Banlung, the Red Pearl of Cambodia, the heart beat of Ratanakiri province. Ratanakiri (Mountain of precious stones) is the most north east province of Cambodia 600 km from Phnom Penh. In the north it borders to Laos and to the east to Vietnam. It is surrounded by dense forest elevated on top of the Eastern Highlands. Scattered in this region isolated hill tribes live blended in their habitat. The landscape is very divers. The whole province seems to be soaked in green. Countless creeks and streams feeding two big rivers which peacefully meander from the east to the west. Waterfalls and lakes manifest as wonderful arts of nature. Visiting the 'Mountain of precious stones' will offer you a wonderful nature in all its variety and encounters with the everlasting smile of the local hill tribes. Ratanakiri is one of the most remote provinces of Cambodia, captured between Vietnam in the east and Laos in the north. The remote location is one of the reasons that Ratanakiri ranks number four of the least populated provinces. The southern neighbour province Mondulkiri is the least populated of Cambodia. Banlung district, also the capital of Ratanakiri province, is the most populated district out of nine. Ratanakiri is the home of eight ethnic minorities scattered over the nine districts. Numbers of population of the minorities vary significant. As a tropical country, Ratanakiri is bathed in almost all year sunshine and has a high average temperature. There are two distinct seasons, the dry and the monsoon. The monsoon lasts from May to October with southwesterly winds ushering in the clouds that bring seventy five to eighty percent of the annual rainfall often in spectacular intense bursts for an hour at a time with fantastic lightening displays. The dry season runs from November to April averaging temperatures from 27 to 40 degrees Celsius. The collest and most comfortable for those from cooler climates is from October to February
Getting There & Away
Cambodia has two international gateways, Phnom Penh International Airport and Siem Reap International Airport. Air Asia offers cheap tickets from Bangkok to Siem Reap. Cambodia has regular air links with its Southeast Asian neighbours, including connections to Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, South Korea and Taiwan. Departure tax when leaving by air is US$25, but nowadays often included in the flight ticket.
Busses, minivans and taxi Ratanakiri
Banlung is connected between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh in just a day's bus trip. Busses departure every day, and the tickets are very easy to obtain at almost any guesthouse. But if you want to travel from one of these two cities to Ratanakiri and you have some spare time, it is a good idea to make a stop over in Kratie.
From Banlung, Ratanakiri to Phnom Penh Three bus companies departure every morning at 6.30. The trip takes around 12 hours and to Kratie 6 hours. Now night sleeping (Hotel bus) busses are available as well. They depart at 08.00pm. (Express 088-6336337 - 097-3433432) With a minivan it takes between 8 and 10 hours depending how suicidal the driver is. In general if you take the minivan from Ratanakiri to Kratie or Phnom Penh you get a whole seat for yourself. It is wise to inform yourself before you buy a mini van ticket how many people will share your seat. The fastest way is a private taxi. They can take you in around 8 hours to Phnom Penh ($160).
Banlung, Ratanakiri to Siem Reap v.v.
You can take a big public bus from Banlung to Skoun. In Skoun you need to change bus to Siem Reap. Travel time aprox. 15 hours.
There is a new service (2014) with minivans. Departure form Banlung to Stung Treng and via Preah Vihear to Siem Reap. A tremendous short cut. Departures in the morning. Travel time 7 hours. Be aware of SCAM. We've found out that from Siem Reap to Banlung some places also offer minivans. But they don't tell you you need to change the van 5 times, they squeeze an unbelievable number or passengers and their payloads and it and it takes over 13hrs to reach Ratanakiri. Maybe cheap, but you don't want to put yourself into this.
Banlung, Ratanakiri to Stung Treng border crossing to Laos
Only minivans service this track. Travel time around 3.5 hours. In Banlung you can buy a ticket which brings you all the way to Dondet (4,000 Islands, Laos) or even as far as Pakse (Laos).
Make sure you don't get scammed and pay the ferry twice to the four thousand islands. Often the ferry fees are included in the minivan ticket price, but not excepted by the ferry man!
Loas to Ratanakiri, Banlung
Buses leave as far as Pakse all the way to Banlung. NOTE Often we receive information that people got riped off with bus tickets. Paramount Express sell tickets from Pakse or Dondet all the way to Ratanakiri. This is scam. No company serves this line. People pay the whole fare but they are dropped off of the bus in Opoun Moun on the intersection to Stung Treng-Ratanakiri. Here they have to wait sometimes for hours for a bus connection to Ratanakiri. The buses to Ratanakiri coming from Phnom Penh don't accept the tickets from Paramount express. So they need to pay extra to get from Opoun Moun to ratanakiri. In a worst case scenario the bus to Ratanakiri is already gone. Then you have no other option than to get a shared taxi. A shared taxi is literally shared. They put people even in the glove compartment. It is better to buy a ticket from Sorya 168. This bus company does the same route except they have also buses coming from Phnom Penh which pick you up at the interception to Ratanakiri. The ticket you have is therefor valid all the way to Banlung.
A good alternative is to travel to Stung Treng (buy a ticket only to Stung Treng). All busses stop at the Sorya bus station in Stung Treng. Get off the bus and walk towards the Sekong river boulevard (400mtrs). If you are in doubt ask locals for directions to the 'Riverside' guests house of Mr T. In front of his guests house minivans usually assemble to take goods and passengers to Banlung. Minivans can be crowdy but you safe time and money. Normal rate from Stung Treng with minivan to Banlung is around $7,-
Banlung, Ratanakiri to Vietnam (Pleiku)
Minivans departure every morning. It's less then 70 km to the Vietnam border and takes around 1 hour. Another minivan is waiting for you to Pleiku. From the border to Pleiku is another 70 km. In Pleiku it is very easy to go in any direction you want. There are a number of night busses going in several directions.
Travel from Ratanakiri to beyond Plei Ku (Hoi An)
Pleiku airport is closed through October 2015 for repairs -
Private transport renting car and driver - they'll pick you up at the border (or Pleiku) and take you to wherever you want to go. Get info about car rentals on Google. It's hard to get bus and train information, but we learned the car/driver company can take you to Qui Nhon on the coast, south of Hoi An and they gave us the train times to get to Hoi An. www.waytovietnam.com was very helpful. The two companies we researched for car and driver are: HanoiTransferService.com - prices a little less, and good prices for airport pick ups etc. WaytoVietnam.com - more helpful with information and they lowered their price to be closer to the other company's price (Contributed by a traveler)
Banlung to Sihanoukville
It' s not possible to do this in one day. You have to stay overnight in Phnom Penh or grab a private taxi from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville.
Ratanakiri to Mondulkiri.
Since there's a bridge crossing the Sre Pok river, you can easily reach Sen Monorom in about 4 hrs. At the moment only minivans serve this route.
Prices
from Banlung, Ratanakiri to:
Bus Phnom Penh $12,50,- / Night Bus $15.-
Bus to Kratie $7,-
Bus to Siem Reap $20
Minivan to Siem Reap via Preah Vihear $25
Minivan to Phnom Penh $15
Minivan to Kratie $8
Minivan to Sen Monorom Mondulkiri $10
Minivan to Stung Treng (Laos border) $7
Minivan to Dondet or Pakse (Laos) $16 or $20
Minivan to Vietnam (Pleiku) $15,00
Privat taxi to Phnom Penh around $250 usd
From any of the above listed places to Banlung Ratanakiri, prices can change. Please check for the present time table and prices at the place of departure.