Sen Monorom

Cambodia's largest, yet most sparsely populated province, Mondulkiri, lies at the heart of Cambodia's Wild East and attracts a steady trickle of independent travellers and backpackers lured by the idea of getting well off the beaten track. With only one dirt road leading to the tiny provincial capital of Sen Monorom, rest assured you're well off the tourist radar should you venture out here.

Getting to Sen Monorom is difficult, adding to its off-the-beaten-path allure. From Phnom Penh, it takes about 10 hours. The first half of the trip, to Snuol, is on smooth, paved roads. Once you pass Snuol, however, civilisation ends, and the road becomes a veritable roller coaster ride of bumps and potholes, your vehicle permanently cloaked in a cloud of red dust for the final five hours of the journey.

The hills of Mondulkiri are laid out with a checkerboard pattern of dirt roads -- these are in preparation for the planting of massive and very controversial pine and rubber plantations. Once all the grassy hills are covered in pine and uniform rows of rubber trees, the place will feel even less Cambodian.

Sen Monorom's atmosphere is distinct from the moment you arrive. It is one of the quietest towns in Cambodia -- just a few dirt roads and one roundabout set at the centre of a patchwork quilt of grassy rolling hills. The town is but a blip on the radar and you could pass it in barely the blink of an eye.

Mondulkiri and Rattanakiri provinces are both set on a plateau, giving them a distinct climate and flora from the rest of the country. Note that just as the environment is oddly unique for Cambodia -- with rolling, grassy hills and valley rivers -- so are the very mild temperatures. In the cool season, you'll appreciate having a jacket.

While many may have an image in their mind of Mondulkiri being a heavily forested nature-lovers paradise, this is sadly not the case. Firstly, the high altitude and cooler weather makes the landscape more akin to England than the tropics, with low shrubs, deciduous forests, and vast, open fields spreading across the rolling hills.

Also, this province and Rattanakiri to the north were logged to a devastating degree over the last two decades -- mainly with the cooperation of Vietnamese and Taiwanese logging interests and the complicity of Cambodian government officials with well-greased palms.

While there has been significant regrowth, visitors expecting untouched wilderness may be disappointed. The talk is that the commercial flights that once flew from Phnom Penh to Sen Monorom were cancelled because so much of the illegal logging could be seen from the air.

Despite this substantial damage, Mondulkiri's beauty is still very much intact, with patches of forest, picturesque plains lined with wide, open dirt roads, streams and waterfalls, and minority villages whose traditional ways of life remains intact.

Orientation
The centre of town convenes at the intersection of its two main streets, with the bus stop at the point where the roads meet. Most of the restaurants and a few guesthouses are within easy walking distance of the bus stop and the small market.

The motodops awaiting bus arrivals -- who are predictably laid back compared to their aggressive counterparts in more fast-paced Cambodian cities -- know where the notable guesthouses further afield are located and can take you there quickly when you arrive late at night.

Most travellers spend a few hours wandering around Sen Monorom and then do a series of organised or self-drive trips out to the surrounding waterfalls. Some are within walking distance of town, while the bigger falls are long motorcycle rides. Road signs waver between minimal and non-existent, so a guide can be a good idea. The popular backpacker haunts, aside from hiring motorcycles, can also organise from half-day to multiple-day trekking and camping trips with local Phnong villagers. They also coordinate elephant riding trips.

Our recommendations

Mondulkiri gets short shift in most travel guides, but both the provincial capital of Sen Monorom and the surrounding province are well worth exploring. Once you're picked some digs, the most important thing to decide is if you're going to do it solo or by tour. If you're going to do a tour do your research asking around at the different guesthouses to see which trip works for you. If possible try to meet the guides that will be showing you around before agreeing to go. The town itself takes about three point five seconds to explore, so given how long it takes to get here from Phnom Penh, most opt to suss the place out through what is left of the day and start touring around the countryside the next day -- that's a good approach and this travel guide should help you plan out your stay.