Kratie was our last stop in Cambodia before heading to Laos. Again we liked rural Cambodia much more than the cities but not a lot to do. There are some organized treks to do in the area which we’ve heard are good, but it was getting way too hot to do anything physical. We decided to save the trekking for the Northern Laos Highlands where hopefully it would be cooler.

Kratie is famous for the rare freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins that live in the Mekong River nearby. We took a tour to see them. Unfortunately they weren’t playing any games when we visited so the best we saw was just slight breaches of the water as they surfaced to breathe. Apart from the dolphins we just did the usual checking out the markets and walking around town. They sold these small whole bbq birds with an egg attached. Not sure if they were quails but we call them quails anyway.

On the way to Laos the bus we were on hit and killed a calf. I think the driver should have paid off the local farmer but instead quickly chucked the calf in the bottom deck of the bus with our luggage and drove off. Further down the road he stopped, dragged out the carcass and processed it right there on the side of the road. He took off the legs and gave one each to the staff on the bus and one to a guy on a motorbike who witnessed the impact. The body must be a bit messy to prepare so he chucked that back on the bus to take care of later.