Today is the last day of cruising, and we had the final tai chi class in the Saigon lounge. We disembarked with the assistance of the crew for a walking tour of Angkor Ban, one of the few villages not destroyed during the Khmer Rouge regime.
We approached the village through a very large Buddhist temple complex, with large stupors (family burial mausoleums) and a Buddhist school. This has all been funded by donations from the villagers which by Cambodian standards are fairly middle class.
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| Preparing to disembark |
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| Crew assisting passengers |
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| Entering the temple |
We first visited the Buddhist temple which had an interesting parade of figures riding various animals from the Asian zodiac along the entrance.
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| Parade of figures on animals |
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| View from the other direction |
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| Closer view |
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| The temple grounds |
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| Secondary temple |
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Monks preforming repairs
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| Statue and 5-headed snake |
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| Reclining Buddha |
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| Seated Buddha |
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| Elephant at gateway to the Mekong |
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Buddha sheltered by the
seven-headed serpent, Mucalinda |
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| Detail |
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| A lonely Vishnu statue |
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| Decoration of painted water bottles |
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| A large Stupa |
The "Lucky Village" is almost self-sufficient, with the production of rice, vegetables, fruits, chickens, pigs and cattle for meat, and utilising the river for fish and other freshwater creatures.
We walked through the village, consisting mainly of timber farmhouses perched on concrete columns with slatted bamboo floors for ventilation. They do use beds, but mats on the floor for sleeping which are rolled up and stowed away, similar to japan.
Interestingly, virtually all the staircases were formed in concrete and were not physically attached to the houses. As we walked, our guide, Sey, answered our questions and filled us in a little more about Cambodian culture.
Cows are rarely used for farming now and instead they use small tractors which they called “Japanese buffalo”. In the village there is a high school as well as the Buddhist school. Schools in Cambodia often run two sessions a day from 7 to 11 am in the morning and 12 to 4pm in the afternoon because there is a shortage of schools or teachers. Cambodia has a high proportion of young people.
Cars in Cambodia are expensive, so many second-hand ones are imported from USA, either whole cars, slightly damaged cars which are cheaper or cars which had been cut in half and imported separately to avoid car tax.
A very common food flavouring in villages is fermented fish which is made by dicing fish, adding salt and setting aside for up to 3 months which gives a very strong fishy flavour. This is then added to steamed rice and vegetables for daily meals.
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| You can grow anything here! |
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| Daily living under the house |
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| Home-made rice parcels |
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| Sweet and filling |
After lunch, around 3pm, the ship docked at its final location Kampong Cham where we again went ashore and for a tuk tuk tour through the agricultural island of Koh Pen. The tour was very well organised and wherever we stopped, a long row of Tuk-Tuks were waiting to meet us.
Well, we did have a tuk tuk ride, however it was basically a drive through the dusty town to a farm, growing pomelos, limes, and other fruits. We did, however, taste a traditional Cambodian sweet, which was sticky rice with pumpkin wrapped in banana leaf and steamed. It was quite delicious, not too sweet with a nice flavour.
The tour group turned around almost immediately and headed back to the ship, but Frances and I were reluctant to get back on board, so we spent about 30 minutes walking around the town. There were no foreigners other than tourists from our ship, and it was pleasant, although hot and humid, just walking through town, waving and saying hello to children and some adults as we passed.
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| Cruising towards Koh Pen |
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| Travelling by Tuk-tuk |
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| Travelling by Tuk-tuk - always interesting |
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| Street scene |
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| Approaching the mosque |
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| The impressive mosque |
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| Street food |
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| Fish Drying in the sun |
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| Playing volleyball in the stifling heat and humidity |
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| Ubiquitous political posters |
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| Typical small house |
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| Returning to the ship |
As we were relaxing before dinner, I was taken by a family who lived on a boat.
The parents prepared their fishing net and then the father began poling along the shore looking for fish and frogs while the mother looked after their four semi-naked children.
They were completely absorbed in their activity and scarcely gave our ship a second glance. We were just a distraction.
Tonight on board, we had the captain’s farewell cocktail and crew presentation before a farewell dinner.
It was also our final dinner with Carey and Susan who were leaving the tour the next day.
We were introduced to the approximately 40 crew and staff of the AmaLotus cruise ship which has a capacity of 124 passengers.
The dinner was one of the best, with sirloin steak for the first time accompanied by the usual free-flowing French red and white wines.
As we were relaxing before dinner, I was taken by a family who lived on a boat.
Tonight on board, we had the captain’s farewell cocktail and crew presentation before a farewell dinner.
