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Itinerary: Run to the Hills
On main roads, this trip is easy to manage using share taxis or pick-ups, but until the roads are finished it's a frightening prospect in the wet season. Motorbikers can link Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri Provinces on one of Cambodia's more devilish roads - not for amateurs. Finishing up in Ratanakiri, overlanders can carry on into Laos or fly back to Phnom Penh.
Northeast Cambodia is a world unto itself, a landscape of rolling hills and secret waterfalls, and home to a patchwork of ethnic minorities, many of whom still use elephants to get around. It's not only the sights and sounds that are different up here, the temperature is notably cooler, as both Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri Provinces lie at almost 1000m.
Leaving the capital Phnom Penh, pass through the bustling Mekong town of Kompong Cham before heading east to Sen Monorom, the charming capital of Mondulkiri Province. Spend a few days here to bathe at Bou Sraa Waterfall, one of Cambodia's biggest waterfalls, take an elephant trek and explore Pnong villages before heading back to the Mekong at Kratie. This attractive little town is the base to encounter one of the rarest mammals on earth, the elusive Irrawaddy river dolphin which lives in ever-dwindling numbers upstream from here.
Push north by express river boat up the Mekong, passing hundreds of tiny islands and sand bars on a very scenic stretch of the river to Stung Treng. To the east lies Ban Lung, provincial capital of Ratanakiri Province and your base for an adventure to remember. From here plunge into Cambodia's most beautiful natural swimming pool at Boeng Yeak Loam, ride an elephant through the rubber plantations to the stunning waterfall of Ka Tieng or visit the medieval gem mines where much of Cambodia's zircon comes from.
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