Battambang fisherman

Sometime in 1999, I took a trip through northwestern Cambodia and stayed for a few days around Battambang, seeing the sights. I hired a motorcycle taxi driver to take me around. One of the places he showed me was a reservoir. The dam was built by hand by prisoners doing forced labor under the Khmer Rouge.

Mekong River sunset paddle

Sometime in the year 2000 I visited Kratie, on the Mekong River in Cambodia. The main attraction of Kratie is a small, endangered pod of Mekong dolphins (or Irrawaddy dolphins). There are boatmen at this spot on the river, which is strewn with rocks. At the time of my visit, the boatmen would paddle you out in their small boats to view the dolphins for about one hour. They charged $1.

The best times to visit were early in the morning and just before dusk. I went at sunset. I did see some dolphins, but they were difficult to photograph.