Weekend trip to Mondulkiri

After a very long 12 hour ride, with 27 other volunteers packed into a small bus, we arrived in the eastern Cambodian province of Mondulkiri. It is a province known for its landscape and tribes that still live the traditions of their culture. Our accommodation for the 2 nights was a cute bungalow with paper thin walls that allowed you to listen to the nature sounds all night. It was a breath of fresh air being out in the forested region rather than the dirty, polluted city. We began our day as we headed out to a tribal village (one that still uses elephants as a means of transportation!). We learned about the elephants and familiarized ourselves with them before we got on them and trekked with them through jungle. We trekked for 40 minutes, sitting on a small wooden plank inside a homemade bamboo basket on top of the elephant. Soo uncomfortable! When we arrived at the waterfall with the elephants, we ate lunch while the elephants also went back into the jungle for a lunch break of their own. Afterwards we played in the waterfalls all afternoon! Our vibrams came in so handy! Later the elephants joined us in the water for a wash! It was a little scary at first having these massive animals coming in the water with you! I feel proud that I was the first of the group to brave up and get up close and personal with them! Haha After I warmed up though, I was having so much fun and I couldn't believe I was actually swimming and playing with elephants, in the waterfalls, in Cambodia!! After that, we chose not to ride the elephants home, and we took the hike threw the jungle instead. We ended up getting ourselves lost and we ended up an hour later in another random village! Seriously by the grace of God we made it back to our bus safely. After that we drove to a coffee bean farm and had the most amazing coffee as we laid in hammocks and enjoyed the view of the jungle . Then, they took us to the top of a hill to watch the sunset. Right then and there, I felt like it had been a perfect day... But nope, it wasn't finished yet. We shared a traditional Khmer meal, sitting in a large circle on a mat, eating in a bamboo hut. Afterwards they had a tribal dance performance that the villagers put on for us! We joined to dance with them around the fire then left back to our place for the night. We planned to head straight to bed after a long day, but once we were offered to share homemade wine that some of our tour guides brought back from the village, we couldn't pass it up! Packed into a big clay vase, a mix of rice, guava and random plant herbs made a mean, potent wine! We sipped it from bamboo straws and chilled out with some other volunteers, and our tour guides. While walking back to our bungalow, we had stopped to sit under the stars because they were so bright and clear in the night sky. We could see mars and Venus and Jeremy spotted a shooting star. As we sat there, I thanked God for blessing me with an amazing day that I was able to share with my best friend. It the most perfect way to end a perfect day. I can't imagine how it could have been any better besides having my friends and family there to expirence the day with me.
-Kenni xo