By Matthew Smith.
From Stung Treng Garrett and I set out to cover a strip of river familiar to Garrett. The section was from a village called Ou Svay down to Stung Treng where the The Mekong meets up with the section of the Srepok we have already paddled.
It was interesting to hear Garrett's perspective as he compared our experience with the memory of paddling the year before, in a traditional Cambodian boat.
The section we paddled resembled a river trying hard to wash away a forest landscape. We paddled amongst trees clinging to the river bottom (which later in the dry season are islands) bent straining under the weight of the massive river. We paddled through forest islands flooded over, navigating around hazardous trees and hidden bushes.
Garrett remarked that we were paddling over the top of places that last year he had camped.
With the strong assistance from the swelled river and the benefit of a tandem paddling team, we covered the entire section in one day. It was astonishing when compare to the multiday experience Garrett had last year on the same section. We cover so much distance so quickly that we even had time for a long lunch and time to teach a CPR class along the way.
Now we are off to paddle from Stung Treng to Kratie.
From Stung Treng Garrett and I set out to cover a strip of river familiar to Garrett. The section was from a village called Ou Svay down to Stung Treng where the The Mekong meets up with the section of the Srepok we have already paddled.
It was interesting to hear Garrett's perspective as he compared our experience with the memory of paddling the year before, in a traditional Cambodian boat.
The section we paddled resembled a river trying hard to wash away a forest landscape. We paddled amongst trees clinging to the river bottom (which later in the dry season are islands) bent straining under the weight of the massive river. We paddled through forest islands flooded over, navigating around hazardous trees and hidden bushes.
Garrett remarked that we were paddling over the top of places that last year he had camped.
With the strong assistance from the swelled river and the benefit of a tandem paddling team, we covered the entire section in one day. It was astonishing when compare to the multiday experience Garrett had last year on the same section. We cover so much distance so quickly that we even had time for a long lunch and time to teach a CPR class along the way.
Now we are off to paddle from Stung Treng to Kratie.