Canoeing to Tatai

I needed this at the end of our canoeing visit to the Tatai Waterfall

This is the view I had during our adventure, a tranquil river view and the back of Tim's head

I have so many photos and stories to post about my trips and adventures over the last few months, that there is a real danger I will forget many of them. For example, I spent nearly a week in and around Koh Kong (on the southern coast of Cambodia) before my birthday and that was closely followed by my trip to Isaan in NE Thailand. So to ensure I keep the Koh Kong trip in mind, here's some photos from a 3-hour canoe trip my brother Tim and I did on the afternoon of our arrival at Rainbow Lodge, an eco-friendly set of bungalows, just a little upstream from national highway 48 and the bridge at Tatai village. The owner of Rainbow is Janet and after she made us a bite to eat, we made good use of the lodge's two-man canoe. Tim sat in the front, I tagged along at the back, and we set off for a paddle along the tranquil Kep and Tatai Rivers. Our target was the Tatai Waterfall, which because we were at the back-end of the rainy season, would be in full flow. It took us about 45 minutes of fairly leisurely paddling to reach the waterfall. During that time on the river we saw no-one else and had only bird-calls for company. The water level was high and the waterfall itself stretches across the river, making quite a loud racket and not allowing us to get too close, because of the swell, and my desire not to get dumped into the water. Both Tim and I aren't great swimmers (or canoeists) and even wearing life jackets, I wasn't taking any chances of getting too close. The forest comes right down to the water's edge and rather than get out of the canoes and try to get a closer look at the waterfall, we decided to take a look at a couple of much smaller falls we'd noticed on our paddle upstream. During the dry season, the main waterfall is much less dramatic and swimming in some of the small pools is easily done I'm told. We carried on our adventure, regularly stopping for a breather because I have discovered that I am totally unfit, and made it back to Rainbow before dark, three hours after we'd begun. It reminded me of our kayaking session in Laos a year before, though we emerged considerably less wet from this one.

Where's the riverbank - as the forest comes right to the river's edge

Tatai Waterfall from a safe distance to avoid the swell

It doesn't look too dangerous but the current and swell was pretty strong and carried us downstream as soon as I took this shot

We paddled back upstream to get a bit closer to the waterfall - trying to paddle and take photos wasn't easy

We crossed to the other side of the river for this photo

I'm a big fan of waterfalls but you have to give them the respect they deserve

Another view of the Tatai River, which was like a mill-pond for much of the time

One of the smaller waterfalls we encountered on the Tatai River

The sun came out as I snapped this picture

Yet another smaller waterfall with the stream cascading over a series of rocks

A close-up of the final smaller waterfall en route back to Rainbow Lodge

Back thru the door

The view through my window at Rainbow Lodge at 6am this morning as the sun peered over the hills and across the river

Just through the door at 2pm, five hours on the Virak-Buntham bus (paid $8 instead of the usual $11 that barang pay) and the end of my short but sweet Koh Kong adventure. We (that's me and my brother Tim) left Oasis Resort on Monday morning and headed out to the village of Tatai and a one-night stop at the eco-friendly Rainbow Lodge. It was pissing down with rain so we got very wet as we paid a whistle-stop visit to the new 4Rivers Floating Eco-Lodges on the bend of the Kep River, before arriving at Rainbow. After lunch, and bedecked by brilliant sunshine, we went canoeing to the Tatai waterfalls and had an early(-ish, 11pm) night amidst the bird-calls of the surrounding forest. Quick word on the hospitality and food at Rainbow - excellent. A very enjoyable five days in the Koh Kong region, with more pictures and lengthier reports to follow.

The adorable Srey Roath and me at the fishing village of Koh Kapik. We were walking through the village, she grabbed my hand and next minute, we were eating food at her mother's stall.

The children at Koh Kapik were great fun and this game of It's A Knockout in the pouring rain was a real joy

The rain stopped for a minute allowing this photo at the Oasis Resort in Koh Kong. LtoR: me, Jason (proprietor of Oasis and all-round nice-guy) and Tim.Catch of the day at the Muslim fishing village a couple of kilometres from Koh Kong town

Visions of hell on the rocks at Wat Neang Khop, just over the bridge at Koh Kong