This is the end of fun, amusement begins :o)

    We're not yet quite used to road signs in Cambodia and so it happened that we got lost. But just maybe 100 km. We're a bit confused by a fact that cities have the same name as districts. On road signs is every time marked a junction and there is written even the district. So when we drive to Preah Vihear and on every road sign it is written so it means that we go by a correct road. Up to the point that we're unable to find a city which we currently pass trough on the map.
Our mistake took us into a beautiful region close to the borders with Thailand and later with Laos. In a village where we stay one night we became attraction number one. We decided that we will take on the way out a road which lines national park. We named it immediately Forest highway. We learned that after 20 km is the end of tarmac and that surprises us a bit. Well... let's go it is supposed to be like 50 km so we will make it somehow maybe. After 12 km we encounter red. It gives off dust like in cement works, nonetheless the road is good. After some kilometres we are asking for the way. We go along the advice and the road deteriorate more and more. It starts to be strange and the people around too. We are asking a guy who harvests poppy. He's a bit weird – he's having a dull look and poppy which he harvests it still green. Weirdo. But according to him we are on the border and if we will continue more we will be in Thailand again and without customs. We're going back and continue in dusty drive.

Forest highway

On the next junction we are 100% sure that here it is possible to leave dirt road. After 50 km our certainty is on 20% and after some more is our certainty back at 100 % that we go wrong way. It shakes so good that our mirror on Vespa broke off. After several hours we hit Mac as local calls Mekong. We know where we are but we don't know why. It looks like mistake in navigation or in map materials. More likely the map, because if we follow it precisely we would have to dodge the trees.
Our vehicles underwent a stress test by which we are uncertain how it turned out. The trip prolonged to 150 km through dust and bumps. Anyhow we know that for something more like this we need to tune our darlings. Tuktuk don't have an air filter at all and in Vespa there is something to prevent flies to go in.

Village in the middle of nowhere Satellite Cambodian way - we have never seen a village so even like this

Fog in front of me, fog behind me After bus passing by the visibility is zero for a second

As if we didn't had enough we went later in the east to see a waterfall. Before we visited a beautiful lake and we swam. The way to the waterfall started as standard dirt road and so we took it. We arrived to a hill which is pretty steep and thanks to the fact that there is a lot of cars going and their wheels spin on the spot sometimes so the hill is covered with really fine dust into which your leg sinks up to an ankle. It reveals that the dust hides a lot of potholes where the level of dust reaches half the height of wheels. One local guy is driving fast on his motorbike and when he looses his flipflop so he said goodbye to it immediately without even trying to look for it. To the waterfall it should be 17 km and this looks like a dare :o) It is clear to us that on the way back we will go maybe by a tractor.

Swimming Locals know how to enjoy attractions. Try this in waterfall back home :o)

Almost every hill is the same. Potholes so huge that some of them we have to run around and lots of superfine dust, which when driven through by some local off roads is lifted and makes a red mist. The way to the waterfall took more than 1,5 hours. Some poetic soul who wrote our guidebook said about this trip that the road winds nicely between rubber plantations and farmers houses. That guy had to go by feet! Otherwise I can't explain how he perceived it all. To us the view shakes as if when working with jackhammer. Waterfall itself wasn't maybe even worth the effort, we encountered better ones on our journey. When returning we arrived back to the first hill which was clearly the most steep one and we could do nothing more than to state that the tuktuk is wallclimber. It didn't even lost it's breath :o) We arrived back to the lake which we left totally clean. Boys collecting the entrance fees and who adored tuktuk on our first visit yells "For free, for free." We have no clue whether it is because of our state or tuktuk state, but into the lake we jumped with all our clothes on. Tuktuk doesn't like the the water so he didn't jumped with us, but because it was really though he got a wash by the hotel, little piggy.