Seeking solitude

If you are looking for peace and solitude on a trip to Ratanakiri, then head 70kms east of Ban Lung, the provincial capital and aim for Lumkut Lake. At the weekend, you might a few locals joining you for the beauty and peacefulness of this lake but most likely, you'll be there to enjoy it all by yourself. Its actually larger in size than the more popular Yeak Loam Lake, just outside of Ban Lung, but the road to Bokheo can be treacherous and impassable, particularly during the wet season, and until they upgrade the road (which they are doing now), a dry season trip is your best bet. There is a trail around the lake but its no more than that, and certainly cannot be called a path, so be prepared, its an attraction that is still in its pristine and virgin state. It's more than sixty metres deep in places, is oval in shape and believed to be a volcanic crater in origin.