Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Bunong Place employs a female Bunong guide,
Vanny
( 097 826 9741; toun-
vanny@gmail.com)
, who can take you into Bunong villages and/or lead any of the popular
day excursions. Other tour operators, such as Nature Lodge and Green House, usually em-
ploy Bunong people as porters on longer excursions, but you should request this service.
All of the guesthouses listed run the full gamut of treks and tours around Sen
Monorom. Figure on about US$50 per person, per day for overnight trips, including all
meals, transfer to the trail head by
moto,
and an English-speaking guide. Per-person prices
drop for larger groups.
Elephant Rides
The Elephant Valley Project grabs all the headlines, but you can actually ride an elephant
in the villages of Phulung, 7km northeast of Sen Monorom, and Putang, 9km southwest of
town. Treks arranged in Sen Monorom cost US$25 to US$30 per person, including lunch
and transport to and from the village. It can get pretty uncomfortable up on top of an ele-
phant after a couple of hours; carry a pillow to ease the strain.
It is also possible to negotiate a longer trek with an overnight stay in a Bunong village,
costing US$50 to US$80 per person. For a much shorter trek, mahouts hanging out at
Monorom Falls offer 10-minute rides for US$5. Lastly, Nature Lodge does bareback ele-
phant riding (US$38 including lesson).
ELEPHANTS
Adventure Rider Asia
( 078 250350;
www.adventureriderasia.com
; NH76; tours from US$65 per day)
Reini tailors trail-
bike tours on the rugged back roads of Mondulkiri, and well beyond for multiday trips.
Tours include a high-quality bike and full riding gear.
TOUR
Green House
( 017 905659;
www.greenhouse-tour.blogspot.com
)
Sam Nang works closely with conservation
groups on designing ecofriendly tours and is a good source of information about just
about everything. Green House helped pilot the Wildlife Conservation Society's black-
shank douc project. Besides the normal trekking it also runs full-day mountain-bike tours
(about US$20). Trek and Giant mountain bikes (per day US$8) and motorbikes (US$7)
are available for hire. He also arranges transport by
moto
to Ban Lung (US$60). Internet
access is available.
TOUR
