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Who would have thought that this tiny town in the North East of Cambodia would have so much to offer! It takes us a few days to find the perfect spot. First we piss off a local family and profusely apologise, spend a couple nights in a really nice bungalow resort with a talking parrot and go through several bikes to find the perfect one. We find a beautiful 20m waterfall that I am compelled to jump off. The locals all say that it is safe and seem egger to watch me jump, but no one else is willing to go first (where is Niki when you need her!). Thunderous clouds gather and the wind builds. I run to the edge at one point ready to take a leap of faith but stop short. For the next few days I hold this moment in my mind as the time where I didn't just let go and do it. That is, until I return to jump with Thibault. Again no one is jumping so first we inspect the bottom to see if it really is deep enough. Thibault dives down to touch the bottom at only a meter and a half. Phew! Happy, I can rest assured that I made the right decision and didn't kill myself; instead we spend the morning swimming in the icy cool waters with two super cute Cambodian kids.
We spend our Sen Monorom days exploring by bike dusty towns, coffee plantations, glorious waterfalls, watching striking sunsets from view points, eating Tree House food, meeting lovely people and being a silly bee. One particularly beautiful morning we set off early to watch the sunrise from 'the perfect spot', spend the morning sitting in dew covered grass on a hill looking over a tree-lined valley, taking pictures of the rising light, ants and each other. A stop on the way back clarifies the huge profit on production. We chat to a local lady who sells unprocessed cashew nuts by the kilo, for around 50p/kilo - crazy, considering how much cashews cost (post production) and the effort the farmers put into growing. Modern valuation is messed up!
We move to The Tree House Lodge where you can rent a two person bungalow from Mr Tree for only $3/night, or if you are really on a tight budget, a hammock for only $1! The Tree House seems to be doing well at keeping biodiversity levels up as every type of weird and wonderful creepy crawly can be found here and magically appears on you when sitting upstairs in the open common area. However, the place is packed with lovely people who make up for the insects. We meet an Earth-bound couple from the States who have amazing instruments from all corners of the globe, a guy studying to be a pilot, an American girl who ended up travelling with us to Phnom Pehn and an older Californian guy who loves his weed.
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