Ratanakkiri Province

Visiting this region makes you feel as if you've arrived at the end of the world. Both Ratanakkiri and neighboring Mondulkiri provinces are mountainous and covered with dense jungle, and together they are home to 12 different Khmer Loeu ethnic-minority groups. The government has borrowed money from the Asian Development Bank, and at this writing is developing four community-based projects in the region. The eventual aim (though it's been slow going) is to reinvent large sections of the area as ecotourism destinations, making them self-sufficient and helping the communities reduce the impact on the natural resources by creating an ecotourism destination.