Banlung Nature Trekking Tours | Jungle trekking in Ratanakiri, Cambodia

  I booked this trip through Banlung Nature Tours as the owner also owns the hostel I was staying in. There are several competing outfits in town selling these trekking excursions,... read more and I think they likely use the same set of guides. There seem to be about 3 different options, and the one I chose involved a 45min tuk tuk to the river, then I met Long, my guide who took me up the river in a motorboat for 1hr. Then it was trekking, first through the gardens and rice fields of the minority ethnic community, to which my guide belonged.
Long was an amazing guide, and even though he is not billed as an "English-speaking guide" (which apparently costs $10 more), he spoke and understood enough to be a trove of fantastic information. He's pretty sharp, so he will probably know even more English by the time you take this trip. We ate some red ants, roasted cashews and ate them hot, drank from bamboo and vines, saw a Giant Ibis, ate various jungle plants for a snack along the walk, and caught some small fish to grill over breakfast. Not that you really need to count on foraging, because we were provisioned twice as much food as necessary. And the Bamboo Soup is restaurant quality, with an unforgettable presentation. On day 2 we made our way back and had lunch at Long's family farmhouse, and he gave us a tour of his village, the local school (the kids are 1000 watts of sunshine!), and the ancestral cemetery. But Long really was the highlight. Ask for him by name. And keep in mind, that apparently the minority guides only get like $10 per day to do this, seemingly regardless of the group size. This is the worst part of this excursion. As you probably are finding out, these treks are very expensive for Cambodia, and for trekking as an activity. But somehow it seems that the lion's share of the price of admission does not make it to the minority communities, where the money would be the strongest incentive to preserve the forest. It seems a little like the Khmer people exploiting the minority people to me, and that rubbed me the wrong way. If I did it again, I would 1) ask when Long is free, and 2) ask for a breakdown of costs to see where all this money is going. That being said, Banlung Nature Tours had the best prices in town, and I checked everywhere. They also provided what I though was the best advice on which trek area to choose.

  Very nice 2 day hiking  - We had the 2 days hiking trip and found it very nice. The hiking can be adapted to your skills (we choose every then and now to use the shortcuts... read more - so it won't be too long). We arrived in the camp, which was nice (the waterfall was not that impressive as it was dry season). The prepared food was really good and soooo tasty! We had the bamboo cooking and some kind of Asian crevice, really awesome! The guides were very nice and kind, and could speak English enough to understand each other.
We booked the trip at the nature house hotel, which is by the way an awesome place to stay with a very nice family!

  Jungle trip - We had a nice trip to the cambodian jungle and we spent a night next to the waterfalls. We saw the people in the minority villages!
Our guide was... read more very good and he knew his stuff!

  3 daagse jungle - Super back to basic.
Walking through the plants, crossing little rivers with and english guide and 2 rangers.
Sleeping at the river in a hangmock and the rangers and the... read more guide are cooking for us. Day two stay with a homefamily in the ricefields and drinking ricewine with them. Day three floating with a bamboo float. Really the best ever.

  Waterfalls and crater lake tour - Pros
- the falls were worth seeing and I really enjoyed the crater lake (although I had to watch my stuff like a hawk, which was a first in Cambodia)... read more />
Unfortunately, my experience of Banlung Nature Tours was very poor:
- Broken promises: Mr Sophann assured me I could swim at the waterfalls, but when we got there admitted that you couldn't during rainy season (which it was)
- No guide: despite selling himself as a guide, Mr Sophann was unable to impart any info about the places we visited - he was just a moto driver (see below) and, therefore, a very expensive one
- Expensive: give he just drove me around, he was very expensive
- Average driving skills: I didn't exactly feel unsafe, but he obviously doesn't do much driving as he seemed very apprehensive; we had some hairy moments that I'd not had before/since, despite being a passenger in much worse conditions

The tour is worthwhile if you're hanging around, but just ask for one of the moto drivers in town - you'll almost certainly get a better deal (and driver!). I can't recommend Banlung Nature Tours.

  One-day jungle trek: great guide, avoid Mr Sophann - I'd really like to leave you a good review, Mr Sophann, but I'm afraid I can't and have a clear conscience. But let's start with the positives:

Pros... read more /> - my guide, Mr Ny (sp?), knew the forest extremely well and was able to adapt my walk to my preferences and ability
- we went off the beaten track and I saw some really interesting things
- the forest was great and well worth a visit

Unfortunately, my experience of Banlung Nature Tours was not so good.

Cons
- customer service: Mr Sophann seemed more interested in my money and his mobile phone than providing a good service
- No English-speaking guide: Mr Sophann promised me an English-speaking guide, but it was just me and Mr Ny (who didn't speak much English) so I learnt very little about the forest and its inhabitants, which was a big disappointment
- Overcharging: the jungle trek was very expensive ($70); a friend did something similar and was charged $60 with two guides
- Overcharging for mini-bus ticket: Like another reviewer, I was charged $15 to get to Sen Monorom; I checked with an ex-pat when I arrived who confirmed I should have paid about $8 (commission is fair enough, but that's taking the mickey, Mr Sophann)
- Poor description: it would seen Mr Sophann had not actually done the trek so his description was hazy; as another reviewer mentioned, it would have been useful to know what to expect so I could have been better prepared (lots of walking through water!)

My advice to travellers: definitely get into the forest (and National Park, if you've the time), but don't use Banlung Nature Tours

To Mr Sophann: within two days, I'd already warned 5 travellers about your service (they asked me and I was honest). I know times are hard (I visited in the off-season), but if you focus on offering a good service at honest prices, I'm sure things will improve.

  We had a really nice trip through the cambodian jungle and it is worth spending a night next to the waterfalls and staying with the people in the minority villages!... read more
Our guide was very good and he knew his stuff! Very nice!
I can only recommend doing it!!

  Robbery, dishonesty and false information - Unfortunatly, while we were walking, we were looking for the dutchco trekking, we met mr Sophann. He said Dutchco was closed and had moved far away, and he could offer... read more a better service.

For two trekking days, he offered at 90$ and five minutes later already at 80$. We decided to think about it. Instead we rented a moto bike from him, also higher priced than other places.

Then when returning the moto, we asked him to book two of us the next day on a VIP bus to sen mororom. The ticket was for one person 15$. The next day in the morning coincidently met us, and mentioned that the VIP bus was broken and that it would be a normal minivan, but still VIP service with 7 people only and directly to sen mororom, 45 minutes later.

Well the bus left on time, no vip service, no ac, still a long collecting tour through ban lung before actual departure, and on top of it all, half way we had to shift the mini busses, and we stopped more than three times for more time than 30 minutes to pickup things, other people and just no normal trip at all.

On top of it all, others on the same trip paid only 15$!!!

Mr Saphann doesn't reply his phone for a reasonable explaination.

All in all, mr Saphann doesn't stand for what he sells. Very disappointing.

  Good experience. - We took the 3 days 2 nights trek and it was everything they promised when we booked the trek.

Nature was great, bamboo soup was very tasty, the ranger... read more and the guide were good. We enjoyed every second of our trek and the nature.

  Fun in the jungle - The guides we had on this tour made it worth going. We were a group of two couplesa and we did a four day trekk and wanted to really go... read more deep into the jungle, so we had to ask the guides to put in an extra effort and walk a bit longer, but they really came through for us. We were sleeping in a hanging nets they provide you with for two nihts, singing by campfire, telling stories about our trips and our countries. On the third day we built a raft out of bamboo and went down the river to a homestay owned by one of our guides. We had so much fun on the bamboo raft and also helped with building it. We spent the third night in the homestay, drinking their jar wine and having so much fun together.

The indigenous guide didnt know any english, but the other two guides translated for him and he was just the best, knowing the jungle and taking such good care of us, that he became like a father to us at the end of our trip. We also had a night trekk, but didnt se much of the animals.

The trip was definitely one of the highlightes of our trip to Cambodia, we made some new friends there and it was all because we had such good guides - Khamly, Dim and our Ranger guy.

  Do not go there - Hi,
I have made trek in all South Est Asia. This one was the worst.
I asked to the manager something light due to problem foot. Ok he answers me:... read more rafting, 3 hours trek in the jungle, viewpoint after trek, staying to the Indigenous People, cooking all togheter in bamboo and NO HAMMOC!! YOU WILL HAVE A LITTLE BAMBOO BUNGALOW!!!

OK. For 2 days/1night. 90$ per person, but you know there will the ranger, the guide, the National Park entrance fee.
AMAZING PRICE. But you know.... you are in Cambodia in Ratakiniri. They just discover tourists. And they are HUNGRY.

Rafting: 4 hours sitted on a little piece of bamboo FULL of every kind of animals. You will tell me: you are in the jungle. IT WAS A PILLOW OF ANIMALS.
The river was very shallow (strangly I asked to the manager: real kayak? Isn't the dry season now?) and the 2 guys were just destroyed after pushing with 2 poors piece of bamboo the "bamboo kayak".
Trekking and viewpoint: you follow the path of the motorcycle and for 1 hour you will arrive at the top. The manager show you a picture will beautiful open view. In fact you are covered by the jungle. Nothing.
Family stay: no blanket. Even with hot clothes we were frizzing. The morning they apogilize for a misunderstanding: everybody though the blanket was in but nobody checks.
During the night nobody cooked in bamboo. Just servered rice and bamboo. Everybody was watching tv. We really try to stay there more than 1 hour trying to communicate. Nothing to do. The tv was more interesting for the family.
We try to say hello when coming and leaving: they watch you. That is it. But this a home where all the trekkers are bringed to! SO THEY KNOW WHAT A FOREIGNERS IS.
The manager says everybody is shy. Ok. But smiling was more than enough for me.

Just incredibile. If you want to loose 2 days of your life and at the same time pay for it, go tere.

  3 amazing days in the jungle. - We bought a 3 dayes and 2 nights trekkingtour at Banlung Nature Tours. Our
guide Khamly, was young, but speaking good english. Our ranger, Veng, from the lokal comunity,... read more was polite and good company. Clearly, Veng had a lot of experience in the jungle. He showed us all kind of interesting thinges, as footprints from a vild cat, how to get liquid from different plants and many more thinge. In the end we saw 3 monkeys high up in the trees. The next morning we woken up to the screaming from, probably the same four monkeys. I can highly recommend Baglung Nature Tours. His staff are honest and caring. And I'm sure, you will Allways have a great time traveling with their trips.

  In January of 2016 we booked a jungle trekking with Mr. Sophann. He went to lenghts to ensure everything ran smoothly. He arranged transport from Phnom Pen to Banlung and... read more a pleasant hotel in Banlung for reasonable prices for us. The trek itself was a fantastic experience. I would like to mention two highlights: sleeping in a hammock in a pitch dark jungle whilst the fireflies are flying above you and our guides Mr. Weng and Mr. Diem. Our guides were the best! Very friendly, funny and absolutely dedicated to ensuring we had the best experience. One tip: it is wise to discuss the team composition with Mr. Sophann beforehand. The trekking experience in our team was diverse and so we had to adapt and make amends (this was ok -otherwise we wouldn't have been able to go on a trek at all as it was high season- but it's good to have this clear before to start of the trek).

PS. the jungle food was fabulous!

  Guide Keo Sona exceeded our expectations! - We signed up for a second overnight trek with this company because our first trek with Smiley Tours, headquartered at Tree Top where we were staying, really under-delivered on what... read more was promised. We wanted to leave Cambodia with a feel-good feeling about jungle trekking. We found this company located just a few feet from Tree Top, across the street from Cafe Allee, where you'll definitely want to eat at least one dinner. Mr Sona must have been informed by his boss that we weren't happy with Smiley Tours be ause he and the ranger guide went out of their way to choose a route thru the jungle as opposed to walking on a logging road. They also stopped as the opportunity presented itself to show us water vine which the locals can use for water in a pinch, or this resin which is used to make candles as well as waterproofing on a boat or these weird looking white things that looked like Phyllis Diller's head waddling up a branch. (Mr. Sona said they would turn into butterflies.). Both Mr Sona and the ranger went above and beyond constructing our campsite at the waterfall. We arrived at the waterfall with 2 or 3 other groups. They took the existing campsites a b it removed from the waterfalls. We wanted to sleep as close to the water falls as possible so the ranger took his machete and cut down 2 bamboo logs and 2 hardwood logs, leaned the 4 logs in the crotch of the one tree in the area from which to suspend each of our hammocks. We were thrilled to be lulled to sleep by the sound of the cascading water. Mr Sona and the ranger also made us a bamboo tea cup and chopsticks and cooked dinner in a bamboo cylinder. The rice, vegetables and meat bubbled together nicely in the bamboo cooker for about 25 min. Delicious!
I would highly recommend hiring this company to take you trekking.

  Fantastic 2D/1N trip to a waterfall! Highly recommend! - My mom and I booked a trek after being so severely disappointed with the gibbon trek that we had done through Smiling Tours (located in Tree Top Eco-Lodge). We felt... read more we needed a good experience before leaving Banlung, so we signed up with Banlung Nature Tours. Our guides went all out making sure we had a fabulous time. When there was no place to hang our hammocks right at the base of the waterfall, they created one! The food was also fantastic, and we loved drinking tea out of bamboo teacups, which our guides created for us right there! I highly recommend Banlung Nature Tours. Mr. Phom is an honest guy. We trusted him, and he really delivered on what he promised us. 🙂 Thanks!