Saturday Sept 15
We spent the morning packing up and visiting a cafe on the 50th floor of the highest building in HCMC - you got a great view of the urban sprawl. Around mid-day we were transferred to the very nearby Renaissance Hotel for check-in for our cruise and began the 1.5 hour bus ride to our boat, The Jahan. All of the 48 passengers were Aussies except for one Kiwi and one British couple. We arrived in time for a very meagre light lunch - it did not bode well for the food on the trip. We then went to our room around 2:30pm and met our butler. We had a Signature Suite which was quite large with a separate sitting area and balcony (in fact all cabins have balconies). Included in our room was a free mini-bar, 2 hours per person massage and a private candlelight dinner one evening.
After unpacking and showers we headed to the safety and information session at 6:30 pm before heading to dinner at 7:30pm. We shared a table with a couple from Sydney (Kirribilli), Warren and Linda and another from Melbourne, Hugh and Ann. Then it was off to bed early.
Sunday Sept 16
I got up early (6am) for a coffee and Tai Chi at 6:30am - it was fun and a good way to meet a few more people. After brekkie at 7am, we got ready for our first excursion at 8:30am - to the Cai Be floating markets by traditional sampan (upmarket version) then onto an authentic workshop where we saw local people making rice paper, pop-rice confection and coco candies. We finished off with a tasting of the local home brew rice wine - 35% proof.
Back on the boat we had lunch and a bit of free time before heading out on the second excursion of the day at 2:30pm. This time it was to Binh Than Island at Sadec where we visited a small village where locals eek out a living making rattan mats, farming fruits and veggies and fish farming.
After showers and fives on our balcony we had our private candlelight dinner in the Jahan's Observatory Lounge.
Monday Sept 17
Another start to the day with Tai Chi then brekkie; the rain of the previous afternoon/evening had eased to overcast skies. The Jahan had anchored around 11pm at the Vietnam border town of Tan Chou. Our 8:30am excursion to the town of 60,000 proper included a cyclo ride and a visit to a local market where the selection of fruit and vegetables was amazing - there were also live chicken and ducks, all manner of dry goods, clothes and hardware as well as restaurants. From the town we visited a floating fish farm, the economics of which did not really make much sense then back to the boat for lunch and a cruise to the Cambodian border. We had free time in the afternoon as the boat took care of customs and immigration procedures and continued cruising towards Phnom Penh. We anchored near PP and had a very nice a la carte dinner on board.
Tuesday Sept 18
Up early again for Tai Chi then brekkie as we pulled along side in PP lying up along side our sister ship the Jayavarman. Our day-long tour of PP started at 8:15 and as usual it was hot and humid. We started with a cyclo ride around the city stopping at the King's Palace where we boarded busses. First stop was the Russian Market followed by a visit to one of the many killing fields - our guide gave us plenty of history on the Pol Pot regime which started when he was 10 years old.
We had lunch at city restaurant, Malis then boarded our bus again to visit the Royal Palace then the National Museum. We arrived back at the Jahan at 5:00pm so it was a bit of a fire-drill to shower and change in time for a fascinating lecture at 6:00pm. Our guest lecturer was Dr Jean Michel Fillip who gave a great overview of modern Cambodian history. Everyone who attended was captivated by this guy and kept plying him with questions after his lecture finished.
Dinner was an excellent BBQ on the outside desk followed by some local dancers. Since the ship was overnighting in PP - some people went back into town after dinner to soak up some local atmosphere but we went off to bed.
Wednesday Sept 19
After Tai Chi and breakfast, we visited one of the villages on Chong Koh island where the locals earn their living by weaving silk and cotton fabric. It was the only place so far where we were pestered by locals, including children to buy their wears - we caved in and bought 2 silk scarves.
We continued steaming along (65k's) the river to Angkor Ban where we visited a very traditional village; unfortunately it started pouring rain part way through our walk through the village so we arrived back at the ship with very wet and muddy shoes. The Jahan's crew did a great job of cleaning and drying everyone's shoes overnight. Then we continued steaming another 35k's to Kampong Cham.
We enjoyed dinner and good company before crashing out early - 9:15pm.
Thursday Sept 20
Another early morning Tai Chi lesson and breakfast before getting ready for the first excursion of the day at 8:30am. We had been steaming since 6:00am and had just arrived at Wat Hanchey where we walked up a small hill to visit a 7th century pre-Angkorian temple.
We skipped the buddist blessing then relaxed as we continued 25k's to Kampong Cham.
Friday Sept 21
We started cruising early as today was the day we entered the Tongle Sap - first we stopped at Kampong Chhang, a lively river town renowned for it's pottery - it's the only place in Cambodia where they make pottery - basic pots and stoves for everyday life. From here we cruised down the Chnok Truo Channel into the lake where we finally achored at Phnom Krom. The channel and lake can only be navigated during the "high water" - the wet season. This was certainly one of the highligths of the cruise. As it was our last night on the boat - we finished off with a bit of a gala party.
Saturday Sept 22
So it was breakfast and packing for an 8:30 departure. We took a small motor boat from the Jahan passing through the floating community of Chong Knies - being very close to Siem Reap this village was very picturesque with many tourist boats. At Phnom Knies port we boarded a bus for the 45 minute trip to Siem reap and our hotel The Raffles.