Ban Lung: Land of Scorched Red Earth

Chaa Ong Waterwall

Our journey to Ban Lung was another long day of bumpy roads, speeding drivers and overcrowded personal space. We were dropped off inconveniently outside a hotel on the wrong side of town for us, as we had planned to stay elsewhere. Annoyingly, the fact that we had a bit of a walk ahead not only refused to move the driver to drop us closer on his way out again – they also tried to manoeuvre us into staying at the hotel we’d been dropped off outside! Despite our protestations of already having a booking elsewhere, the owner also joined the conversation – which made us all the more determined to find our pre-booked hostel of choice and leave these schemers behind. 

We walked away from this hotbed of activity (several other people from our bus were also extricating themselves – or not – from all this) and quickly realised it would be too far to walk, especially in this heat and humidity. We decided to chance calling the hostel to see if they could help, or order us a tuk-tuk (weirdly, we couldn’t see a single one on the streets of Ban Lung) and he kindly offered to come and get us himself! Chico, the manager and our very helpful driver, shortly arrived in his beat-up purple car, and cheerfully helped us haul our heavy bags aboard before driving us to the Lakeside Chheng Lok Hotel. The reason we’d opted to stay here was the fantastic location, with a view out to the beautiful lake Boeng Kansaign. 

Lakeside Chheng Lok Hotel

We checked into our room, which was basic but great value, and Chico offered us lots of tour advice, and booked a motorbike for us to use for both our days in Ban Lung. I really had to refrain from thinking ‘It’s Chico Time!’ (Shudder.)

'eeeee'

Without further ado, we drove out to the stunning Boeng Yeak Lom, a lake on the outskirts of town, to make the most of the remaining afternoon light. This is a volcanic lake, filled with perfectly clear blue water, and is a popular swimming spot for the local area. However, it is also pretty deep (50m at its deepest point!) so I contented myself with dipping my toes in while Bradley dived in. 

 

I prefer to edge my way into deeper waters… and the beautiful lake was pleasant enough when viewed from the peaceful viewing platform we had settled on. We started chatting to a French guy called Sebastian who was also diving into the lake quite happily – he’s avoided chaotic minibuses by opting to cycle across Cambodia, so he had plenty of good stories to tell! I don’t think we’d get very far on a bike with our luggage, but he’s travelling pretty light so manages to get everything either on his back or strapped onto the back of his bike. It sounds like an amazing way to travel – though finding accommodation (and reaching it before nightfall) is a bit of an adventure!

We arrived back at the hotel for dinner and enjoyed the stunning views out to the lake as the sun set. Once it was truly dark (which it usually is by about 6.30pm here) a storm started up in the distance – the whole sky was alight with sheet lightning and the occasional grand fork across the sky. The thunder rolled in across the water at protracted intervals so it was a fair distance away, making the storm a spectacular distant event to behold outside the reach of the rain and mirrored by the still lake. 

We picked up the same motorbike the next day, this time to visit some of the many waterfalls surrounding Ban Lung. These are reached by some much more remote access roads, and we discovered the reason for the red dust that seems to coat everything here – the ground is a brilliant orange-red, which looks pretty incredible but leaves you filthy by the end of the day! We had a coating of red dust on our faces, arms, clothes – anything exposed as we rode along was left grimy with the dust. It would have been embarrassing, if everyone else at each waterfall wasn’t coated in the same stuff!

The first waterfall we visited, Ka Tieng, did give us the opportunity to rinse the first layer away, as it was possible to swim in a gentle pool at the base. The rocks were a bit slippery as you found your way down to the water’s edge, but it was worth the precarious shuffle down as the water was gloriously refreshing and it was brilliant feeling the teasing spray of water from the waterfall (you couldn’t get too close as it would probably push you under – it was a big drop and a lot of water!). 

Is he dead?

There was a good viewpoint on a rope bridge too so we were able to enjoy several different views too.

After an extended stay at waterfall number one, we grudgingly organised ourselves and jumped back on the motorbike to head to nearby Kah Chhang, which was a twenty minute drive down a neighbouring road. 

Kind locals giving us directions via the 'point' method

More waves and hellos from cute Cambodian kids

This waterfall wasn’t so inviting to swim in (though Bradley gave it a go!) but there was a slippery rock path round to the back of the waterfall that Bradley decided to explore (while I documented the evidence on camera – slippery rocks generally not being my preferred destination). It turned out to be quite an eventful trip, which was terminated by an unfortunate slip on the rocks (just cuts and bruises though, no broken bones!) and was made all the more eventful by the sighting of a violently green-coloured snake sleeping on a nearby rock. After the King Cobra incident in Vietnam, we must be very fortunate to have avoided waking this one up! Not sure what it was though, maybe this one wasn’t so poisonous…

Bradley getting a hair wash

I started chatting to a very interesting lady, Maggie, who was spending a month in Cambodia and was from New Zealand. When Bradley made his way back to us, we were then joined by Sebastian, who’d also decided to tour the waterfalls on a motorbike (leaving the bicycle behind for the day as the roads were very uneven!). 

We all headed back to the entrance, where there was a beautiful elephant tethered (seemingly quite happily). Maggie bought some bananas and we all started feeding her, then we were offered some extra food by her owner to feed her too, so we whiled away some of our afternoon in the shade there, leaving behind a very full elephant!

An elephant, Kerry and a guy with crazy waterfall hair!

Our final waterfall for the day was very quiet – for most of our visit we were the only visitors, and for some reason the ticket vendors at the entrance decided not to charge us (maybe Cambodia time at this point of the day meant anything goes?). Either way, this friendly gesture led us to the least dramatic but quietly impressive waterfall Chaa Ong, also the tallest for some miles. 

Road to Chaa Ong Waterwall

We wanted to reach a restaurant across town, at the Tree Top Ecolodge, for dinner before sunset that evening, as the view of the valley is supposed to be breathtaking. However, we were coated in the aforementioned red dust, so we had to go back via the hotel to change our bronzed clothes and try to scrape some of the grime off (time was short so showers were going to make us miss the sunset). Feeling a little cleaner and marginally more respectable, we biked across town and managed to settle ourselves at a good table in time to catch this valley view. 

Road outside the restaurant

View from our table

We ordered a simple dinner, opting for pizza and garlic bread of all things, before riding back for a few drinks overlooking our other great lakeside view. 

As sponsored by 'Robot'

The next morning we were up early ready for our bus to Laos. It was going to be another day of mostly travelling, as the border crossing was likely to take an hour (though it would prove to be quite straightforward, just on Cambodian time!). It was a Saturday, and bizarrely there was some kind of convention or school event going on – so the restaurant was full of people having breakfast, though we managed to find a table to the side, where we met Martijn and Pien, also travelling to Laos that morning. Despite departing on different buses, we’d meet them again later that day – it’s a small world here!

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