Sam told me he would pick me up at 7pm and take me to his house. I found myself on Sam's motorbike going back along the road that I had been on this afternoon, only this time it was in the dark and we were going even faster than the moto driver! We stopped along the way to buy some sticky rice with coconut stuffed into a bamboo shoot, which Sam wanted me to try. It was really nice. A really good thing to carry with you for energy throughout the day and healthy too. Dinner was lovely at Sam's family's house. It was a wooden house on stilts on the banks of the river. His family was very hospitable and Sam's grandmother was especially pleased to have a guest in the home. She was blind and she touched my face as she greeted me The smile she gave was quite precious. I was as pleased to meet her as she was to meet me. I had countless shots of home-made rice wine by Sam's brother. It was amazing stuff. I had not one trace of a hangover the next morning! Well despite the family not speaking English, except Sam and Tevy and me not speaking Khmer, we all got on famously and had a great night. They made up a bed for me next door in Sam's brother's house with a mosquito net and everything and I went off to sleep, really happy in the fact that I had experienced a little of that "Michael Palin" way of life and then I was brought back to reality by two cockerels outside "cock-a-doodle-doing" from about 3am onwards!
