Work Hard Play Hard – Leeches, Waterfalls and Green Vipers

When Tricia and I first got married we realized very quickly we were both driven people who had very strong work ethics and we needed to make sure we took time out in life for fun and relaxation. For us that translated into the philosophy that if we were going to work hard then we were going to play hard. We made sure in our financial stewardship that we planned for intense times of fun and relaxation (I know I used intense and relaxation in the same sentence, but that’s just who we are). When we came to Cambodia we decided the same philosophy applied no matter where we are in the world.

Lazy Afternoon

For the last four months we’ve been spending most of our time working and even made sure on weekends we were plugged in to a strong local church. Tricia was originally supposed to only work part-time (20 hrs/week) with her internship, but has actually worked about 35 hrs/week on top of being an incredible mom. We’ve taken several day trips to experience some of the incredible cultural opportunities life in Cambodia has to offer 3 boys from West Texas, but really needed a few days to disconnect from work and spend some good quality family time playing hard.

This last week our office was closed Wed-Sun for the Cambodian Water Festival. We decided we would  go on a family adventure to a lodge in the jungle. We took a 5 hour bus ride from Phnom Penh and followed the directions on the lodge’s website. It simply said to stop the bus at the fourth bridge on Road 48 and get out of the bus and go under the bridge and someone will be there to meet you. When we got there our guide was there and off we went in a traditional Khmer riverboat (there was no road access to where we were going, the only way to reach it was by boat). The river was surrounded by thick bamboo and tropical forest with mountains on both sides. When we arrived at the lodge we walked on elevated walkways to our bungalow on stilts (everything was about 6 feet off the ground). We soon understood why everything was off the ground!

Notice the stylish Socks on the Rocks

On our first morning there we decided to go for a guided hike. We climbed over the mountain behind the lodge and took about a 2 hour hike through the jungle to the Tatai Waterfalls. When we set out that morning our guide told us to be ready for the leeches, but told us not to worry these weren’t the big ones. I don’t know where they came from, but there were thousands of them and they moved fast. I had always imagined leeches as these slow moving creatures that attached themselves to something that stayed in one place too long. No matter how fast we moved these tiny leeches would find a way to attach themselves to our shoes and then climb their way up (You had to move fast to catch them before they got too far up your leg if you know what I mean).

Stopping to pick the leeches off

The boys were amazed at the small wildlife we saw: geckos, red dragonflies, colorful birds, tree frogs, skinks (kind of like a lizard), spiders, a variety of insects and a giant black scorpion the size of your hand. Although we all had to stop several times to remove leeches, it was worth the work when we arrived at the amazing waterfall. We enjoyed a couple of hours of swimming, climbing and Micah even jumped off the top when he thought mom and dad weren’t looking! Thank goodness a boat was waiting to take us back to the lodge at the end of the day.

Sleeping under  mosquito netting

The food and accommodations at Rainbow Lodge were incredible. All the food was fresh from local village farmers and fishermen from across the river. The entire place was solar-powered and designed to be eco-friendly. We would wake up every morning to the singing of Gibbons (a type of monkey) across the river.

One of our favorite activities was our next day kayak trip alone as a family. We set out together in two kayaks going upriver looking for something interesting. We saw water buffalo swimming in the edge of the river and a blue kingfisher flying across the top of the water.  After paddling about thirty minutes we saw a break in the forest and small stream that joined the river. We heard water rushing and decided to check it out. We found a beautiful waterfall created from a small stream that flowed down from the top of a very large hill. Before Tricia and I could get out of our kayaks the boys had started climbing the rocks headed for the top of the waterfall. We climbed the 900 ft waterfall and found freshwater shrimp and crabs along the way in small ponds formed at each level. The flowers and plants were beautiful, but somehow we missed the extremely beautiful and highly poisonous green viper two men from England found the next day at the same place after we told them about our find.

Finally after a couple of full days of adventurous activities we had worn the boys down enough that Tricia and I had a day to relax and get some rest before going back to work. That didn’t stop the boys from exploring and discovering bat caves, orb-web spiders and bamboo shafts they made into spears. In the afternoon we were reminded of home and weekends with friends and family when we took a lazy swim in the river floating on innertubes and jumping off the dock.