π₯Ύ Trekking "God's Back Mountain" | Part 2 β°οΈ Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary, Cardamom Mountains National Park, Cambodia π
We reached the first campsite on God's Back Mountain within a couple of hours, and decided to use the opportunity as a picnic stop.
Nature Is An Incredible Artist π¨
Β Β Β When we sat off on this trek the purpose was only to gauge the difficulty and quality of the trail for future trips. I was surprised to see the trail is well-marked and easy to follow, and I think in the future I could leave at 3am in the morning and hike the first few hours in darkness, especially now that we've already explored this portion of the trail. In my former mountaineering days back in Colorado, I used to do a lot of alpine ascents, and this just basically traveling super light and without camping gear in order to reach the summit quickly and make the descent all in one day.
Β Β Β After we were more than an hour into the forest we began to see some plants and other things we don't see often near our house. Termites here have to be more creative because there are no human houses for them to snack on, and I even saw three daddy long-leg spiders relaxing on a fern together as if they were the best of friends. I wish I could tell you the names of the plants and trees, but my plant and tree vocabulary are more geared towards what you can find on a farm here in Cambodia.
Ecstasy Forest π
Β Β Β Many years ago I watched a documentary online about the "Ecstasy Forest" of Cambodia, never knowing I would eventually live here. There is a now-endangered species of tree locally known as "s'dey saa," and back in the 1990s and early 2000s this tree was the main precursor for the production of the rave drug ecstasy. A Vietnamese mafia group apparently used to boil these trees in the forest here and send the oil off to the Netherlands to be made into pills that help Dutch people dance like idiots.
Β Β Β After a massive effort from the Australian government this illicit tree trade mostly came to an end, but luckily or unluckily China filled the gap with a synthetic alternative, so I think modern ecstasy is now made from mystery Chinese chemical compounds. This species of tree is still protected though because its numbers are now quite small, and even though it's technically illegal, half of the homes in our village are made from ecstasy wood.
Β Β Β The front doors of our house are made from ecstasy wood, and many parts of our house and cabin contain this wood, but it was done by the previous owner. We would never make the choice to use endangered species in any of our construction projects. Sorry to wander off-topic, but anyways, after we had our picnic we decided to explore another 20 minutes up the trail just to be sure it was still easily navigable. Everything looks good and I will definitely be returning for a solo alpine style ascent in the near future.
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There is always something new to learn, didn't know that ecstasy could be made by extracting an oil from a tree, I have never try ecstasy so was not curious about it, the trip look fun, here in the city there are not many trails but use to run in trails back in my days of high school as I use to train for long distance running
The trees here that used to be used to make ecstacy are a species of sasafrass tree, and when I was a kid I used to chew on sasafrass root and drink sasafrass tea. It was discovered in the 80s or 90s that sasafrass is a carcinogen though, so sasafrass tea is no longer popular in the USA.
Wow, you used to trail running. Once upon a time I lived in Leadville, Colorado, home to a 100-mile footrace that is said to be one of the hardest in the world, at altitudes above 3,500m. I never did any trail running or cross-country stuff, but I've been a hiker/climber/mountaineer for many years, and I'm so glad to have wilderness in my backyard here in Cambodia.
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Awesome-sauce, thanks my friend, it's a pleasure.
What a beautiful experience! Trekking is something we have not done as a family, considering we're in a desert. Lol.
The termite mound is off the ground, is it? I've not heard about ecstasy trees. All the while I thought the drugs were some chemicals made in labs.
Oh that's right, the UAE if I remember correctly. It seems the popular hobby there is take expensive SUVs to the dunes and drive them insanely fast. The safrole oil that used to be used to make ecstasy is a carcinogen I think, so even though it's natural it's already a bit dangerous. I'm sure whatever process was used to make this drug back in that time uses many dangerous chemicals along with this oil.
Luckily or unluckily the Chinese Communist Party seems to now supply the world with all the synthetic chemicals used to make illegal drugs. At least the Cambodian forests are now safe from Dutch party-goers.
ααααΆαα’ααααΆααα π
There's always next time.
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I love the idea that the kids are also into such adventures :)
Monkey-B is more of a nature lover than her big sister. Because of this I try and bring the big city to our house as much as possible. Watching a movie together on the laptop is more big sister's style.
I really enjoyed learning about the "ecstasy wood" and more about the forest there. Until I watched the embedded video, I wondered if you were talking about the Sassafras tree, which is rather common in the southeastern US. But I see it's a tree called Mreah Prew, instead. The oil (safrole) is the same as in the Sassafras tree, though, and we use it here to make root beer, not ecstasy! As a child, I liked chewing on a Sassafras twig because of the flavor. π
It is a sassafras tree, your instincts are right. I grew up on sassafras tea as kid, but one day my parents just stopped making it and using the roots. Several years ago I asked why and my mom told me that when it became public knowledge that our American sassafras tree contains carcinogens she stopped it then and there. Funny, seems it's quite common that sassafras species aren't exactly healthy for humans. I don't know if the oil from the one's here is carcinogenic, but a previous non-illicit use was as a perfume for the ladies.
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We Dutchies can't help it, we just dance like idiots.
J/k, not that I am a good dancer. I never took any xtc and didn't know about the existence of this tree haha! :<)
Haha, glad you are self-deprecating Dutchman with a good sense of humor. I know some who would take a statement like this too personally π, and obviously I'm joking, but not 100%. Perhaps if you had taken the magic Dutch dancing pill in your younger years you'd be a DJ today ππ½π§.
Ohh, you're with the whole family hehe, even the kids.
Anyways this ia the first time that I saw those plants. It looks interesting and it is really cool of how you can find new discovery on this forest.
Sorry for the late reply, life has been pretty hectic this week. The forest is so close to our house, but it's incredible to see so many different plants that we don't have near the river.
Ahhh, it must've been cool if we are close to a forest. For sure I'll have my morning there every day. Happy Monday! β¨
It's good to see that your whole family is enjoying the climb. There are lots of natural wonders we can see in the forests like what you're sharing with us, beautiful pictures.
We will be back again for sure, hopefully the whole family next time.
Enjoy climbing with your whole family sir @justinparke. Spending time with the family is the best.
I had absolutely no idea that is where ecstasy came from. Neat.
That entire trek must have been just a great time. Very beautiful! I suspect the air was super fresh as well.
I think nowadays every drug is made from mystery synthetic Chinese precursors, scary to know drugs are more dangerous now than they were when we were kids. I regret not having explored the mountain trail sooner, so beautiful.
I'm so glad to read about you and the adventorous days of you with family,especially with your kids. It seems like they are enjoying the treking with you π₯° God bless your family.
Monkey-B loves outdoor adventure, but big sister is a little harder to negotiate some outdoor recreation with ππ.
That's great that you can start exploring God's Back mountain both for your own pleasure and family outing, and also as a selling point for renting out your cabin. Very interesting about the 'ecstacy tree'. I had no idea where ecstacy came from (not a drug user of any sort) so have found that little bit of wisdom fascinating.
Very true, I think it will eventually be the big selling point for folks to come and stay here, so we should know the trail thoroughly before we start getting asked many questions about it. I am glad that ecstasy is no longer made from the trees in this forest, but it's unfortunate the safrole was replaced by synthetic precursors that are probably causing more deaths, although it's not like ecstasy was safe to begin with anyways. Thanks for stopping by my friend.
Wow! Trekking, hiking! I miss it. It was a very long time that I haven't participated an activity like this.
In the first picture, is that you who is at the back? Seems you're peeing? Lol or just looking for something. It was a stolen shot for you. The one who got the photo might didn't noticed your presence at the back.
Haha, I wondered if anybody would notice, yes our friend was peeing π. That was my hidden easter egg in this post and you found it, congratulations ππ.
Hahaha really? His actions really looks peeing and it made me laugh when I noticed it. I thought it was just coincidence but it seems it is planned hahaha.
It wasn't planned, but when I noticed him in the corner of my pic, I had to snap the shot.
Ah okay. He became a photo bomber without knowing hehehe
βThe Mountain of God's Backββ¦β¦?
it's really a mountain name that is unique and full of meaning, full of philosophy and philosophy of life for poets and poets who understand it, and a word that is mysterious and full of question marks for people who only read it at a glance and just ignore it, but to me it is implied thousands even the millions of deep meanings of that name, you really are like a poet and poet who is reliable in giving that title... I like that.
"nature is an amazing artist",,,?
I think that's exactly right, there is no art that is more beautiful than God's creation, and no artist is capable of producing works like nature, as great as humans as artists are only able to imitate and try to imitate God's work.
really fortunate country that implements strict rules against the preservation of nature, I like nature where you go on adventures.
going on an adventure to nature is really fun, apart from finding peace there, we can also find the greatness and greatness of God through his creations, and God often reveals his greatness and greatness through the beauty of nature.
oh yes my beloved friend, if you are a nature lover and adventure lover, I hope you are always vigilant and careful when exploring the jungle, because behind its beauty nature also holds many obstacles and mysteries there, look carefully and always be vigilant.
In nature there are many wild and venomous and poisonous wild animals, although their presence does not disturb humans unless they have been disturbed, we must always be vigilant.
My grandmother once advised me, if I enter the forest to always carry self-protection such as a machete or knife, table salt, and garlic, because these can protect us from the eyes of danger, and we must always ask God for protection.
for ecstasy trees, this is new to me, this is the first time I've heard of it, where we are in Indonesia, ecstasy pills are prohibited for consumption, forbidden to be traded, but I don't know whether the ingredients for making ecstasy pills include ecstasy trees, hopefully not.
It's quite a good and intimidating name for a big mountain. It's good that the trees here are no longer cut down to make ecstasy pills, and hopefully there can even be a forest left for future generations to enjoy. I agree, God is an incredible designer, and nature is the canvas.
Although most large wild mammals here are nearly extinct, there are still plenty of venomous snakes here, even sunbears, so it is good to always have some kind of protection. I always take a knife or machete, but I would really like to have pepper spray for a bear, so perhaps I will try and buy some next time I visit the USA.
Interesting fact on that wood. When I visit Cambodia, I'm gonna sniff on your door to see if I'm gonna get "tall" π€£
You can sniff all you want my friend, in fact you can sniff anything in my house ππ.