Once again we took a weekend excursion into rural Ratanakiri Province in northern Cambodia under the guidance of Mr. Kompheak, the school administrator. This time, in addition to his wife, we were accompanied by the young twin daughters and youngest son of Mr. Sopheap, the school’s founder and director.

Katieng Waterfall

Our first stop was the Katieng Waterfall, which is located appropriately enough in Kratieng Wildlife Sanctuary, where you can hike through the wilderness and, presumably, spot many kinds of wildlife. We just limited our visit to the area around the waterfall, but it was impressive enough — more so than the waterfalls we saw on the previous day, which were really just cataracts. This waterfall is 10 meters high — that’s 32.8 feet to us extraterrestrials.

Airavata Elephant Foundation

Then it was on to the Arivata Elephant Foundation, which is smaller than the elephant sanctuary we visited back in India, but more to our liking. The beasts are treated more respectfully, and given more room to roam; the preserve operates under the Asian Captive Elephants Standards, which at least sounds like a good thing. (Though people do ride at least one of them, which we have mixed feelings about.)

We were able to get close to the beasts, and there was even an opportunity to feed them bananas and figs if you’re willing to get your hand slimy.

When the Khmer Rouge ravaged the country during the genocide of 50 years ago, many of its elephant population perished. But thanks to conservationist organizations like Arivata, the herds are being revived.

Arivata now has 4 elephants among its wards, including a baby named Noëlle — she was born on Christmas Day in 2021, the first elephant born in Cambodia in 30 years. When they found her in the wild, her own mother was attacking her, not recognizing her scent because she’d been handled by humans. But the staff at Arivata acted as family therapists, restoring the bonds between mother and child.

Kachanh Waterfall

Next on our itinerary was another waterfall, Kachanh Waterfall, which was even taller than the first at 12 meters (39.4 feet). On the grounds nearby we saw a statue of a Cambodian indigenous person in traditional attire, which looked remarkably similar to a statue of an American indigenous person in traditional attire.

Yeak Laom – Volcano Lake

Rounding out the day’s tour of natural attractions was Yeak Laom Volcano Lake, considered one of the 15 most beautiful crater lakes in the world. At about 800 meters (2625 feet) in diameter, and with a depth of 48 meters (157 feet), the lake was formed about 700,000 years ago (that’s the same in metric) after a volcano erupted in the neighborhood, forming the huge crater.

Today, it’s a popular swimming hole, and we saw a group of boys enjoying it to the max, jumping into the water from a tree hanging over the lake’s edge.

For Kimberly, it looked like a mandatory spot to execute a cartwheel. She was joined by one of the 9-year-old twins, who gave her a run for her money.

Phnom Svay

On the way back into town, we stopped at Phnom Svay (“mountain majestic” — or as we would say, majestic mountain) to get a panoramic view of the surrounding community at sunset. And we were in good company: the big statue of the Buddha on top who gets to enjoy that view every day.

Back at home, we decided to join the barbecue being mounted by a teacher from Australia named Russell, who lived in the teachers’ apartments where we were staying, and who, like us, is a vegetarian. We’d seen him preparing the various vegetables and other items for grilling earlier in the day, and it looked like quite a lavish feast. We were afraid that it would be effort largely wasted, since it appeared that hardly anyone would be attending.

But it turned out that at least a dozen people came, and the feasting was indeed top-notch. It was a perfect way to end this highly memorably January 1, the first day of 2023.

1/1/2023