Cruise on the Lower Mekong 10th-17th Feb

Today we joined up with the rest of the passengers who are going on the Pandaw cruise on the Mekong. Some of them have been part of a tour group visiting Vietnam and some, like ourselves, have been doing their own thing. Our fellow passengers are a mixed bunch of nationalities- a few Canadians, quite a few Brits, a few Aussies and a European or two. About 42 in total with the max capacity of the boat being 48. Apparently some are doing the seven day cruise like us, while some are doing five days and some just three days.

We all met up in Saigon at a central hotel and then took a ninety minute coach ride to the boat on the Mekong Delta. By the time we had done the intro briefing and had lunch we were well underway. The cabins are compact but adequate for our needs, each with an en-suite bathroom.

We had a relaxing afternoon on the sun deck then sampled some of the local beverages in the complimentary happy hour. A performance by a local group of musicians and singers completed the pre-dinner activities.

One thing the boat did not have was any kind of reliable wi fi, so what follows is a summary of our seven days gently cruising around the Mekong Delta and lower Mekong River.

Our general pattern( after having a substantial breakfast) was to visit a location in the morning then return to the boat and have lunch while the boat cruised to the next point of interest. After that expedition, we returned to the boat to sit on the sun deck and snooze, read, drink etc while watching the world go by as we sailed along. After dinner each evening there was a movie presentation but we never managed to stay awake long enough to attend any of them.

Among the trips we made from the boat were ...

Visit to a floating wholesale fruit market where the local retailers in small boats were buying from larger boats

Visit to see local products being made including rice wine, snake wine (rice wine where snakes are put into the wine and the whole thing left to ferment for a year or two- we declined to sample this one), rice paper and pop rice.

A San-pan ride through the canals of a village each rowed by a local fisherman
or woman. That was very interesting as the canals were really narrow, so we were really close to the bush and houses which made us feel like we were really experiencing the real Cambodia.

Visits to various markets along the river that would certainly not encourage you to eat the local meat or fish!

The major city that we visited along the way was Phnom Penh (the capital of Cambodia) where we visited the king’s palace and the national museum.There was also a visit to the killing fields offered but we declined in favour of further exploration of the city.

As we sailed, passing from Vietnam to Cambodia, it was easy to spot that we had passed from a relatively wealthy, vibrant country to one that is struggling to catch up. One thing in particular in Cambodia is the attitude to garbage. They just throw anything on the floor be it a bottle, a wrapper a piece of paper and no one seems to make any attempt to clean it up, whether it’s in their shop, garden or house. Consequently the whole countryside is covered with garbage. I suspect that when the rains come and much of this area floods it all gets washed down to the ocean.

So a pleasant easy week of relaxation and sightseeing without too much effort on our part.Read more