TUESDAY, JULY 13th
Oh how I love road trips; and today was no exception! We were on the road by 7am to beat Phnom Penh morning rush hour. Our destination was Ban Lung (population 25 000), in the province of Ratanakiri, a mere 588km northeast of Phnom Penh. Our travels brought us through rubber and cashew plantations and potatoe, corn and rice fields. In some places the lush and diverse vegetation formed a canopy of vines that shaded the road. Water buffalo and cows scattered the countryside and occasionally the road. The outline of mountains in the distance met cumulus clouds at the horizon. One way bridges connected the red earth shores of the murky Tonle San river. What beautiful country!
Ratanakiri's national park and landscape are becoming more popular for adventure tourists while its natural resources are attractive to “development companies.” Highway 7 north, once less travelled, is now wide and well groomed. I can't help but imagine/assume/predict that the recent major road construction is for mining equipment and tourism rather than for local indigenous communities. Tomorrow we'll meet with one of our partners, Indigenous Communities Support Organization (ICSO) who, I'm sure, will enlighten me on this topic.
You may be surprised to learn that we are quite a musical crew, or at least we think we are! We were singing slightly flat four part harmony with ukulele accompaniment during our nine hour travel day. Our poor driver Narin is such a patient man!
by Reanne Lajeunesse
1 comment:
Hello all!
The road to Ratanakiri is indeed beautiful...and long! Did you stop by to try the fried spiders? The past of "development" goes pretty quickly in Cambodia: in 2004, the best way to go to Ratanakiri was by plane, very small plane. Tourism, mining and access to plantation are the main push for "development". To bad this has to happen on indienous peoples land who are evicted and dispossessed with no relocation side and with almost now ards to say!
Looking forward to hear you live again!
Cheers,
Gen
Post a Comment