Mekong River Cruise, Cambodia: my first
My first river cruise: what a great experience
The Mekong River is the fourth longest river in Asia, and for many (older) Americans, we may be familiar with the name—Mekong—since we heard it on the news a lot in the sixties. Most of that war activity was in the very south, Vietnam territory, since it crosses over to that border. Recently we took a brief, four day river cruise down that river, starting our trip in Siem Reap, our current lodging, and finishing in Phnom Penh, the capital. The overall length of the trip is normally nine days, eight nights, and ending in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), but because of our shortage of time and the inconvenience of dealing with (two) visa applications, we literally just dipped our toes in the water and only did the first half.
Which was terrific!
This was MY first “river cruise,” and Kat’s second, and it is much different than cruising across an ocean. This trip was very personal, very intimate, and a lot of fun.
Unfortunately, the Mekong River does not run DIRECTLY through Siem Reap currently, and even in the wet season (we are in the dry season now) the river’s starting point is still a 30 minute journey to the Tonle Sap lake, which is where the river by that name begins. Since the boats cannot run this far north, we had to take a six hour (yuck!) bus trip to get to our departure point. WHEW, I know—exhausting, and we’ve not even gotten to the boat yet! That starting point was in the “city” of Koh Chen, which was more of a small village than a city, and we only stayed overnight, then carried on with our cruise.
I thought about the song “Proud Mary” by Tina Turner, and “Cry me a River,” and “Down by the River,” all sung by a multitude of singers, so now we were able to write our own. Here’s an overview of our time on the water…
First off, these types of cruises are not about speed or “getting there,” but are more about the experience along the way. And even during the few days we participated, every day was a full one.
The tour was run by CF Mekong River Cruises by CroisiEurope, and they offer many different type cruises, and have a huge French audience. Of the 20 passengers on board, 12 were from France, most ONLY spoke French, and the eight remaining were English speaking. Two couples were from New Zealand, one couple was from Australia, and we were the sole Americans. That all worked out great and we enjoyed the company of all of our English group, and a few of the French speakers were bilingual, so we were able to converse with them, too.
Our first night, as usual, was really just a Meet and Greet, and designed to get everyone settled. But we started with a fantastical dinner that stayed consistent the entire trip! We were served Cambodian beef lok lak and fish amok, two of the more popular dishes, and Chinese cabbage, followed by dessert. Such a nice surprise since the FOOD aspect of a trip is always important, and we found our buffet breakfasts and lunches to be of the same quality.
The first morning was our next Port of Call, Kampong Chhnang, where we were offered a bicycle ride to a local artisan center. Even in the 90F (32C)+ degree heat, the 16 km ride was manageable, and we were able to learn about one of the main products of Central Cambodia, palm sugar. I actually discovered that during our first week in Siem Reap, and have used it daily in my coffee! It’s natural sugar and healthier than processed sugar, and we all watched one of the “farmers,” a 73 year old tree climber, climb that tree as though he was a teenager! And this man has been doing that same routine for half a century, which truly made me appreciate that I was born in a place where hard work was not business as usual.
His neighbors made clay pots, and another made stoves for cooking pots, both made from the same material, and once again I recognize that these people work endlessly for just pennies a day. That is one of the benefits of excursions like this: you get to meet and learn from the locals.
The following day offered a first for me: an ox cart ride to a local monastery. All I can say is that I’m glad it was a short ride, and I’ll take a motorcycle any day of the week!!
At the monastery we were able to view a pretty rare sight: the post-cremation ceremony for a woman who passed a few days earlier, and had just been cremated. A group of family and friends gathered around her ashes and went through a whole process, which we were able to videotape. It was emotional even without knowing the deceased, and made me aware of the end of the line that faces us all… We also received a Water Blessing from one of the monks, and these are done to create Good Luck. We can always use more of that!
Our last stop took us to the capital of Phnom Penh on night three of our ride, and we were graced with a local entertainment group of dancers and performers, which was terrific. Our last night on the boat was relaxed as we mostly packed up for our departure the next day, where we planned to spend two days in the capital. That included visiting the Royal Palace as well as the National Museum, both of which were nice, but after so many years of travel, I’ve seen more than my share…
We spent our last two days at a nice apartment hotel (video above), and were pleasantly surprised at the inexpensive price of rooms and other things in the city. We actually hit a mall, first in a while, enjoyed a few meals, and returned “home” after five days absence.
One of the common questions we get is, “Where is home?” and once again the answer was, “Wherever we are.” Our 50 days in Siem Reap and Cambodia is coming to a close, but we will leave with lovely memories.
Would you be interested in joining us on a cruise like this? How about a Croatia from Split, Croatia to the iconic town of Dubrovnik? These are just two of the options I am considering for the future, but it all depends on one thing.
YOU.
Are you interested in something like is?
OR, maybe a safari in Tanzania? That is one I’ve been toying with for quite some time!
But, if you want something easy, something you can plug into NOW, our motorcycle tour of Sri Lanka is coming up in December. Here’s the information from our prior letter and a video.
Glad you had such a good time!