Cambodia's Opening Asia's Hidden Wilderness

Cambodia is expected to get two million visitors this year. An intrepid few are venturing beyond
crowded Angkor Wat to the enchanting jungles and lakes of Ratanakiri province.
By PATRICK BARTA
Banlung, Cambodia
Paved roads peter out long before this ramshackle town emerges in the jungle. Beyond it are
crater lakes, sun bears and hunter-gatherer hill tribes that are only now starting to interact with
the outside world.
Together they make up one of the last frontiers of Asian
adventure travel, the vast Cambodian province of Ratanakiri. For
decades, the war-torn region of waterfalls and winding jungle
paths held a strange allure for travelers, mainly because it was
so cut off from the outside world. The trip, by truck and canoe,
would take days and sometimes weeks, depending on the
weather.
But as Cambodia has opened more widely to the outside world -
- it expects some two million tourists in 2009 -- its northeastern
jungles have started to open up, too, even to luxury travelers.
Authorities have extended paved roads to within about 60 miles
of Banlung, the provincial capital, and new construction is
expected to cover the last leg sometime over the next several
years. That has cut travel time from Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, to about 10 hours by car and led to significant upgrades in food and lodging.
The Cambodian government is stepping up efforts to promote Ratanakiri, touting it as the "Wild
East" in marketing campaigns. Officials cite the region's ethereal landscapes and its wildlife,
including exotic birds, elephants and possibly kouprey, the mysterious and rare wild forest cow
believed to live in northern Cambodia and surrounding areas.
Commercial flights used to land in Banlung but were discontinued earlier this decade due to
safety concerns; now the lonely airstrip here is more commonly used for motorbike races.
Officials are planning to upgrade the airstrip and restore the terminal to once again receive
commercial flights. Travel guides in Cambodia are advising adventurous visitors to come soon,
rather than wait until large tour groups start
arriving.
As for luxury, Ratanakiri is still a far cry from betterknown
Asian destinations like Bali or Phuket.
Upscale travelers can stay at Terres Rouges, a
comfortable jungle retreat that arranges safaris,
elephant rides and multiday hiking treks for its
wealthy American and European clients as well as
for non-guests. The owner is Pierre Yves Clais, a
former solider stationed in the region, who ran a
guide service in the 1990s and eventually opened
the lodge for guests who objected to Banlung's
rough-and-tumble accommodations. Now, his clientèle includes artists, film directors and
aficionados of Southeast Asian culture, he says. "When I first opened the place, people said I
was crazy, I would die of malaria immediately," he says. He did get malaria, he says, but he also
had a lot of adventures, and eventually he made upgrades to the lodge, adding a spa, a
swimming pool and cable TV.
Malaria remains a problem in parts of the region. Roads and other basic infrastructure are still
rough, and heat and rain, especially from May to October, can be intense. Before visiting,
travelers should consult a physician for advice on antimalarial pills, and they should use
mosquito repellent, wear long-sleeved clothing and sleep
under mosquito nets when possible.
For some travelers, the precautions only add to the
appeal. Cambodia has undergone a massive travel boom
in recent years, and international tourists have
overwhelmed the country's more-famous destinations,
like Angkor Wat, the renowned complex of ruins further to
the west. (Although only about 200 miles away, Angkor
Wat is exceptionally difficult to get to directly from
Banlung because of the bad roads.) Many jaded travelers
find they prefer a sparsely-populated redoubt like
Ratanakiri because it offers a better sense of the way
Southeast Asia used to be, before so much of it was covered in concrete.