Fabienne in Asia

back in ban lung, the quiet, dusty hub of ratanakiri province, after 3 days of trekking in virachey national park with damien and pierre, a couple of french guys that i met at the guesthouse where i’ve been staying, and sovang and tuem, our local guides. sovang is a trained ecotourism guide; tuem has been walking the jungles of northern cambodia in flip flops since he was born.

i couldn’t have anticipated such extreme wilderness. when they weren’t leading us along riverbeds, up to our knees in leech infested water, sovang and tuem took turns hacking a trail through the dense bush with a machete. we crossed a river on a bamboo raft, waded through another with our packs balanced on our heads, the river up to our armpits. evenings were spent next to water fit for swimming in. i made sovang swear up and down that i wouldn’t be eaten by crocodiles. bedtime was at sundown, around 6:30, and we slept in camo bug net hammocks supplied by the u.s. army. oh, the irony.

i have a new love of sardines in tomato sauce, only over an open fire.

on our first day in the park, damien noticed something on sovang’s hat and warned him of it, so sovang brushed it to the ground with his machete. he examined it for a moment, then said, ‘”oohhh! thank you! that spider have poison of a scorpion!” and we kept trekking, damien muttering something about having saved sovang’s life.

it was a three day thrill, one of those ‘i’ve got better things to do than survive’ moments in life. exactly the kind of adventure i’d been craving. pics soon. off to laos in the morning. the hickey marks on my legs, left by the leeches, will be with me for a while. i think i’ll probably end up loving them like all other favourite scars.

Tags: Travel

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