Trekking through Cambodia's sacred Cardamom Mountains forests with local guides

The Cardamom Mountains, in Cambodia's south-western Koh Kong region, are regarded by locals as sacred and filled with spirits. A travel writer for The Guardian completed a 15km (9-mile) overnight trek there. The region lies about a six-hour bus ride west of the capital, Phnom Penh. It recently made international news as home to several newly identified animal species and as a refuge for rare and endangered wildlife.

Under the protection of spirits

In Cambodian animism, neak ta are powerful, just spirits that protect the country's natural wonders. The Cardamoms form one of the largest unfragmented rainforest corridors in mainland south-east Asia. The forest has two layers of protection: armed government rangers enforce national park law, while deep-rooted animist traditions keep large areas untouched, leaving wildlife a safe haven. The region is also known for ancient burial grounds and for being the last stronghold of Pol Pot's fleeing Khmer Rouge fighters in the late 1980s.

The Chi Phat community

The trek is organised by the Chi Phat ecotourism community, founded in 2007 by the Wildlife Alliance. It offers excursions and treks with overnight stays at a base camp deep in the jungle. Many staff are former loggers, poachers and hunters. One is 60-year-old forest cook Mr Crab, who once drove a truck carrying out felled timber.

On the first day the group travelled by boat along the river, then began walking into the forest at about 8am. Guide Rith explained the rules: say nothing bad in the forest, take nothing, and ask the spirits' permission before relieving yourself. Along the way the group saw giant golden orb weaver spiders and rare yellow cap mushrooms, which the cook prepared for dinner. The night was spent at a hand-built campsite, and on the second day the group walked back to Chi Phat.

A five-day package including treks, guides, food and accommodation costs about $350 per person.