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A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate enough to make my first trip to the eastern provinces of Cambodia: Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri. This is a bit of a dream come true, because I have heard many stories of the wild, untamed jungle that is home to many minority tribes: some so isolated that they rarely come into contact with other Cambodians, not to even mention contact with westerners!

I went with two friends from Siem Reap and fortunately one of them owns a car so we were able to drive over to Sen Monorom in Mondulkiri, a 9 hour journey, in relative comfort (as opposed to taking an arduous bus journey!). Overall the trip was amazing in every sense, but today I just want to write about one experience I had in the jungle of Mondulkiri.

In this area the local tribes have long engaged the services of elephants to, amongst other things, help drag huge logs of felled trees out from the jungle and also to clear paths through the jungle. Today there are still 53 ‘domestic’ elephants left in Mondulkiri: each elephant is owned by between 5 and 12 families (source: The Mondulkiri Project). There are also some wild elephants in the jungle, but it is hard to estimate the numbers. There is a NGO called the Mondulkiri Project that is working to ensure the survival of the Mondulkiri elephants as well as other wildlife such as deer, pigs and buffalo. They also work closely with the Bunong indigenous tribe to teach these people the benefits of preserving the jungle and its wildlife as opposed to falling to the lure of easy money from illegal tree logging and land clearing to plant rice and rubber trees.

I visited the village of the Bunong hill tribe where I met with the locals. It turned out that one of the kids in the village (I say kid, because he could not have been more than 14 years old) was just about to head out to the jungle on the village-elephant. I was granted permission to follow them, on foot, giving me a fantastic opportunity to take some photos.

So we set off: Mowgli riding on Colonel Hathi and me trailing behind on foot. At first I could not understand why they kept the chain on Colonel Hathi, because the long chain just dragged behind the elephant. It didn’t seem to cause any discomfort to the elephant: from the sparkle in Colonel Hathi’s eye I think the prospect of a stroll into the jungle outweighed the small burden of dragging a chain behind him and having Mowgli as a passenger.

Initially we walked through open countryside where land has already been cleared for farming purposes, but I could already see waiting ahead was the dense, seemingly impenetrable, jungle. We reached the wall of trees and I wondered how on earth we would be able to proceed onwards, but Colonel Hathi did not even flinch: he plunged ahead and nature obliged, parting as we went along.

It is here that the purpose of the chain was revealed. The dragging chain flattened all the undergrowth rolling along in a meter wide span as Colonel Hathi drove on through. It is also at this point that I started feeling rather nervous… It dawned on me that now we were in the real jungle: a jungle where to this day new species of snakes are still discovered and home to some serious characters such as the King Cobra, Vipers, Kait and many other deadly snakes. Getting bitten here could be disastrous, because the trip back to the nearest hospital would take at least an hour or more! So here I was: Mowgli sitting high and dry on the back of Colonel Hathi and barang chikoot (crazy westerner) down below in prime striking distance of any snake that bears some animosity to foreigners. I figured the closer I walk to Colonel Hathi’s backside the safer I would be… so I edged closer. This was not much fun, because Colonel Hathi’s stomach was already processing the morning’s grass load and the smells that were released hit me directly in the face! As if that wasn’t enough, without warning the Colonel started dropping green hand-grenades from his behind and I literally had to dive out of harm’s way!! 

By this stage I was a walking disaster: gas fumes, hand-grenades and the ever present risk of some monster snake having a go… my nerves were on edge! My 6^th sense said to me there is indeed a snake close by and when I get this feeling as clear as that it is never, ever false! I could only hope that whatever it was, that it wasn’t poisonous or in a bad mood. From the corner of my eye I caught some movement in the bush next to me and there he was: a colorful slithery monster eyeballing me! I jumped back to a safe distance and yelped out to Mowgli. Up until this point our conversations had been limited to smirking smiles down from his high throne, but he at least showed some interest in the snake, mumbling something before setting off on the colonel again.

In the meantime the green monster seemed to have accepted that I was part of the Mowgli-Colonel entourage and therefore not a wise move on his part to consider attacking… hence he set off in the opposite direction.

As you can imagine, by this stage my nerves were beyond being on edge and weighing up my options I decided to stick my head back up the Colonel’s behind and continue in a gas plume until we reached wherever we were headed for.

Occasionally I dared to look out and around and I must say, despite the every threatening dangers it was really beautiful to see a true, pristine jungle. I can easily understand why they are still now discovering new species of animals in these jungles. For all we know it is not only animals that will be discovered in these jungles either!

We reached a river and the Colonel enjoyed a bit of a drink. I figured it made sense to take my shoes off for the walk through the water, because it was about knee deep. By the time I go into the water Mowgli had already steered the Colonel across and they were heading in the thick jungle again… I assumed they would wait, but boy was I wrong again! By the time I made it through, which wasn’t the easiest crossing either they had disappeared! I think Mowgli had not yet passed his degree in Tourist Management and he simply couldn’t care less about my wellbeing: in his world it is all about swim or drown – survival of the fittest!

I put my shoes on in record time and plunged into the jungle following the ‘path’ of flattened bushes. They were so far gone that I could not even hear them. I suddenly felt rather lonely. Having said that, there was also something special, almost magical, about being in this position. This really was nature in raw form and to be standing there, all alone is touching… almost like going back to my roots as a human being, back to the beginning of time.

Anyway, magic moment over I figured I would have to start jogging if I was ever to see the light of day again. It took me a good 15-20mins to catch up with Mowgli and the Colonel. I was delighted to be reunited with my ‘friends’, but all I received was that smirk of a smile, a nod and then off we went: I would like to believe that the nod was some sort of approval or an acknowledgement that I had passed some sort of test!

After almost 2 and half hours of trekking we reached a river and Mowgli removed the Colonel’s chain. They went into the water and I could see why the Colonel was so excited when we set off on our journey in the morning: he was going to take a bath and Mowgli would even scrub his back for him! I also jumped in for a swim and to cleanse myself of the fumes that probably left a rotten perfume smell all over my body.

It was a fitting end to a very adventurous journey and a very special experience for me. Who knows if it would still be possible to experience something like this in the real jungle 10 or 20 years from now. I really hope so…

Time and again I end up having my most exciting adventures when I least expect it and this occasion was no different: on a lazy afternoon here in Siem Reap I decided to head out for a mid-afternoon drive on my motorbike to the countryside. I didn’t really have a plan as to where I would go, but this is never a problem: just pick a road, turn left or right and see where you end up… well, at least that is my motto.

I headed out of Siem Reap in a northerly direction: having left the town behind, it wasn’t long before I was surrounded by the ever appealing rice fields: the rice now already standing above knee-high radiating the most luminous yellow-green color that nature can provide, further enhanced be the rays of a late afternoon sun.

An idea struck me to go look for a temple in an area that I don’t know too well. I didn’t even know the name of the temple, but of course this makes the treasure-hunt all the more interesting!

After heading down a dirt road for a few miles I reached a small village and the fun and games began: in my broken Khmer I asked them if there is an ancient temple in the area and after the panel deliberated my question for a bit they unanimously decided that they understood my question, approved of my question and even more, they would offer up the secret of finding the missing temple. I was pointed in the direction of a single-track dirt road heading off into the unknown…

Now in most other countries of the world I would feel a little bit nervous about simply following some dirt road into the wilderness… however, in Cambodia I have never felt threatened: not by people nor by nature so I simply steered my dirty Suzuki down the narrow track.

The first part of the path was pretty decent with beautiful rice fields on either side, but it wasn’t long before I reached my first challenge: following the heavy rains there was a substantial pool of water right across the path and it was clear there was no way around it either: if I wanted to continue I would have to go through. The only problem being that it was rather hard to tell how deep the pool actually was or if it even was possible to continue on through it. Luckily at this moment two kids came cycling from up ahead. They reached the edge of the pond, jumped off their bicycles and started making their way through: it turn out the ‘dark lake’ wasn’t unsurpassable, but it wasn’t exactly ankle deep either. It would be a challenge to get the motorbike through, but I was more worried about the effect of getting the engine semi-submerged.  Of course I was way too excited by this stage to turn back so my aqua-mobile and I plunged in and pushed through!

Having survived the first challenge Mr Suzuki and I again had a clear path leading through more rice fields, but all the time it was quite evident that I was now in an area that does not exactly experience the same footfall as Waterloo station in London during rush hour on a Monday morning…

It was in this moment that some guy on a bicycle mysteriously appeared by the side of the road. In true Cambodian fashion he wore a big smile and with a small child on the back of his bicycle I summed him up as a friendly family man so I smiled back. I asked him if I was still on the right track and he confirmed that indeed I was and that I should follow him. In the meantime his wife also appeared and altogether we set off.

Low and behold we reached another pool of water, but this time I was not even going to stop and wonder about it: we were heading on! This one was longer than the first so I was a little bit relieved when we reached the end of the gauntlet and my bike was still purring like a Harley Davidson! I was kind of expecting it to come to a stuttering halt, but I think my Suzuki shares my sense of adventure and he was also not going to let a bit of water put a stop to our fun and games!

So on we went…

We reached a third pool of water. This time we really faced the true test: I could see that to get through this one my motorbike and I were definitely going swimming! I looked at my recently acquired guide who just shrugged and said: ‘Ort panha’ – ‘No worries’. Yeah right, next thing I know my poor Suzuki was more than halfway under water, holding his breath while I was doing my best to keep us upright! I am no expert, but I am pretty sure motorbikes are not meant to have their engines running underwater…  Anyway, too late now so I revved him up and we swam-ploughed our way through: we made it and my super reliable Suzuki was still alive and well!!!

We reached a smallish house in the middle of the rice fields and my guide explained that from here on we go on foot and so we did: on through the rice fields in the direction of what looked like a small jungle about 500m or so up ahead. Unfortunately we had not yet seen the last of the pools of water hazards obscuring the route. We soon had to make our through waste deep water, this time my only concern being for my camera equipment, because if something caused me to keel over in that pool it would be a lot of damage in dollars!!

Finally we reached the edge of the small jungle. It was now already around 5:30pm and the sun was beginning to slide down the horizon. My guide dived into the jungle on what may have been a path in 1,000AD… it certainly wasn’t a path anymore! Anyway, my life in the hands of a stranger I followed suit and headed into the dark unknown.

I was really expecting to see one of those bright red snakes that always feature in National Geographic documentaries about the amazon. Un-/fortunately none were about, nor were any other snakes for that matter. The only creatures I can positively identify as having been present were the mosquitoes: and they were there in droves! After about 5-10mins of beating away the undergrowth and fighting the first brigade of the Mosquito Armed Forces, the first hints of a temple ruin appeared: some carved stones now partly swallowed by the decaying leaf floor of the jungle. Then the ancient framed doorway of where a temple once stood also became visible and behind that the clear remains of a larger structure. We had discovered the missing temple!! Ok, so not really ‘discovered’, because this guy obviously knew all along that there is an ancient temple in his back garden, but to me it certainly felt like a discovery!

Unfortunately by this stage it was pretty dark and I just took a few photos to savor the moment before we headed back and out into the open: I still had a long way to go and the sun was now just dipping below the horizon. We made it back to Indiana Senior’s home. Luckily the cow and my motorbike were still where we had left them. I said my goodbyes, jumped on my bike and drove straight into the first of the three pools I had to navigate again if I were to reach home safely! This time I didn’t even consider the consequences of soaking my motorbike’s engine and I think my Suzuki also just held his breath and pushed on because we both wanted to get home!

An hour or so later we reached home. I had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed what proved to be yet another impromptu adventure in The Kingdom. I certainly plan to go back soon to spend more time at the temple ruin and hopefully also find that bright red snake to really get a photo worthy of the adventure!

Cambodia is a place full of mystery: it is hard to put it into words, because how can one describe something that one doesn’t really understand. I am not a person that believes too much in ‘mysterious’ things either, but on a number of occasions, whilst being out and about in Cambodia, have I had a strange sense that there is ‘something different’ in the air. This can be down to the simple reason that I am out of my comfort zone, away from my home culture or there can be more to it. I think there is more to it.

One area where I always feel ‘something different’ is in the Angkor Wat area. Cambodia is a hot and humid country – at least compared to what Westerners are used to. Sometimes it feels as if the heat and humidity will suffocate you, but driving from town into the jungle towards Angkor Wat there is an immediate change in the air: the temperate drops considerably, which is understandable because of the cool shelter that the canopy of the trees offers. One does not only feel the change in temperature though, there is something more, maybe even something spiritual. I don’t think it is a question of an individual’s faith either, but some places just seem to have a powerful energy about it and in Angkor Wat it may stem from the ancient temples or it may stem from the ancient jungle that has been preserved in the area or it could be something completely different, who knows. What I do know is that this feeling is undeniable.

So, yesterday late afternoon I went for a drive to the temple area, as I have so often done in the past. I decided to visit Banteay Kdei temple. This temple is a Buddhist temple and it was constructed during the rain of Jayavarman VII in the 12^th century. It is also one of my favourite temples: in my opinion the most beautiful Apsara carvings can be found in this temple and together with its intricate layout it is a delightful temple to explore. The inner enclosure of the temple only measures 36 x 30m (outer enclosure 320 x 300m), but trust me this is a large enough area to get lost in the narrow alleys of crumbling walls. Add to this numerous pairs of eyes of the Apsaras, caught in stone forever, following your every move and it can quite quickly become an eerie experience.

I entered the temple area around 5:30pm from the back entrance – I prefer entering this way, because it is quieter and such a beautiful path under the canopy of trees that leads one the 300m or so up to the ancient stone causeway that leads into the temple itself.

What was different this time though is I actually didn’t see a single person as I made my way into the temple: no one at the gate, no sellers where they usually have their stalls next to the serpent-like tree roots on the right hand side.. No one! Wow, what a privilege: I was exploring around one of the most beautiful temples all by myself. The sounds of the insects and birds screaming from the ever threatening jungle around was overwhelming yet it also felt eerily quiet: I was alone except for the ancient stone warriors staring me down as if to challenge me to battle and the Apsaras with their Mona Lisa-type smiles leaving one in doubt if they are actually really smiling or just cold impressions caught in time.

It was in this setting where I once again had a feeling of being in the presence of ‘something different’.

Then I heard laughter of children – I was almost relieved that I wasn’t alone in the temple anymore. It seemed to be coming from somewhere quite near, but I didn’t see them. I continued exploring, but now all the while hearing the children playing, just around the corner. Each time I entered a new chamber of the temple the laughter seemed to move on just ahead of me to the next chamber. I started feeling uncomfortable: why did I not see whoever was running around playing in the temple? I moved along a bit faster from chamber to chamber hoping to catch whoever was laughing and running around, if only to put my own mind to rest. Eventually I came across a person. I was almost relieved to see someone. It was the security guard that came in from the opposite direction to check that everyone has left the temple, because it was time to close off the area for the evening. I asked him if he had seen anyone else along the way and he said no – everyone had left quite some time ago. This really threw me.

I explained to the guard that my motorbike was actually parked around the back entry so we set off in opposite directions again. The sound of children playing and laughing was gone… was it only a figment of my imagination?? Was my mind playing tricks on me, maybe simply the overwhelming effect of being in such a mysteriously powerful place?

I was still grappling with this thought when I arrived back near the far-end of the temple in the area where I first entered. I couldn’t believe what I saw: someone had drawn elephants in the sand! These elephants had been drawn in the sand where I had walked 45mins earlier and there was nothing at the time and neither had I passed anyone along the way!

I still cannot help but wonder: did all of this really happen?! Surely there must be an explanation. Logic tells me yes there were kids, there always are kids playing around the temples, but then why did I not see anyone?

I drove back the long way around past Ta Phrom temple, Takeo, Angkor Thom, Bayon and Angkor Wat. The area was eerily deserted. I only passed a few people along the way and for long stretches of road under the canopy of trees I was alone again; only the birds and insects still threating to attack from all sides. There even was a light fog moving in. I have never ever seen the area so quiet. On this occasion Angkor Wat was a different place. I felt it. It is as if for one moment in time something else had descended on the area. It was time for me to get out and so I did, reaching home just as the darkness completely settled in. I looked back towards the jungle area of Angkor Wat from the window of my room still wondering how much of what had just transpired was actually real and what was mystery that should just be accepted without explanation. I guess I will never know.

Apsara dancing is a Khmer traditional dance form that retells the tales depicted on the walls of the ancient Angkorian temples dating back to the time of the mighty Khmer Empire (9^th to 15^th centuries). It is believed that during its heyday over a million citizens lived in the vicinity of Angkor Wat (at a time when London had a population of less than 100,000), making it one of the largest pre-industrial cities in the world. As we can still see from the temples that remain today, the Khmer Empire was well advanced in technological terms, but they were also culturally advanced and the tales of the Apsara is a legacy from this period.

During the dark years of the Khmer Rouge from the late 1970’s until the early 1990’s, intellectuals and artists were sought out and killed, and it almost led to this dance form almost vanishing completely. Only a few dancers survived the Khmer Rouge period and following the liberation of the Cambodian people in the early 1990’s this group of survivors revived the tradition and Apsara dancing once again took its place as one of Cambodia’s signature cultural traditions.

I was fortunate to be introduced to the founder of one the top Apsara dance schools here in Siem Reap. This actually came about from a conversation I had with a lady that I sometimes buy meat from in the market. One day I mentioned to her that I am really fascinated by the Apsara dancing as well as its meaning and history. She told me she used to be a dancer before and so, there I was a few weeks later at the house of the Apsara teacher where my friend from the market had brought me to make the introduction.

The Apsara teacher and her group of students were very welcoming and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them practice their routines. To my surprises the teacher invited me to join them for two very special performances at one of the ancient temples in the Angkor Wat area. Her group is one of only a select few in Siem Reap that has the permission to perform at the ancient temples. Only a handful of hotels in town are able to book this venue for performances and I am quite sure it must be very, very expensive to attend one of these special events. I was indeed very fortunate to be invited to go with the group and take photos for them.

On the day of the event I arrived at the teacher’s house and I could definitely sense the excitement in the air. The group of performers (most of them between the ages of 15 and 21) are used to performing at many different venues, but a performance at the ancient temples is something very special: it is the hopes and dreams of any aspiring Apsara dancer to perform at the ancient Angkor Wat. Performing in the vicinity of Angkor Wat truly means going back to the spiritual roots of Apsara dancing. The word Apsara actually means ‘bright and beautiful women in paradise’ and the religious monuments of Angkor is obviously a very sacred place for the Khmer. For the performers, a performance at Angkor is about honoring the creators of the dance, retelling the stories from centuries ago, stories that are still relevant to this day: stories of love, stories of betrayal, stories of historical significance and stories expressing the daily lives of the people. It is also about preserving the identity of the Khmer and showcasing to the visitors from abroad the creativity and artistic prowess of this nation.

It was time to head over to the temples so I got in the back of the truck with 10 of the performers and we set out to Angkor Wat. As we drove through the 900 year old South gate of Angkor Tom temple I felt very privileged indeed. I am so fortunate to have been allowed to share this experience with the group of artisans. Sure, money can buy you a seat at the event itself, but to actually be invited to follow the journey of the dancers: watching them practice and prepare for their performance; to be there on the day seeing the excitement as they prepared for the evening and then to enter into the Ancient city in their midst was something very, very special.

We arrived at Thommanon temple at sunset. Seeing the temple in the early evening under the canopy of the huge trees that has been sheltering it for centuries, it felt like I was stepping back in time. The group of dancers walked ahead up to the ancient temple and it may as well have been a picture from centuries ago. Even the wall of the temple is decorated with carvings of the Srey Apsara (Apsara women): the 900 year old carvings were brought back to life in the form of the Apsara dancers that were now preparing to perform once again.

The setting was magical: a beautiful evening set in and the only sounds were coming from the creatures lurking in the forest: birds, insects and everything else that could make a sound were singing out their respects to the performers.

The guests arrived and one could clearly tell that they were all left in awe as much as I was when I saw the venue: the temple was lit up by hidden spotlights and the dancers were strategically placed in the doorways and on the stairs leading into the ancient building. It was a moment frozen in time – we could well have been looking at an image from centuries before. Around and behind the temple the threatening jungle was now barely visible, swallowed by the night… the threat almost having dissipated and replaced by light and beauty.

The dance performances that followed were spellbinding: stories being told of love; betrayal; battles of the past; the end of the rainy season; growing of crops and many other tales. Each story was told with grace and elegance; subtleties’ and in other moments powerful, intense, dramatic; all to the tune of traditional music skillfully performed by a local group of musicians. The performance can only be described as mesmerizing. Everyone there was taken on a journey into the hearts and culture of the Khmer, but it is more than that: it is a human journey, because the underlying themes of each story told is something that affects all of mankind.

The performance left us all in awe. Something so beautiful can only be described as a spiritual experience and driving back in the dark night, past the ancient temples at Angkor Thom, Bayon and finally Angkor Wat I still had the feeling of having stepped back in time. I could almost, just almost, visualize and feel what life must have been like in the Kingdom of Wonder all those centuries ago.

I really would like to thank the group for allowing me to spend this time with them. They are a beautiful group of young people led by a teacher that is passionate and proud of this Khmer tradition. I can see there is a strong bond between all of them and they should be immensely proud of their work. You represent your nation and you do so with such elegance. Thank you for making me feel so welcome in your family and home during the few days that I was allowed to watch you practice and perform. This memory will stay with me forever.