Kratié and the Irrawaddy Dolphins

The Irrawaddy dolphin is a stub-nosed, round-headed river dolphin that once ranged far up the Mekong, and the stretch of river around Kratié holds one of the last small populations left, numbering under a hundred animals and closely watched. From the village of Kampi, a short way upstream from the town, small wooden boats take visitors out at dawn or dusk to sit quietly at a deep pool where the dolphins surface to breathe, showing a grey back and a puff of spray rather than the leaping of sea dolphins. Boats keep their engines off and stay back, which is why the encounters work. Kratié itself is a slow, pleasant Mekong town with a row of colonial buildings and one of the best sunsets on the river, and the nearby island of Koh Trong is a flat, sandy loop of farms and stilt houses ridden by bicycle.

What you actually see

• The dolphins at Kampi - dawn or dusk boat trips to the deep pool where they surface.
• Koh Trong island - the sandy Mekong island, cycled past farms and stilt houses.
• The riverfront - Kratié's colonial row and the sunset over the Mekong.
• The river villages - the fishing communities along this stretch of the river.

When to go

December to May is the dry season, when the water is lower and the dolphins are concentrated in the deep pools, making sightings much more reliable; the wet months disperse them. Dawn and dusk are the times boats go out. Allow a night in town rather than rushing through.

Honest expectations

The population is critically small and dwindling, and seeing them is a privilege that also carries a sadness; choose the community-run boats at Kampi, insist the engine is cut, and refuse any operator who chases the animals. Sightings are usually a back and a breath at a distance rather than anything dramatic, so expectations should be modest. Kratié is a long, dull drive from Phnom Penh.

Nearby

Koh Trong island faces the town; Stung Treng and the Laos border lie further north.