An Ecolodge in Southwest Cambodia

Rainbow Lodge – Koh Kong

Off we went to Rainbow Lodge via taxi. Rainbow Lodge is an eco-lodge located along a river east of Koh Kong, near the village of Tatai in the southwest of Cambodia. We had three nights booked for 70 dollars a night – room and three meals included in the price; a great deal!

I was very glad we had decided to take a taxi as it gave us an unobstructed view of the sights on route. There were low plains of rice dotted with palm trees and farmers in bamboo hats harvesting rice straw. The houses along the road were neat tidy wooden structures built high on stilts – no doubt to prevent animals from entering, avoid flooding in rain season, and to allow air to flow through. Mats of spices were drying in the sun along the pavement or in front yards.

We could see the Cardamom Mountains in the distance and when we turned onto route 8, we watched for the long bridges crossing the rivers. Once we crossed the third one I called up Janet, the owner of Rainbow Lodge and she told us to keep going over the 4^th bridge, then walk down underneath to where the boat would be waiting.

A Rainbow Lodge employee was actually waiting for us at the road to help us with our bags. We followed him along a wide red dirt path that led us to the boat.

Ian and I sat on a bench each bracing ourselves for what we thought would be a long boat ride. The bamboo thatched roof shook gently in the breeze and I wondered if it would fall on our heads. I was relieved no water was coming in; we would arrive dry.

An occasional house peeked through the trees and we could hear children playing.  A young girl stood on a wide boat, taking a step forward and back with each pull of the long narrow oars. We waved as we went by.

The river has two branches, one heading west and the other upstream heading northeast. We headed northeast and in no time were docking. I was surprised we were so close to the highway and a wee bit disappointed, because I had hoped we wouldn’t hear any traffic. But being close had its advantages – the lodge could then easily pick up guests anytime. We disembarked and followed the dirt path up to the lodge.

That’s Ian going down the path later in bare feet. It isn’t the greatest path – several small rocks and bits of root stick out so it does hurt the feet.

Going up, the path ends at a set of wooden steps that lead to a raised cement path to a large covered area with tables, chairs, and rattan couches surrounding a small bar. Janet, a wiry blond Brit, was waiting for us and invited us to lunch, a pleasant surprise since we had not eaten and it was going on 2:30. She handed us a couple of menus and I was thrilled to find open faced sandwiches on baguettes.  As we waited for our food, we noticed some used books for $3 books with proceeds going to the local orphanage and we decided to donate a book and buy a new one.

Janet explained that she had owned the lodge for about 4 years now.  Two years previous to that, she had volunteered to count wildlife in Cambodia. I also found out much later, that Janet started out as a lawyer. Our lunch arrived as well as four more guests and as we ate, Janet went over a few things with us.

The lodge is an eco-lodge and uses solar panels for energy so there’s no hot water and no a/c (which I was well aware of). Room fans can be used but apparently it’s been cool enough at night to not require them (I was happy to hear that!). The river is safe to swim in and dinner is served at 7:30pm, breakfast 7 to 10 and lunch, anytime. Drinking water was filtered rainwater and available free of charge. Outings were to be arranged over dessert and these were described to us. In the rooms there were rechargeable torches and mosquito zappers which Janet told us to use freely on any pesky mosquitoes but to avoid killing anything else.

She then took us along the cement path to our cabin and showed us around the room. It was basic but clean: a large firm bed, mosquito netting if needed, a nice porch with hammock, screened in windows, and a western toilet, sink, and shower. This is the view from our porch and the second photo is of our cabin.

As we unpacked, we noticed hundreds (thousands?) of ants marching along the railing of our porch.  I eyed them with dismay, knowing I’d have to put up with them, and hoped they wouldn’t find their way into our room. Ian and I got our suits on and down the path we went for a swim.

We were thrilled to see large inner tubes so we threw them in and jumped in after them.

We were quite happy to be swimming. The water was murky but clean and certainly refreshing.  We returned to our room to clean up for dinner and there, marching in a line along the inside bedroom wall and up the bed post were ants. Yikes! I heard Janet showing a guest the cabin next to ours and hurried to get her; telling her we had an ‘ant’ problem. She wasn’t perturbed at all and said no doubt they are termites. To me an ant was an ant, so I said nothing.

Janet came in, took a look and said yep, those are termites. She asked if we would mind waiting until after dinner to see what happened because likely they were just taking a little detour and would be gone in a couple of hours. Apparently termites will do that – find some wood, take a nibble and then be on their way. I showed her the ones on the porch and confirmed that those were termites as well.  I felt a bit easier although I did wonder if our bed would still be standing after dinner. It now made sense to me why they had cement walkways rather than wood….

Ian and I got ready for dinner with shockingly cold showers.  Dinner was buffet style, served in three courses on a large table at the front and tonight’s meal was: onion soup and homemade croutons, rice, chicken and banana curry, fish stew, vegetarian Dahl, and sugared pineapple with mint for dessert.  The soup was delicious and I have to say it was hard not to have seconds. There was plenty of it but I didn’t want to fill up on soup.  Everything was amazing and with urging Janet confessed that she used to do all the cooking and eventually had taught the kitchen staff to take over.

During dinner, we met Gee, Janet’s boyfriend. He not only helps with the lodge but also runs a software company from home. Gee has identified over 200 different butterflies around their property and is also working on birds, dragonflies, snakes and caterpillars. He has ‘experts’ that he can send photos the photos to that help him with the identification. I asked him why there were so few birds – something I’ve noticed in Cambodia. Considering we are in the jungle, you’d expect it to be noisier. Apparently, during the Khmer Rouge, the people were so hungry, they ate everything – and a lot of birds disappeared during this time.

Ian and I discussed what we wanted to do the next day so we were ready when Janet asked. We opted for kayaking to Tatai Waterfalls (rather than being taken there by boat or hiking through the woods) and would take a picnic lunch as it was about a 2 hour journey one way. There was no way we could hike with Ian wearing his new sandals (which were giving him terrible blisters) but secretly I was relieved to not hike. The last thing I wanted to do was spend my time pulling leeches off my ankles and swiping at insects buzzing in my face.

After gazing in awe at the brilliant stars and enjoying the coolness of the night (it finally got cool), we called it a night.

Oh, and the termites inside the cabin were gone.

Tatai Waterfalls

We woke to the faint calls of the Gibbon Monkeys and got ready for breakfast. Breakfast was off the menu – soft poached eggs and a baguette for me, vegetables and noodles for Ian; hearty good food. We poked around as we do in the mornings and went to leave around 10:30 but discovered that everyone had gone. We found a wet bag to pack our stuff in but needed our picnic lunch.  After some difficulty, we were able to communicate to the Cambodian staff “baguette” and “kayak” and they prepared our lunch. Sandwiches were handed to us in a plastic container and a bag of fruit accompanied them.

I got into the kayak and Ian pushed me into the water and climbed in after me. Neither of us had ever kayaked before and we quickly discovered it was a bit different from canoeing – of which we have done before. For one thing, the seats are a lot closer together so if you don’t paddle in synch, you crash paddles. Also, there isn’t a lot of room in a kayak to pack things. After a few tests, we figured things out, but to be honest, Ian ended up doing the most paddling. He told me to join him only when I felt I needed to do something. So I sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the view.

Once we got around the bend, we headed upriver to the west. There wasn’t a soul or a sound really. We did see a couple of cell towers off in the distance but they eventually disappeared and civilization with it. There we were, kayaking in the jungle of Cambodia. Every once in awhile I picked up my paddle and joined Ian and we would skim along the river.  I think it was about 45 minutes when we hit another bend and soon heard the rushing sound of the waterfalls. In no time, they appeared before us. 

As we approached, we saw a boat docked alongside a large rock and wondered where we should put our kayak. The boat was from 4 Rivers Floating Lodge (our next stop after Rainbow Lodge) and one of the fellows on the boat pointed to where we should put our kayak.

We climbed out of the boat into knee high crystal clear water and gathered our belongings. I looked at the giant rocks and wondered how on earth I would get up there. Suddenly, the boy from the boat appeared above, motioned for us to hand over our stuff and then lent me a hand over the rocks. He led the way and we followed him up to a plateau of flat rock, small pools of water, and waterfalls. Standing in the shade was a family of four from Rainbow Lodge who had opted for the hike. We asked them how it had gone. The first comment was about the leeches but I could see the blood for myself – on their socks and shorts. I was so glad I hadn’t gone hiking!

Ian and I were starving so we decided to eat our picnics right away. We found a small pool of water, stuck our legs in and dug into our honey soy chicken baguettes. I am very fussy when it comes to sandwiches and usually when someone says “picnic lunch” I figure I’ll go hungry but these sandwiches were delicious!

After lunch, we put on our socks because Janet had warned us how slippery the rocks were and said that socks were the best defence against slipping.  We headed to one of the cascading falls, inched our way out onto the flat rock and had a seat.

It’s hard to describe the feeling of the water rushing around you threatening to push you along with it;  and if you lean back into the falls itself, it feels like you really are going to take off down and over the rocks. It was exhilarating and a bit chilly so we laid out on hot rock for some sun with this as our view:

Another Rainbow Lodge couple emerged from the trees having gone on a longer hike so I asked them how it went. The woman looked hot, sweaty, and exhausted and said it was harder than she had anticipated. I was again glad that we hadn’t done the hike. 

Ian and I decided to go down to the bottom of the falls so we carefully made our way over the large rocks to the bottom pool and into the water. The first thing we noticed was how strong the pull of the water was – the next, were the varying rocks in the water beneath us. Some were large, smooth and flat, while others would loom up suddenly so that you had to step up and onto them. You would quickly go from water over your head to water at your knees. It was so clear you could see the rocks but if the current pulled you, scraped knees were the result. It wasn’t difficult to understand how someone could be seriously injured during rainy season and fast moving water.

Two Rainbow Lodge staffers jumped into the pool and made their way over to one of the falls. We watched as they disappeared behind the water. Of course now Ian and I wanted to do the same so we moved towards the falls only to be swept away by the current. We made our way back and tried again, but kept getting pulled away by the strong water. The boys had approached the falls from the other side of the river, so we made our way over there and along the bank of rocks to one of the smaller falls. Since I’m a floater, I was quickly swept away again but Ian grabbed hold of the rock and pulled himself over to the falls. As I watched, he backed up and disappeared behind them.  I made my way over to him and he told me to back up, and duck down under the falling water.

Sounds easy but as I moved back the force of the water pounding down on my head was so intense and heavy, I felt like I couldn’t breathe.  I was afraid to just keep backing up because I didn’t know how much room was actually behind the rock and I worried I’d smash my head against the rock if I went too fast. Needless to say, after trying three or four times, I just couldn’t do it. It didn’t matter too much because just having that water falling on my head was quite a thrill.

We decided to venture to the top for a look and found an expansive smooth river above with a few more falls.  The water here was warm, shallow and clear. We poked about for a bit and then went back down to enjoy the cool water below. 

Soon the boats packed up and left leaving Ian and I and one other party on the opposite side of the river.  We decided to read for a bit so I removed my Kobo, turned it on and discovered it was broken. Not sure how that happened – guess it got knocked, but I wasn’t a happy camper. I laid down in the sun to dry but realized the sun was getting low and the shadows long so I suggested we head back.

We loaded up the canoe and returned home.  The trip was easy (especially with Ian paddling most of the way) and we were back quickly. We showered, read, and went to a dinner of vegetable tempura, rice, carrot and potato coconut curry, pork with chiles, ink squid and a dessert of banana custard with peanut butter brittle topping. I tried the squid and it was unbelievable – not rubbery at all.

Over dinner we discussed our next day and decided to get up at 6am and kayak upstream, then take the path around the property and go swimming.

At 6am our phone alarm went off with “Get up, it’s six o’clock” in a British accent and we jumped out of bed. We gave our faces a wash, packed the camera and some water and headed out. 

The river was peaceful and absolutely flat as we headed northeast and eventually north around the bend. The sun was coming over the hills and with the water as smooth as glass, we got some gorgeous views.

It was a splendid trip even though we didn’t see a lot of wildlife – some herons in a tree and a hornbill flying in the distance – we did see the trees lit as the sun came up, heard Gibbon monkeys in the distance, and we were virtually alone on a river in the jungles of Cambodia. I mean, how cool is that?

We made our way back for breakfast and it was good.  I did some research and found a book from the shelves in the lobby area and Ian napped. We then packed water and camera, layered on the bug repellent and headed onto the trail around the property.  As we went, I noticed Ian was wearing a thin pair of flip flops for hiking and told him if he got a leech on his feet, I wanted a photo. I had socks and my hikers on as well as tons of spray (Janet said leeches didn’t like mosquito repellent) so I was confident I’d be safe.  We started sweating not long into the jungle as the air became oppressive and any breeze was blocked by the dense trees.

Along our path we saw an old termite hill, clusters of bamboo, and many many termites. We came to the ‘bat cave’ and climbed over the fallen logs and rocks to get a closer look. We were disappointed that there weren’t any bats. As I followed a marching line of termites with my eyes, I came to my feet and saw with disgust a small thread-like leech on the top of my sock stretching to reach my skin. I was not impressed and yelled at Ian to ‘get it off’ but knew I couldn’t wait for him so I tried flicking it off (which Janet had said you could do) but the thing was determined and would not let go of my sock. Finally I gave it a whack and it flew to the ground. I grabbed the camera to get a close up and was astonished as it stretched and writhed trying to get on my hands – it was almost standing straight up.  Yuck.

I can’t include the photo because you’d never be able to see it without me pointing it out; it just blends in the background too well. Anyways, I moaned to Ian and we checked his bare feet but saw nothing.  We moved out of the area with me paranoid and checking my feet continually. Soon enough, I spotted another one worming its way through the mesh of my shoe – can you believe it?? How gross! I was afraid to grab it with my fingers so I grabbed a leaf and yanked it out of my shoe.  Again, we checked Ian’s bare feet and nothing. Incredible.

We were surprised to find ourselves back at the lodge in a matter of minutes, the entire walk having taken about 15 minutes. Short as it was, the sweat was pouring off of us so we headed to the river for a swim. Later, on our porch, we spotted two large Tockay (spotted geckos) which explained the gecko poo in our bathroom. Oh, and the termites along the railing were gone.

Our last day, a French film crew arrived at the lodge to do a documentary on ecolodges in Cambodia and Janet was a feature. They were filming us ordering lunch, then eating lunch, then talking to Janet but never asked our permission. Janet apologized profusely later but Ian and I thought it was kind of funny – especially considering we’re drama teachers. I’m pretty familiar with film crews and how the film is everything.

During lunch, Gee came up to me with his hand cupped around a small bird that had flown into his window and given itself a bit of knock. It was so pretty and tiny. It’s called a Scarlet Backed Flower Pecker.

Gee left it in a flower pot and when we went to look at it later, it had vanished so hopefully it flew away.  We had to make the 2pm pickup for our next lodge but the film crew needed its shots so we were 10 minutes late and the boat left without us. A 4 Rivers staff member was there to explain all of this but Janet wasn’t having any of it. She called the lodge and they sent another boat but I worried we were off to a bad start. In the meantime, the film crew was interviewing us about Cambodia and Janet’s eco-lodge. I don’t think we were very articulate (well maybe Ian was) but the director said to watch for it to be aired early January. I doubt we will be watching French TV at that time. Oh well.