Called Away by a Mountain Spirit

This book details the accounts of three expeditions into the interior of Virachey National Park in Ratanakiri Province of Northeastern Cambodia, as well as an excursion into the forests of Mondulkiri Province. The author and his Khmer-Lao and indigenous guides penetrate the remote canyons near the Laos border, a lost world of tropical jungles and remote grasslands that are known only to a handful of poachers and loggers. This book also describes the animist tribes who live on the park's periphery, including the Brao, Kreung, Tampuan and Bunong highlanders. This work of non-fiction is also concerned with the endangered wildlife that persists within the park's boundaries, such as tigers, clouded leopards, leopards, Asiatic elephants, gibbons, douc langurs, hornbills, and much more. For those interested in the natural history and indigenous cultures of Cambodia and Southeast Asia -as well as the current threats to the region- this book will be of interest.