Irrawaddy Dolphins—Kratie Province, Cambodia. - Official Local Tourism Attractions on Waymarking.com

The Cambodian province of Kratie ("Krach-che") is home to the world famous 'Kratie Dolphins'. Where ever you travel in Cambodia someone will tell you that you *must* go to Kratie and see these dolphins.

First, reaching the town of Kratie is a 7 hour bus trip from Phnom Penh. Kratie itself is a small town, pleasant, with the basic tourist amenities and a few other (relatively minor) tourist things to see, however, the dolphins do not hang out near the town. They live ~15kms north of the town. To reach this spot you are looking at a one to two hour drive on a bumpy, dusty road. A tuk tuk or self-drive motorbike (not for the inexperienced) are the choices for the single traveller. The occasional tourist bus makes the trek. Just ask around town, many people will be glad to help you.

There is a rather functional sign indicating the turn off to the dolphin jetty. Once you arrive, hire a boat. The boat (in my case crewed by a teenager, who totally enjoyed tooling around the Mekong for two hours), will cost you $9 each or less, depending on how many are in your party. Then you head out into the Mekong, ready to get close to nature, while a very noisy outboard motor motors you through the water.

The dolphins are shy (understandable, local fisherman until recently were hunting them), and few in number. The exact number is hard to determine, I saw several different numbers, however, less than one hundred is generally accepted. I have no idea if this is a viable breeding population.

You are guaranteed to see a dolphin—or your money back. Thus you will see a dolphin, no matter how long it takes. The dolphins spend most of their time under water, however, they surface occasionally to take a breath and have a look around. Usually they are in pairs. Boats are not allowed to get too close to the surfacing dolphins, so your 'guide' will stop the boat somewhere on the water, wait, wait, wait, then excitedly say something in Khmer and point. If you look quickly, 100m away you may, or may not see, one or two (or even four, I have been told), small, grey shapes poking out of the water, for a few moments. Snap quickly. In two hours I experienced three successful sightings.

Seriously, while the promotion of these dolphin contains a measure of hyperbole, it is fun to make the journey. Also, in the general area of the dolphin jetty are a number of other tourist sites, and things to see. And the Mekong is a pleasant river to spend sometime on (just ask your 'guide' to turn off the motor).

The "Official Tourism" URL link to the attraction: [Web Link] Hours of Operation: Daylight hours, every day. Admission Prices: us$9 for one boat for one person. us$7 per person for 2-4 people, per small boat. Approximate amount of time needed to fully experience the attraction: Half of a day (2-5 hours) Transportation options to the attraction: Personal Vehicle Only The attraction’s own URL: Not listed

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