We love visitors and we also want our visitors to love the place as much as we do. But, we understand that this is not the place for everyone. This place is wild Cambodia, untamed. And it is not a five star resort. So be warned: there are some annoyances from nature, and maybe even some dangers. Consider the following checklist of things to expect, before you arrive and maybe if you are particularly averse to too many of these… please reconsider your visit.
Expect:
- Bugs of all kinds (expect bug bites, bee stings, ticks and chigger bites)
- Heat and stickiness and sweat
- Solitude
- Absence of air-conditioning
- Camping like facilities + some comforts, but imagine you are camping so you get pleasantly surprised, and not disappointed
- Guides who are learning their jobs, and also just learning English
- Possibility of coming across something dangerous (snakes, scorpions, etc.)
- Occasional visiting rodents to your house
- Bumpy roads
- No medical facilities except for those found three hours away in Siem Reap
… And did I mention the bugs! We have bugs. All kinds. And if you are with an entomologist, then they are all terribly interesting because you find out all sorts of amazing things about them. But otherwise, they can be a pain. They swarm just after a rainstorm. They bite and sting. They sometimes get into your food. And they might even get into your bed.
Head over to this page to find out more about health issues and Malaria and the importance of insurance!
Here is also a good place to introduce to you our resident gibbon. Molly is an endangered pileated gibbon. She was rescued as a baby, by an American family who lived in Preah Vihear Province, and handraised by them, and then by us. When we moved here she was always free and when she became a teenager she took up with a young wild, male gibbon living here in the forest. It is almost always the case that handraised gibbons become aggressive when they mature. And so there is always the danger that she can bite you and she has long fangs. She moves between her established territory on the mountain and our house. We are torn as to what to do with her because it is such a special experience seeing her and her mate singing in the upper canopy of the trees outside our house, but then coupling that experience with the threats she poses. Right now our current practice is to guard our guests from her using slingshots which are fairly effective. She has periods where she rarely comes to the house (wet season when there is lots to eat in the forest – she might come once or twice in a month) and other periods when she comes once or twice a day for food and water. So.. hard for us to know what to do! For now, it is good to warn people so you know and you can decide.. if this isn’t something you really want to deal with – that is fine by us!
And here, a video by some guests in 2019 who took this great footage of Molly and her mate just outside our house!
So please, if you think you might not like a truly wild adventure with these annoyances from nature, there will be many other options at other places… and just maybe this isn’t the right place for you. Otherwise: we would love to host you here in one of our stilt houses or in the treehouse.