In Kratie, Cambodia, our day started around 8 a.m. and soon we would see how good we are at paddling as a duo since we plan on going to watch the wild dolphins. We went on a half a day trip with Sorya Kayaking Adventures. The ride there was a long and bumpy one in the bed of a truck. After about 40 minutes, we made it to our destination. This gave me butterflies as the workers unloaded our kayaks and the rest of our stuff. I wasn’t sure if I could handle the strong current. But I gulped down my fear and pushed forward.
The water is stronger than normal because when we traveled to Cambodia, it was the wet season. Since that was the case, we couldn’t even paddle in the flooded forest because the water was moving too fast.
Start the Half-day Kayaking
Once we started to paddle, we saw a lot of trees being pulled under the water. This shocked me to see how strong water can be. The only thing left for us to see of the trees were the treetops. It seemed as though they were trying to stay above the water.
Our adventure had begun and my niece was up in front while I was in the back of our canoe. I had to be the strong driver for the both of us. Before we began our journey, we were told to stay as close to our guide as possible. Which turned out to be hard because of the harsh current. The river tried to overtake us more than once.
After a while, it was time to paddle against the flow. My heart sunk. Now I would really have to be the strong one for our canoe. There was pain in all of my muscles. It felt like I was playing tug of war with the strong current.
At last, we made it to our first breaking spot, phew! We were going to kayak with dolphins soon. But first, we needed to take a break and have some yummy snacks. Our break was on a beach island that would be submerged in water in a few days.
Relaxing Stop
The water looked like a cloud of muck. However, we learned that the dirty look came from all the silt that’s on the bottom of the river. That’s why it has that kind of look to it. So, we tested it by putting a hand in the water and waving it around to see that the water was clearing. Our guide assured us that you can swim in it if we wanted. Which the two of us and the other girls jumped in happily!
The water felt great and made us all feel better in our bodies from the hot day. Personally, it made me feel 10 times better. The burning sensation in my arms had gone away and I could relax again. Once we jumped into the water, we tried talking our tour guide into joining us. However, he refused to jump in because he said most Cambodians don’t know how to swim.
It makes sense; they don’t have the greatest schooling since many kids start working at early ages. But the school system is getting better these days, which is beneficial for the new generations.
Krolan and Irrawaddy Dolphins
After playing in the water, our guide called us back to the island. When we got there, he said that he had a cigar for us and gave each of us a bamboo tube. When he said that, We all declined as quickly as possible. Then, he laughed at that and said that he was just kidding. These bamboo tubes had food in them.
This fun easy to travel with dish is called Krolan. It’s made of sticky rice, beans, and coconut milk. While we enjoyed our meal, our guide told us about the Irrawaddy dolphins. Which almost went extinct! But now there are about 100 of them and more are being found everyday. At first, they were caught by fishers and then eaten. However, nowadays less are caught since a lot of fishermen know that if they save the dolphins, they can make money from tourists.
After the break, we went kayaking to a known place that the dolphins liked to hang out when it rained. We were lucky that during our trip, we had no rain.
But clouds were starting to come in and the sky was getting darker. Now, every stroke of the paddle was a battle with the river. However I kept going forward because I wanted to be kayaking with dolphins. My arms were getting weak and I felt like the last stretch to the spot took a long time. But we finally made it.
Kayaking with Dolphins
It was nice for the four of us to rest once we got to the spot. However, as soon as we started to chill out, ants and other bugs took over our canoes! They clung to our canoes because they wanted to survive the evergrowing water. From that, we had a hard time with the bugs and trying to watch the dolphins for the first 10 to 15 minutes. After being washed away many times, the bugs slowly went away.
Finally I was able to pay full attention to what was in front of us. Irrawaddy dolphins need to breathe every ten minutes and in that time, we got to see them. We saw just a handful at first. That quickly turned into many more. There had to be between 10 to 20 dolphins.
As we sat in our canoes and watched the dolphins in their natural environment, we felt very calm. With every breath they took at the surface, they mesmerized me. A calm feeling spread through my body as we watched in silence. Something that I thought was interesting is that they often showed up in pairs.
Race Against the Storm
It was soon time for us to go back. In the last part of our journey, it felt like we were racing against clouds. They had an ominous feeling to them that looked like they could be dangerous. While we paddled fiercly, it got darker and the clouds came closer every minute. The dolphin kayaking trip is over, but now it’s time to quickly get back to the shore. At last, it was possible to see the steps.
We’re now almost to the land after crossing the last current. However, a small fish got into our boat and jumped right onto my niece as we got closer to the stairs. She freaked out, which made me laugh. So, while she was flailing around, I had to paddle this last part by myself. When we got to our friendly guide, he threw the fish back into the water. Since the dark clouds were upon us now, we got wet on the way back to town in the bed of the truck. It wasn’t just a light rain. No, it poured down on us the whole way back. In that time, it stopped a few times, but never for long. The four of us were soaked which after that journey, our pizza made up for the last part. If you love a different kind of adventure, I highly recommend on trying this out! You won’t regret it!
Check out this link: : https://www.soryakayaking.com/. Or learn about other tours around the world.
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That was a full day.
Yeah! It sure was! Definitely worth it though!