Happy Birthday to me

People i met here, who contributed to and improved my trip: Juliana (Russia), Jim (England)

We departed Kratie for Ban Lung on Tuesday and had to endure another arse numbing 7 hour journey, at the back of a cramped bus, on bumpy dirt roads. We arrived exhausted but our mood soon improved when we came across Mr Lengs Guest House. For $8.5 a night, we had a massive room with cable TV, air conditioning, king size bed, a bathroom the size of Andorra and hot water. JACKPOT!

After a great nights sleep, Julia wished me a happy birthday and we went for some food. We then hired out some bicycles and rode to Boeng Yeak Loam Crater Lake. By the time we arrived we were extremely hot and ridiculously dusty, so stripped off and got refreshed in the Lake. We met up with Jim and spent an hour walking around the edge, protected from the sun by the canopy of trees that surrounds the lake.

After a birthday beer, we went to the main entrance point to the lake and joined the local kids, by throwing ourselves into the water from a small platform. We headed back to Ban Lung as the sun began to set and spent the evening in the bar having a few beers and playing some cards. It was all i really wanted from my birthday, peace, quiet and no hassles!

The following day, Julia and I hired a motorbike and decided i would try and drive to some nearby waterfalls. The Cambodian roads are basically dirt tracks riddled with pot holes and i found it pretty hard to cope at first, erring on the side of caution. Thankfully unlike Vietnam, there is hardly any traffic, which made the whole experience slightly less fearful!

We went to see 3 waterfalls in total, visiting Ka Tieng, Kinchaan and Chaa Ong. To get to Ka Tieng we had to go through a small river with the bike, which was pretty nerve racking, but worth the effort. On to  Kinchaan, where we met some local guys keen to show off their cliff jumping skills, although i was happy to remain dry after my last cliff jumping experience ended in hospitalisation, with a torn medial knee ligament. I was happier to get wet at Chaa Ong, where Julia and I took a dip in the powerful spray dropping around 10 metres. We headed back to Ban Lung at sunset, impressed by the waterfalls and happy i had coped on the motorbike.