Managing Editor
September 25th 04, 04:56 AM
The Mysterious Mekong Dolphins, Amazing Ancient Temples and the Mighty
Mekong
by "Charlie Mango"*- Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Mekong River Cruise
Montage 1
(Please read the entire article with photos at
http://www.cambodianonline.net/articles2004116.htm )
My friend Phanna and I decided to head back to his hometown of Kratie
(pronounced Kratchey) to visit his family and find and photograph the
rare and mysterious freshwater Mekong Dolphins.
Leaving from the riverfront in Phnom Penh at 8AM, we soon wound our
way through the weekend traffic exiting the city and headed north
along the Tonle Sap River.
Crammed into the proverbial Cambodian Toyota Camry taxi with seven
others ($35-40 per taxi for the trip from Phnom Penh to Kratie), I was
allocated the space in the front seat jammed against the door, setting
on my feet as there wasn't enough room for both Phanna and myself to
set on the seat and also allow space for the driver to shift gears
during the more treacherous and traffic laden parts of the journey.
For the next 5 hours, with my upper torso more outside the cab than
inside we dodged in and out of traffic, honking the horn constantly at
the never ending streaming obstacles of humanity, animals and
vehicles.*To put it mildly, a rented taxi jammed with seven other
brave souls is probably not for the faint of heart as the first hour
of the trip is a constant game of playing chicken and is probably
better travelled with your eyes closed and fast asleep!
As I chose to keep mine open (since I was hanging out the window
anyway), the 1st of the inevitable southeast Asian traffic accident
appeared only a half an hour later with a motorbike lying on its side
and a young woman laying in the arms of another woman next to it,
crying and sobbing.
Passing this scene we continued north and at 09:30 AM made the first
of several stops, this one at a very crowded restaurant. After a 15
minute break during which I had some soup and tea, we turned east on
Highway 7, headed towards Kompong Cham. At 10:20, nearly two and a
half hours after leaving Phnom Penh, we started over the new Japanese
built bridge and were crossing the Mighty Mekong.
As many times as I have seen and travelled on this river, it has never
failed to leave me in awe and this time it is no different, for as we
climb quickly into the sky on the bridge, the river beneath you seems
to dominate everything for as far as you can see, spreading itself to
what I estimated to be over a kilometre and a half wide and running
north and south for as far as the eye can see.
It is now September, the height of the rainy season and the river is
full and straining its banks. The current is wicket; rushing towards
Vietnam at speeds that require most barges, ferries and other vessels
to hug the shore lines in their efforts to stay out of the fastest
parts of the river and make some progress against the torrid current.
Most people don't really understand the size and power of this river.
Here in Cambodia however they do as it is the only place in the world
where another large and powerful river, the Tonle Sap, has its own
southerly flow reversed at the confluence of the two rivers in Phnom
Penh due to the shear power and strength of the Mekong River's waters
rushing to Vietnam, the Mekong Delta and the South China Sea.
During this period as the levels of the Mekong rise, the Tonle Sap is
backed up and the river reverses direction and starts flowing
northwest with the lake enlarging from 2,500 square kilometers to over
13,000 square kilometers with the depth increasing from 2.2 meters to
over 10 meters.*
It now isn't long before we exit Kompong Cham and the road improves
dramatically as the next leg of the journey has been rebuilt with the
assistance of an Asian Development Bank loan and quite frankly, they
have done a damn good job as the road is smooth and more importantly,
very wide and straight.
Along this section, I start to notice new tree farms around almost
every bend, laid out in perfectly straight lines that go on for
hectares and hectares. As this region in past years has been a target
of massive logging operations and pulp and paper mills, it is
refreshing to see an effort to replenish what nature once gave us.
I do notice however numerous trucks still filled with logs either
setting along the highway or travelling in various directions. It is
obvious to anyone but a blind person that logging is still an economic
reality and seems to be still occurring on a rather large scale
although supposedly outlawed some years ago. Maybe someone has a
special permit?
I also take note that the soil here is obviously very fertile and the
vegetation very lush and thick. This is quite a contrast to the land
in and around the temples of Angkor and the town of Siem Reap which is
difficult to impossible to grow anything on and during the dry season
becomes incredibly hard and baked, seeming to turn almost into stone.
After a couple more stops along the way to let the obviously pregnant
woman passenger in the rear seat to throw up and to fuel up (and throw
up again), we pull into Kratie town at 1:20 PM, which quite frankly
does not leave one with a terribly wonderful great impression as the
buildings are drab and the road turns to dust and rock again. This
however is the wrong impression as the town turns out to be a
wonderful, quaint backwater that reminds me in many ways of Nong Khai
in Thailand (that sets across the Mekong from the capital of Laos,
Vientiane).With only a couple minutes more, we are pulling up in front
of Phanna's parent's home and they quickly greet us with smiles and
hugs.
Panna's father turns out to be a very fascinating and extremely well
educated man who has served in various capacities in the region
including being directors of the World Food Program and the Kratie
Province Rural Development Agency. It isn't long before maps are
flying out of drawers and I am getting a briefing on plans for the
development and potential for the province.
It seems the local officials think that the economic salvation for the
province after the "legal" demise of the logging industry is
agriculture, specifically dairy farming. A map that I now have shows
me 6 massive tracks of land to the east of the Mekong and to the east
and north of Kratie. The area encompasses over 34,000 hectares of
land and lies approximately 20 kilometres east and north of Krati
bordering areas along the Prek Te, Kampi and Prek Kakol Rivers. Land
prices are discussed and quite honestly, I find the prices mentioned
to be amazingly reasonable given their location, fertility, proximity
to Vietnam as well as river transport via the Mekong.
After a spot of late lunch, Phanna and I head off with his brother in
law in (you guessed it) another Toyota Camry. It seems that this
model from Toyota is everywhere in Cambodia and in reality it is, from
the beaches of Sihoukville to the trashy border town of Poi Pet, to
the temples of Angkor, they are in fact everywhere! Just why or how
has to be a story in itself and it is hard to imagine where Toyota
could have this model somewhere else on earth as they had to have all
been shipped to Cambodia!
This time however, with 5 fewer people, the trip north out of Kratie
is quite pleasant and with the air-conditioning on, free of dust and
the usually inevitable grime that accumulates on your skin and face
from a Cambodian road trip.
Our destination for this late afternoon trip is the extremely rare and
very famous Mekong River Dolphins. Although no one knows where this
species came from or how they managed to come so far up the Mekong
(and adapt themselves from salt water to fresh water), they are in
fact here and living in several different pods (groups) in the waters
of the Mekong.
The one pod we are headed for is called the "Kampi Pod" and seems to
frequent where the Kampi and Mekong Rivers come together. It seems
this past season (2004), with the Mekong being the lowest it has been
in over three decades, that the population has declined from the
estimated 100 or so earlier in the year to less than 60 (according to
some locals) due to having to move from their normal feeding grounds
into unfamiliar and dangerous waters where they were caught up in nets
or injured/killed by river vessels.
This species of dolphin is more formally named the "Irrawaddy" and has
a rounded head with no beak, and a flexible neck. They can vary in
color from dark and light blue- grey, to pale blue. It is grouped as
an oceanic dolphin, although some dolphins may live in the freshwater
of rivers all their life (such as the Ganges in India). This species
of dolphin has a small triangular shaped dorsal fin with a rounded
tip, below the centre of the back , and is a slow swimmer - usually
moving in small groups. Irrawaddy dolphins are very similar to the
shape of the Beluga (toothed whale), and to the shape of the Finless
Porpoise with its blunt round head, so they are sometimes difficult to
tell apart. They can have up to 40 teeth on their upper jaw, and 36
teeth on the lower jaw.
Adult Irrawaddy dolphins can grow to between 2.1 and 2.6 metres long,
with new-borns about 1m in length and a fully grown Irrawaddy dolphin
weighing between 90 and 150 kg. At birth they are as much as 12kg.
Although some travel guides indicate that the best time to see them is
between the months of December to April, Phanna and I have no problem
finding them immediately as Phanna had for many years been a tour
guide while growing up and was intimately familiar with this area of
the Mekong, the dolphins and their feeding grounds. After renting a
boat and driver for $6 at the dock just south of the Kampi River,
within minutes at least 2 if not more, broke the surface next to our
small boat and with regularity over the next half hour we observed
them as our young boat handler managed to keep us on "station" with
the engine off, just meters from the entrance to the Kampi River.
(See the bottom of this article for more information concerning this
wonderful creatures.)
As we wait for them to surface and as I make an effort to catch them
with my Nokia digital camera, we discuss the area, its past,
development and growth. It is than that I learn that a proposal is on
the table and is being seriously considered to build a dam in the very
spot where we are watching these creatures feed and play.
Although I am usually very much a realist and know here in Asia
feeding people and providing them food, water and power will always
override other environmental concerns (as well as the destruction of
rare animal species), I secretly hope that this is one dam that isn't
built.
As I watch a massive thunderstorm build to the north, we can hear the
rolling thunder from its anger and I am wondering if it and its rains
will head our way. After watching it and the winds for a few more
minutes, I determine that it most probably will not, at least for the
next hour or so and after getting some more photos of fishermen and
the their nets along the river banks, we turn the boat south and head
for the parking area and dock where Phanna's brother in law is
awaiting us.
After piling into the car again, I am surprised to find we turn left
(north away from town) out of the lot onto the narrow, heavily potted
lane that serves as the main road north and south along the Mekong.
After another 30 minutes or so and after passing through another
village where the road makes a Y and forks off to the northeast, we
stay on the section that parallels the banks of the Mekong and soon
enter an area that has a very large, modern Wat (temple/pagoda) within
easy view of the road and the Mekong. It is only after pulling into
this area that I understand just how large it is and find out it is
the largest such Wat in Cambodia, having exactly 100 large columns
supporting its roof.
The Wat of a Hundred Columns
Wat Trasor Muoy Roi as it is formally called, is famed for its
excellent wall paintings as well as the stupa dedicated to the
Princess Nucheat Khatr Vorpheak who legend says was killed by a
crocodile. Although very beautiful, I became much more mesmerized by a
much smaller and far older wooden Pagoda setting on the grounds
several hundred meters further inland and to the east.
As we pulled under a beautiful tree that dominates the area where the
older Wat still stands, we noticed that no one was around except for
one lone monk picking up palm branches. It had been raining earlier
and the ground around the temple was wet and muddy so we had to step
carefully as we made our way inside.
After taking my shoes off, I was immediately drawn to a large setting
Buddha which dominated the pagoda but was additionally surprised and
fascinated to find a panoramic collection of hand-painted murals that
rested on the walls above the height of the doors and windows. They
were spectacular!
As I snapped at least one photo of each, I listened to the translation
from Phanna of the monk's description and history of the murals and
the pagoda itself. I was told that the temple's name was "Preak Heak
Kok" which means "high ground" as the ground on which it set was
higher than the surrounding area and was never flooded by the Mekong
when it overflowed its banks. Articles from others however refer to it
as "Wat Preah Vihear Kuk" so I am not exactly sure what its proper
name is.
I also listened to several stories about its history and was told it
dates back to 1142 AD when the original stone temple was built on the
same spot. The resident monk told us that the wooden temple that
existed now was 346 years old but once again this seems to be in
conflict with other writers who have indicated it to be over 700 years
old. I am more inclined to believe the younger age myself.
Stories were also relayed about its role in the recent fighting in
1983 when a major battle took place on the surrounding grounds.
Supposedly three monks were killed and several buildings were
destroyed, one of which still has the concrete steps leading up to an
obviously empty space, pot marked with the battle's scares.
There was also another story concerning this very old and beautiful
pagoda that was equally sad in that as recent as 1998 it was looted of
many of its precious artifacts by a high ranking government official
who was supposedly taking the items to Phnom Penh for safe keeping
with the intent of putting them on display in the National Museum.
According to the monk however, the items might be "safe keeping" but
they are nowhere to be found in the National Museum. Go figure....
(Please read the entire article with photos at
http://www.cambodianonline.net/articles2004116.htm )
Mekong
by "Charlie Mango"*- Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Mekong River Cruise
Montage 1
(Please read the entire article with photos at
http://www.cambodianonline.net/articles2004116.htm )
My friend Phanna and I decided to head back to his hometown of Kratie
(pronounced Kratchey) to visit his family and find and photograph the
rare and mysterious freshwater Mekong Dolphins.
Leaving from the riverfront in Phnom Penh at 8AM, we soon wound our
way through the weekend traffic exiting the city and headed north
along the Tonle Sap River.
Crammed into the proverbial Cambodian Toyota Camry taxi with seven
others ($35-40 per taxi for the trip from Phnom Penh to Kratie), I was
allocated the space in the front seat jammed against the door, setting
on my feet as there wasn't enough room for both Phanna and myself to
set on the seat and also allow space for the driver to shift gears
during the more treacherous and traffic laden parts of the journey.
For the next 5 hours, with my upper torso more outside the cab than
inside we dodged in and out of traffic, honking the horn constantly at
the never ending streaming obstacles of humanity, animals and
vehicles.*To put it mildly, a rented taxi jammed with seven other
brave souls is probably not for the faint of heart as the first hour
of the trip is a constant game of playing chicken and is probably
better travelled with your eyes closed and fast asleep!
As I chose to keep mine open (since I was hanging out the window
anyway), the 1st of the inevitable southeast Asian traffic accident
appeared only a half an hour later with a motorbike lying on its side
and a young woman laying in the arms of another woman next to it,
crying and sobbing.
Passing this scene we continued north and at 09:30 AM made the first
of several stops, this one at a very crowded restaurant. After a 15
minute break during which I had some soup and tea, we turned east on
Highway 7, headed towards Kompong Cham. At 10:20, nearly two and a
half hours after leaving Phnom Penh, we started over the new Japanese
built bridge and were crossing the Mighty Mekong.
As many times as I have seen and travelled on this river, it has never
failed to leave me in awe and this time it is no different, for as we
climb quickly into the sky on the bridge, the river beneath you seems
to dominate everything for as far as you can see, spreading itself to
what I estimated to be over a kilometre and a half wide and running
north and south for as far as the eye can see.
It is now September, the height of the rainy season and the river is
full and straining its banks. The current is wicket; rushing towards
Vietnam at speeds that require most barges, ferries and other vessels
to hug the shore lines in their efforts to stay out of the fastest
parts of the river and make some progress against the torrid current.
Most people don't really understand the size and power of this river.
Here in Cambodia however they do as it is the only place in the world
where another large and powerful river, the Tonle Sap, has its own
southerly flow reversed at the confluence of the two rivers in Phnom
Penh due to the shear power and strength of the Mekong River's waters
rushing to Vietnam, the Mekong Delta and the South China Sea.
During this period as the levels of the Mekong rise, the Tonle Sap is
backed up and the river reverses direction and starts flowing
northwest with the lake enlarging from 2,500 square kilometers to over
13,000 square kilometers with the depth increasing from 2.2 meters to
over 10 meters.*
It now isn't long before we exit Kompong Cham and the road improves
dramatically as the next leg of the journey has been rebuilt with the
assistance of an Asian Development Bank loan and quite frankly, they
have done a damn good job as the road is smooth and more importantly,
very wide and straight.
Along this section, I start to notice new tree farms around almost
every bend, laid out in perfectly straight lines that go on for
hectares and hectares. As this region in past years has been a target
of massive logging operations and pulp and paper mills, it is
refreshing to see an effort to replenish what nature once gave us.
I do notice however numerous trucks still filled with logs either
setting along the highway or travelling in various directions. It is
obvious to anyone but a blind person that logging is still an economic
reality and seems to be still occurring on a rather large scale
although supposedly outlawed some years ago. Maybe someone has a
special permit?
I also take note that the soil here is obviously very fertile and the
vegetation very lush and thick. This is quite a contrast to the land
in and around the temples of Angkor and the town of Siem Reap which is
difficult to impossible to grow anything on and during the dry season
becomes incredibly hard and baked, seeming to turn almost into stone.
After a couple more stops along the way to let the obviously pregnant
woman passenger in the rear seat to throw up and to fuel up (and throw
up again), we pull into Kratie town at 1:20 PM, which quite frankly
does not leave one with a terribly wonderful great impression as the
buildings are drab and the road turns to dust and rock again. This
however is the wrong impression as the town turns out to be a
wonderful, quaint backwater that reminds me in many ways of Nong Khai
in Thailand (that sets across the Mekong from the capital of Laos,
Vientiane).With only a couple minutes more, we are pulling up in front
of Phanna's parent's home and they quickly greet us with smiles and
hugs.
Panna's father turns out to be a very fascinating and extremely well
educated man who has served in various capacities in the region
including being directors of the World Food Program and the Kratie
Province Rural Development Agency. It isn't long before maps are
flying out of drawers and I am getting a briefing on plans for the
development and potential for the province.
It seems the local officials think that the economic salvation for the
province after the "legal" demise of the logging industry is
agriculture, specifically dairy farming. A map that I now have shows
me 6 massive tracks of land to the east of the Mekong and to the east
and north of Kratie. The area encompasses over 34,000 hectares of
land and lies approximately 20 kilometres east and north of Krati
bordering areas along the Prek Te, Kampi and Prek Kakol Rivers. Land
prices are discussed and quite honestly, I find the prices mentioned
to be amazingly reasonable given their location, fertility, proximity
to Vietnam as well as river transport via the Mekong.
After a spot of late lunch, Phanna and I head off with his brother in
law in (you guessed it) another Toyota Camry. It seems that this
model from Toyota is everywhere in Cambodia and in reality it is, from
the beaches of Sihoukville to the trashy border town of Poi Pet, to
the temples of Angkor, they are in fact everywhere! Just why or how
has to be a story in itself and it is hard to imagine where Toyota
could have this model somewhere else on earth as they had to have all
been shipped to Cambodia!
This time however, with 5 fewer people, the trip north out of Kratie
is quite pleasant and with the air-conditioning on, free of dust and
the usually inevitable grime that accumulates on your skin and face
from a Cambodian road trip.
Our destination for this late afternoon trip is the extremely rare and
very famous Mekong River Dolphins. Although no one knows where this
species came from or how they managed to come so far up the Mekong
(and adapt themselves from salt water to fresh water), they are in
fact here and living in several different pods (groups) in the waters
of the Mekong.
The one pod we are headed for is called the "Kampi Pod" and seems to
frequent where the Kampi and Mekong Rivers come together. It seems
this past season (2004), with the Mekong being the lowest it has been
in over three decades, that the population has declined from the
estimated 100 or so earlier in the year to less than 60 (according to
some locals) due to having to move from their normal feeding grounds
into unfamiliar and dangerous waters where they were caught up in nets
or injured/killed by river vessels.
This species of dolphin is more formally named the "Irrawaddy" and has
a rounded head with no beak, and a flexible neck. They can vary in
color from dark and light blue- grey, to pale blue. It is grouped as
an oceanic dolphin, although some dolphins may live in the freshwater
of rivers all their life (such as the Ganges in India). This species
of dolphin has a small triangular shaped dorsal fin with a rounded
tip, below the centre of the back , and is a slow swimmer - usually
moving in small groups. Irrawaddy dolphins are very similar to the
shape of the Beluga (toothed whale), and to the shape of the Finless
Porpoise with its blunt round head, so they are sometimes difficult to
tell apart. They can have up to 40 teeth on their upper jaw, and 36
teeth on the lower jaw.
Adult Irrawaddy dolphins can grow to between 2.1 and 2.6 metres long,
with new-borns about 1m in length and a fully grown Irrawaddy dolphin
weighing between 90 and 150 kg. At birth they are as much as 12kg.
Although some travel guides indicate that the best time to see them is
between the months of December to April, Phanna and I have no problem
finding them immediately as Phanna had for many years been a tour
guide while growing up and was intimately familiar with this area of
the Mekong, the dolphins and their feeding grounds. After renting a
boat and driver for $6 at the dock just south of the Kampi River,
within minutes at least 2 if not more, broke the surface next to our
small boat and with regularity over the next half hour we observed
them as our young boat handler managed to keep us on "station" with
the engine off, just meters from the entrance to the Kampi River.
(See the bottom of this article for more information concerning this
wonderful creatures.)
As we wait for them to surface and as I make an effort to catch them
with my Nokia digital camera, we discuss the area, its past,
development and growth. It is than that I learn that a proposal is on
the table and is being seriously considered to build a dam in the very
spot where we are watching these creatures feed and play.
Although I am usually very much a realist and know here in Asia
feeding people and providing them food, water and power will always
override other environmental concerns (as well as the destruction of
rare animal species), I secretly hope that this is one dam that isn't
built.
As I watch a massive thunderstorm build to the north, we can hear the
rolling thunder from its anger and I am wondering if it and its rains
will head our way. After watching it and the winds for a few more
minutes, I determine that it most probably will not, at least for the
next hour or so and after getting some more photos of fishermen and
the their nets along the river banks, we turn the boat south and head
for the parking area and dock where Phanna's brother in law is
awaiting us.
After piling into the car again, I am surprised to find we turn left
(north away from town) out of the lot onto the narrow, heavily potted
lane that serves as the main road north and south along the Mekong.
After another 30 minutes or so and after passing through another
village where the road makes a Y and forks off to the northeast, we
stay on the section that parallels the banks of the Mekong and soon
enter an area that has a very large, modern Wat (temple/pagoda) within
easy view of the road and the Mekong. It is only after pulling into
this area that I understand just how large it is and find out it is
the largest such Wat in Cambodia, having exactly 100 large columns
supporting its roof.
The Wat of a Hundred Columns
Wat Trasor Muoy Roi as it is formally called, is famed for its
excellent wall paintings as well as the stupa dedicated to the
Princess Nucheat Khatr Vorpheak who legend says was killed by a
crocodile. Although very beautiful, I became much more mesmerized by a
much smaller and far older wooden Pagoda setting on the grounds
several hundred meters further inland and to the east.
As we pulled under a beautiful tree that dominates the area where the
older Wat still stands, we noticed that no one was around except for
one lone monk picking up palm branches. It had been raining earlier
and the ground around the temple was wet and muddy so we had to step
carefully as we made our way inside.
After taking my shoes off, I was immediately drawn to a large setting
Buddha which dominated the pagoda but was additionally surprised and
fascinated to find a panoramic collection of hand-painted murals that
rested on the walls above the height of the doors and windows. They
were spectacular!
As I snapped at least one photo of each, I listened to the translation
from Phanna of the monk's description and history of the murals and
the pagoda itself. I was told that the temple's name was "Preak Heak
Kok" which means "high ground" as the ground on which it set was
higher than the surrounding area and was never flooded by the Mekong
when it overflowed its banks. Articles from others however refer to it
as "Wat Preah Vihear Kuk" so I am not exactly sure what its proper
name is.
I also listened to several stories about its history and was told it
dates back to 1142 AD when the original stone temple was built on the
same spot. The resident monk told us that the wooden temple that
existed now was 346 years old but once again this seems to be in
conflict with other writers who have indicated it to be over 700 years
old. I am more inclined to believe the younger age myself.
Stories were also relayed about its role in the recent fighting in
1983 when a major battle took place on the surrounding grounds.
Supposedly three monks were killed and several buildings were
destroyed, one of which still has the concrete steps leading up to an
obviously empty space, pot marked with the battle's scares.
There was also another story concerning this very old and beautiful
pagoda that was equally sad in that as recent as 1998 it was looted of
many of its precious artifacts by a high ranking government official
who was supposedly taking the items to Phnom Penh for safe keeping
with the intent of putting them on display in the National Museum.
According to the monk however, the items might be "safe keeping" but
they are nowhere to be found in the National Museum. Go figure....
(Please read the entire article with photos at
http://www.cambodianonline.net/articles2004116.htm )