Irrawady Dolphins and Kompong Cham, Cambodia
During our trip through Laos last year, there was also a chance to see the Irrawady Dolphins. After literally sitting on a rock for hours and occasionally seeing a blur in the distance, it really was no big deal. Hopefully, this time would be better.
Only about 15-20 of these rare freshwater Irrawady Dolphins make their home around Kratie. They are not jumpers like their sea relatives and are much shyer. There may only be around 70 left in the world. Most of them were exterminated during Pol Pot's regime (used for oil) and the remainder have gotten caught in fishing nets, and killed by pollution. They are now so inbred that the babies don't live long.
We left Kratie around 7:30 am, drove to the area and went out into the Mekong River in three boats. We actually saw them! But they never come very close to the boats and trying to take a good photograph is almost an impossibility since they don't surface for very long. It was more like..."there's one...oops...where did it go...there's another...where is it?..." and so on. Whenever you got one in sight, it disappeared within seconds.
Back on land, we walked along the dirt road for a while, visiting a small village making rice wine. Very strong stuff. I was more interested in the house on stilts and the piglets. Piglets have such a cute personality.
The group...View image... walked a further distance along the road to stretch our legs, take photos and interact with some of the people. While walking, a man came out leading a huge boar that happily went into its big cage on wheels and off they went down the road, pulled by the owner's motorcycle. At first, we thought the boar was headed to the "happy bacon farm in the sky" and couldn't understand why he went into the cage so willingly. But the smart boar knew....it's no wonder he was happy. A road trip to "service" some females on another farm!
Now back to Kratie for lunch. We had lunch at a restaurant owned by a man from the Chicago area. Aurora, Illinois to be exact. Good food and he also told us that when a dolphin dies, the villagers bury it and don't tell the NGO's or anyone about it's death. Therefore, there's no way to really know what is killing the Irrawady Dolphins or how many are still alive.
Moving along on the road to Kompong Cham, Cambodia's third largest city. A few stops on the way for pee breaks, photos of a Chinese Fishing Boat (they are stationary and never move), watching a family harvest Cassava and a rubber plantation. The Cassava is peeled after dug up in the field, cut into small pieces, dried and ground into flour.
More stops. One at a rubber plantation to watch the latex dripping into the collection pans....
...and another to photograph more Chinese Fishing Boats in the river.
Kampong Cham, a quaint and charming town, is also located on the Mekong River. Dinner tonight was at a restaurant owned by another American from Pennsylvania who had taught English in Asia for many years. Two American owners in two different little town in one day...big coincidence. Kampong Cham is considered a nice jump-off point to visit different areas of Cambodia and we were underwhelmed...
