Samart Yim is a man with a vision. He is well aware of the backpacker tourist demographic and their usual environs around the Boueng Kak lakeside guesthouses in the big city. But he is also aware that as more of their ilk venture to the countryside to see the Real Cambodia, and he may one day be enjoying a piece of the eco-tourism pie if more decide to meander down his way.
He is happiest guiding the odd motorcyclist from his new home in Sovanna Baitong up the 24 km trail that winds north through the forest to the charming but dilapidated town of Chipat. His former home, he now sees it not as a decaying row of tin roofed shacks, but the centre of an eco-friendly tourist hub in close proximity to scores of natural treasures.
Chipat was once a thriving village whose primary economic resource was timber. Situated in the southern Cardamom mountains in the district of Teuk Lak, it enjoyed decades of harvesting this resource, even becoming something of a boom town in the process. One only has to stroll down the 2 km long palm lined boulevard to notice the former prosperity. Large attractive lots, groomed clean of undergrowth but each still sporting scores of tall trees, provide remarkably attractive locations for the houses that shelter the few remaining inhabitants.
In an effort by NGO Wild Aid to reduce the decimation of the local forest and its wildlife base of gibbons, tigers, elephants, bears and crocodiles, they disbanded large scale logging in the area and offered residents plots of land in the artificially created town of Sovanna Baitong, seven km east of Andoung Tuek along National Highway 48 towards Koh Kong. There, the transplanted loggers-turned-farmers now grow cassava, pineapples, coconuts, lemons, papayas, custard apples and rambutan in an effort to be self sustaining.
Yim’s vision may be premature. Nothing would please him more than an invasion of tree hugging eco-tourists, but the simple fact of Chipat’s lack of basic infrastructure may hold this back for awhile yet. The town’s only guesthouse, with four comfortable rooms each at 12000 riel (US$3) per night, is usually home to travelling NGO workers or the odd gang of motorcyclists. Beyond that, the town is full.
If that doesn’t deter the motivated traveller, it is an incredibly bucolic place. Nearly surrounded by rivers it is a playground of waterfalls and swimming holes carved out of the clean black rock. It has a distinct feel quite unlike any other place, even in the Cardomoms. The people seem accustomed to foreigners passing through, which leads to a laid back ambiance unlike some towns where a tourist can sometimes feel like a sideshow attraction.
Two options exist for getting there. The former road travelling north from Sovanna Baitong is now a single track jungle trail complete with water crossings, sand, and stick bridges. Forget about it in the rainy season – even the locals don’t attempt it because of the fallen trees across the path. It normally remains this way until the dry season arrives in earnest and the locals chainsaw a path through.
Another way is to catch the daily boat from Andoung Tuek. It makes the journey each day around 11am and spends the night, then returns the next morning at 7am. In a pinch it can take a motorcycle as well, and the deckhands who muscle it onto the dock will charge a dollar for the service. If you like it rustic, it won’t disappoint.