First Day (Tuesday)

The day of 13 November was a very first day that I got a chance to go to Mondoul Kiri province to learn how to survive in the wood without nice stuff with. This was the second trip in Outdoor Leadership Project. It was so wonderful to see all the creatures in Mondoul Kiri and there are so many mountains that I couldn’t count all of it. Tuesday, was a day of a long drive to this province. Along a road to this province, I was doing Sudoku with my friends next to me on the bus, also our teachers ask us to write something that we excited about, something that we nervous about, and goals during the trip as well.

Everyone was so quiet on the bus because they are thinking about the questions that the teacher asked to answer. On the bus, it kind of bored but everyone was singing the songs, some people are looking out to see some cool creatures that you can find to show everyone. We started the bus from the city call Phnom Penh and went threw Kampong Cham, Tboung khmum, Kratie, and we arrived Mondoul Kiri, that was what I remembered.

After the bus drove into Mondoul Kiri, I was starting and stare to look out of the bus’s window to see buildings in the city and forest on the sides of the road because I never came here before so it was so surprised me to see all of them. Now it was night time and we arrived a safe location, which was a place where we are going to sleep tonight, everybody have their own jobs to do after getting out of the bus, someone goes to work on the kitchen, some were set up the tents, and some prepare the place for everyone to sleep and sit.

Tonight we ate bread but some people that weren’t yet full so they could eat can noodle, after everything was done, everyone started to go to bed but for me I was looking up to the sky to see the stars, it was very and very cold that night that I couldn’t sleep at all.

Second day (Wednesday)

Good morning! Mondoul Kiri, It was a nice morning for me to start my journey with my team on another day. It was a bright yellow mix with orange create a sensational scenery and add the mountains and trees, even more, awesome. I got up and prepare my pillow and blanket to put in a nice place and keep it for another night. I took my shower items to take a bath and change the clothes ready to eat breakfast.

We had the noodle for breakfast, after that we went to the waterfall in the forest with a guide. It was an hour trekking but I felt like just a few minutes because I saw a lot of beautiful trees, I love green color so I really enjoy a talk so much. I never take a talk before so it might be an opportunity to for me to do it and learn from it, what it felt like to talk without a vehicle. Step to another step, me and my teammates arrived the waterfall call “ Litruk” I absorb the nature there, the waterfall is flowing never stop just like Life, sometimes life always continues but one day it will end and also I thought that this waterfall will stop just the same as “LIFE”.My teacher told everyone to find a spot to sit and write something or draw something that you can think of to share everyone after 15 minutes. I just drew an imaginary picture that pops into my head. Finally, I end my drawing in the last second then I share to everyone of what I was doing during 15 minutes freedom but after we shared then everyone was getting their lunch but before that a guide was creating the fire to cook our food, interesting thing was we didn’t use any of the cookware, we just use nature to cook our food, we use the bamboo as a pot to cook our soup and the bamboo to hold the meet to put on the fire that mostly what we did, I think! The waterfall time was over, everyone ready to hike back to a sleeping place.

Today I was the one who cooks the food for everyone so my teacher went to the market in this province to buy the vegetables and chickens for dinner tonight and potatoes for a snack, we also bought bananas. The bus stopped, I just ran to the kitchen with vegetables in my hands ready to cook. I wash the vegetables with water then chop with a knife then put in the basket ready to cook but before that, I thought of the ingredient for the vegetable dish so we just have a nice dinner together.

Third day (Thursday)

Ah! Another cold morning came again. I got out of the tent and stretch my body with so many layers with clothes because it was really cold. I saw my friends’ faces, I thought they are really cheerful to continue the trip and me as well. Today I got up so early because of my habit.

My friends were running to the kitchen to cook for everyone to eat for breakfast, the dish for today was fried rice. They have done the rice then we gather to give the idea what should we put the ingredient into the rice, some people said this and some people said that but finally we did it and everyone smile to eat their breakfast.

Sit on the bus with the trekking clothes and ready to hike to another waterfall. Everyone got out of the bus and start to talk. It was a long talk which was 6 Km to arrive at the waterfall but the last everyone did it. The waterfall was so great and there was a lot of tourists to go there. There weren’t so many trash around, I was so proud of that area and also I hope that Cambodia will be clean like that area. We spent maybe 4 hours there to do some activities. I hike back from the waterfall back to the bus then we wait for the sun to set in the evening and we play some game with our teachers and take a lot of photos.

Tonight, we don’t have dinner at our sleeping place but we have dinner in the restaurant, everyone has ordered their favorite dishes after eating we drive back to sleep. everyone prepare the stuff that we used ready to go back to school tomorrow. Some people were creating the fire to the campfire. Everyone!! Shout by our teammates to call them to gather around the campfire to sit and share the experience from this trip. We ate marshmallow with cracker then we went to bed like what we did every day. Friday I went back to school.

This is my first time that I got to Kirirom National Park. It is really awesome that I got see a pine tree, Around me, I felt like nothing and I can’t describe how I felt during and after I arrived there. Everything was great, everything was nice that I can’t wait to go to hick, I just stand on the Kirirom’s land in a very first time of my life, I just can’t believe in it. I never ever go there. I was so surprised that I went on a trip to learn with my friend and sleep and eat with my close my friend but the powerful point in this trip was Trust each other equally and understandable.

I was standing in the beautiful grass in the forest.

Arrived: A long and far away from my academy, I saw a lot of high up in the sky buildings that built in the city but after I got deep into the forest, It looked different from the city because there are not a lot of buildings but there are a lot of amazing and wonderful species to look at and learn from it.

The road that bring us to the first waterfall in This national park.

During: the First day, I went to a waterfall that near to the place where I and my team are going to sleep in that night. I have to hike for five kilometers, go and back to reach the 1 waterfall in the Kirirom national park. It was very challenging for me to walk to the waterfall but anyway I did it and all the way on the whole trip.

My friends was hiking to the waterfall.

At night: everyone was firing and ready to cook for a night but there was an issue with the stove that we are going to cook. We can’t open the stove and the fire didn’t get out and my teacher and teammate help him but it still didn’t work, that time my teacher just look around him if he sees anything that can be a stove to cook for everyone to eat, then He just saw a clay stove then we just have a dinner together but at the same time that we are eating to together, there was a campfire for everyone to gather to sit around the fire to talk about the story and the joke and also share some of the highlights in the first time that we just arrived the national park.

We was starting to create the firecamp.

Everyone was singing and dancing around the campfire and also including me. Before bed, everyone was playing the card and we were having fun together in that time. Time is very fast when I was so happy but when I was sad, the time is starting to go very slow and slow. Right now, it is time for me to go to bed, it was raining so hard. My tent was licking and also I was so cold, I have one blanket but I have to share with my friend so it was so difficult to sleep in that night. At the same time that I can’t sleep and there was a buffalo came to smell my tent, I was so shaking and scary but I was trying to sleep as hard as I could.

We were eating dinner in front of the fire to together.

Fun fact of this trip was about POOP!
It was very and very hard for me to poop in the forest without a toilet that I had to use the natural bathroom.
My teacher told everyone about the POOP POINT!
1 if you POOP alone without looking and see a good view you get 1 point
2 if you POOP with another person, you will get 2 points
3 if you POOP with a nice view, you get 3 points
4 If you POOP with the animals then you will get 4 points
5 if you POOP with a good view, animals, and friends then you will get 5 points in total

My Team!

Last I just want to say Thank you to my friends and my teachers and also a driver that help me for the whole trip and I just want to go back in that time that we were having fun together.