Underrated Cambodia Travel Gem: Add Mondulkiri to Your List

Mandokkiri is a truly underrated destination in Cambodia. At 355 kilometers away from the capital city, Google Maps will tell you the drive will take six and a half hours. But experience will tell you the drive is likely closer to 10 hours when you factor in restroom breaks and meals. But don't sweat it. The drive is a journey all in itself with lots of interesting sights to see along the way like taking a ferry to or driving on Cambodia's longest bridge that opened to the public in 2015, the Subasa Bridge or Spien Ne Leung. There's also some delicious food you can pick up. We got a nice big bag of corn along the road. And we also made a pit stop to get water buffalo jerky. Yum. So as we made our pit stop, you know, one side there's a place that you can eat and then on the other end you see a group of cows coming right at you. So the girls jumping in the water. My husband used to do that when he was growing up here. The water is not as clear. The long journey to Mandokkiri is so worth it. But locals say your trip isn't official until you've arrived at Phnom Doakramom where you will find the I Heart Mandokkiri sign. Just before the sign, you can buy some fruit and incense sticks to provide as an offering to the Buddhist shrine. Afterwards, you can make your way to the sign to take some pictures and enjoy the view. Mandokkiri is truly breathtaking. Known for its gorgeous forested hills and powerful waterfalls, the climate here tends to be cooler than other parts of Cambodia. With cooler air and lots of nature all around, Mandokkiri is also home to elephant sanctuaries where these majestic creatures can roam freely without fear of poachers. But if you don't want to disturb these gentle giants, I recommend strolling in other areas of the region. The Bo Sra Waterfall is a popular tourist destination. At just 15 kilometers away from the Vietnam border, this waterfall has three tiers of falls. I personally enjoyed visiting this secluded resort called Romani Dan Namnak Snak. With a trail, a treehouse, and traditional furniture, this location was definitely an interesting place to visit. Standing on a bridge over one of the rivers in the jungle of Cambodia. It's so cool here. Relaxing. Hey, if you're new here, I'm Linda and this channel is about travel and personal finance tips. If you're enjoying this video, please consider liking, subscribing, and sharing with your friends. It truly means a lot to me. Now on to the food. After exploring Mandokkiri's beauty, our group was ready to fill our stomachs. We stopped by this shop that sells coffee and souvenirs. But what we came for was the fruit. There were some interesting ones with odd shapes I've never seen before. But the one that we came for was the passion fruit. Normally very tart, the one sold here had the right amount of sweetness that we ended up coming back for more, but she was sold out. Definitely a must stop when you're in the area and want some delicious fruit. I'm going to feed my baby passion fruit. Come and see my face. Oh, it's so good. We are at the market in the Mandokkiri area, the wet market. Picking up some ingredients for dinner tonight and taking a look at what it's like here. We are bargaining, not instead of saying okay. So she originally was saying it was 30,000 a kilogram. And then the negotiator on our side is saying, I'll take it if it's 25,000. She's like, no, I don't make any money. So then she's like, okay, how about 27,000? She's like, I can't, I can't go down. It's too much. Say, all right, how about 27,500? It's like, ah, what about 28? And then the big boss man dropped it down. He's like, oh, come on, we're going to buy five kilograms. She's like, oh, okay, go ahead, take it. Negotiator. Traveling to Mandokkiri could not have been more memorable than when traveling with Khmer locals. We are so grateful to our family friends who showed us around and cooked some amazing traditional dishes for us. We're even more grateful for friends who hosted us in their beautiful resort. The rooms are great, but the views are amazing. I honestly cannot believe this is in Cambodia. Such a true hidden gem and an experience I'll remember always. If you watched up to this point, thank you so much for sticking around. Be sure to check out my other Cambodia travel playlist here and I'll see you in the next video. Akon and Jamnublia.