Avalon River Cruise Mekong River
For my first ever river cruise, I
had the pleasure of experiencing Southeast Asia again, which is one of my
favorite spots in the World. And there
is no better way to do it then by a river cruise. I was booked on the Avalon
Waterways Siem Reap from Siem Reap,
Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. I’ll have to admit it’s a long journey to
get there, I traveled from Phoenix to San Diego, Tokyo, Ho Chi Minh City and
then finally Siem Reap, but it was well worth it.
For 3 nights prior to getting on
the ship, we stayed at the beautiful 5 Star Victoria Angor Resort and Spa. The
hotel architecture is French colonial and it is a beautiful tropical oasis. The
hotel is located in the city center of Siem Reap and is about 4 miles from the
Angor temples.
Monday - After finally getting a
good night’s rest, we got up early in the morning to visit the rain forest near
the Temples of Angor Wat. Flight of the Gibbon is Cambodia’s only zip line canopy tour and is
located inside Angkor Park, not far from the majestic temples, including Angkor
Wat and Angkor Thom. Gibbons are apes that live in tropical and subtropical
rain forests from eastern Bangladesh and northeast India to southern China and Indonesia.
The zip lines were a blast and the scenery was unforgettable.
Tuesday
- We spent the entire today at Angor Wat
which is a
temple complex and is the largest religious monument in the world. It was
originally founded as a Hindu temple for the Khmer Empire, gradually
transforming into a Buddhist temple toward
the end of the 12th century. It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman in
the early 12th century and was the capital of the Khmer Empire. Angor Wat is the
country's prime attraction for visitors. The modern name, Angkor Wat, means
"Temple City" or "City of Temples". Angkor, means "city" or
"capital city" and Wat is the word for "temple grounds" in
the Khmer language.
Wednesday - Our first stop was Ta Prohm or better known as Temple of the Trees. Unlike most of the other temples, Ta Prohm has been left in much the same condition in which it was found. These temples are spectacular with the trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings.
Our next visit was to the temple
of Bantay Srei. This temple was very small and the buildings were tiny. The carvings on all the walls were very
intricate and beautiful.
In the afternoon we then visited Les Artisans D’Angor. This is an educational workshop whose purpose
is to create job opportunities for young people living in the rural areas. They
are taught handicrafts using traditional Khmer craftsmanship which includes stone and wood
carving, painting on statues and on silk, lacquering, and silver plating. They had a nice gift shop where you could load up
on plenty of traditional Khmer souvenirs.
Thursday – This morning we checked out of
the Victoria Angor Resort and we were off to start our wonderful cruise journey
on the Avalon Siem Reap down the Mekong River.
Due to the time of year being the dry season in Cambodia, we were unable
to board the ship near Siem Reap and had to fly to Phnom Penh to pick up the
ship. The Tonle Sap is too dry during the summer months for large vessels to
operate safely on it. But once we got on the ship we did proceed back upstream
to the Tonle Sap lake but we stayed on the deeper southern part.
The Avalon Siem Reap is an all-suite ship that was just launched this year. So
it is brand new and beautiful and is modeled in the colonial charm of Southeast
Asia. The ship has 18 suites for 36
maximum people and for our cruise we only had 12 guests. It was like having my own private
yacht!! While the number of guests on the ship may be small the
ship was purposely built as long and wide as other ships that carry twice as
many guests so that spaces aren't cramped and crowded. The Siem Reap has a beautiful big panoramic open deck on the front of
the boat that is perfect to view all the incredible scenery.
Friday – We started off an early
morning with an excursion to Kampong Tralach where we rode in ox carts past the
rice paddy fields and the beautiful Cambodian countryside. We then went by bus to the silversmith
village of Kamgpong Louang where we watched the local craftsman making all
kinds of intricate silver objects for sale that included elephants, jewelry
boxes, bracelets, rings and other jewelry pieces.
After lunch on the ship, we
walked through the village of Prek Bang Kong where silk weaving is a long and
honored tradition. We spent the
afternoon walking through the houses in the village and watched and learned about
how silk is produced and made. Our group
purchased quite a few of the silk scarves that were handmade and woven on the
premises. Needless to say that the
prices were excellent!
Saturday – Fourth of July - Today
we have cruised down to Wat Hanchey which is a temple that is built on top of a
big hill in the 8th century.
From this perch overlooking the river, the surrounding scenery and the
views of the Mekong were spectacular.
There were many local children that followed us around the temple
compound and there were many statues of animals and fruit. We also had a local monk and his apprentice let
us view a traditional water blessing.
After the blessing we were allowed to ask the monk any questions that we
had.
After another delicious lunch on
the ship, we went out to explore the rural village of Angkor Ban. We had previously been told that we were
going to attend a local school here and get a chance to meet and talk with all
the children. So we had all purchased school supplies from a store in Siem
Reap, which included pens, writing tablets, dictionaries and other hopefully
useful items. The children were very
happy to see us; we each set at one of their work tables and helped them with
their English reading and writing. Several of them stood up in front of the
class and answered questions from us in English. This was all very inspiring and it certainly
gives me hope for the future generations that will be here after I’m gone.
Sunday – Today we arrived in
Phnom Penh which was once known as the “Pearl of Asia.” Founded in 1434, the city has many beautiful
and historical French colonial buildings.
The city lies on the banks of the Tonle Sap, Mekong and Bassac
Rivers. The population is a little less
than 2.5 million people and it is the largest city in Cambodia. For our morning
tour, we had our own personal cyclo guide us through the busy streets and we
started off at the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy and the
King lives in the Royal Palace. The
Silver Pagoda sits next to the Royal Palace and it holds many of the national
Buddhist treasures. The Pagoda gets its
name for the five tons of silver tiles that make up the floor.
We then continued by our Cyclo to
the National Museum which holds the biggest collection of Khmer art in the
world. There are thousands of pieces of bronzes, ceramics and sculptures and
some are dated back to prehistoric times.
After lunch we went to the
Central Market and checked out all the bargains that are offered by the
thousands of vendors. There are four
wings to this gigantic market that is Art Deco with a large yellow dome that
has stalls that sell most anything you can imagine.
Monday – Today started with a
somber visit to the memorial at Choeung Ek or better known as the “Killing
Fields.” We had watched the academy
award winning movie the night before on the ship so we were better prepared for
what followed. The Khmer Rouge and their
leader Pol Pot executed millions of former political prisoners and most of the
educated people of Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The site is a former orchard
and a Buddhist stupa was built as a memorial for all those people that died.
Human bones still are visible everywhere you walk and the stupa is built out of
acrylic glass and contains over 5,000 human skulls.
After this we then went to the
Tuol Sleng Gonocide Museum which is a former high school that was used as a
security prison and where the political prisoners were interrogated and
tortured. Some of the victims were doctors, teachers, students, government
officials, soldiers, engineers and academics. Pol Pot executed anyone that he
thought might be a threat against his rule or anyone who might try and
overthrow him. Even the prisoners families were brought here to be interrogated
and were later executed at Choeung Ek or the “Killing Fields.” In 1979 Vietnam
invaded Cambodia and defeated the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot fled to the jungle
where he lived and operated near the border with Thailand. He died in 1998
while he was under house arrest. It’s estimated that under his four year rule
that 25% of the total population of Cambodia died due to his policies.
Tuesday – Early this morning we
arrived at the border crossing into Vietnam.
After the immigration and customs officials were happy we landed at Chau
Doc. In the afternoon, we boarded our own private sampan and cruised the
backwaters of the Mekong and some of its canals. The scenery was beautiful as
we passed many small fishing boats, rice fields and a few traditional villages
on the banks of the river. We also
visited Sam Mountain which is a sacred place for Buddhist and the mountain
itself has many temples and pagodas built on the side. There is a military
outpost at the top and due to the excellent views and location on the Cambodia
border was vital during the Vietnam War and also the war with the Khmer Rouge.
We also passed through the Chau Doc Floating Market where many locals are
selling their wares on their boats in the middle of the river. We also went to a local fish farm which was
basically a floating house on the river with cages or pens underneath to raise
and feed the fish. I’m not exactly sure
how many fish were under there but it must have been tens of thousands and this
was relatively a small farm. For those of you that shop in Costco and Walmart
I’m sure you’ve seen the tilapia and catfish that are imported from Vietnam.
Wednesday – Now we are in Sa Dec
and this morning we boarded another sampan and visited a local brick factory to
see how the clay bricks are made and the giant kilns that are used to dry the
bricks which are fueled from the rice husks.
There are quite a few of the brick factories in this area and the
operations are very efficient and the river is the perfect route to bring in
the needed supplies and then ship out the finished product.
We then went into the town of Sa
Dec and visited the house of Huynh Thuy Le who was the lover of French novelist
Marguerite Duras and whom she wrote her novel and later to be film The Lover about. We walked through the busy street market where the locals buy and
sell fish, meat, vegetables and produce.
After lunch we were off to Cai Be
on our sampan. As there are in all the
towns and villages, there was another bustling local and floating market here.
We visited a local establishment to see how rice paper, rice wine, and
traditional candy are made. This was
another interesting stop and they all amazed me at how industrious and
hardworking they are. Also in Cai Be
they have a beautiful French Gothic Cathedral that we visited.
During the night on Wednesday we
cruised through a canal that was like a crowded U. S. freeway at rush
hour. Boats going to and from Saigon(Ho
Chi Minh City) were backed up for miles. I’m glad I wasn’t driving the ship
since we were rammed by another vessel at about 2 in the morning. No harm no
foul!!
So when we woke up on Thursday morning we were in Saigon and it was time
to disembark our beautiful ship and spend 3 nights in the wonderful
Intercontinental Asiana Saigon.
I was surprised at the size of
Saigon and we had overnighted here for a few hours on our inbound trip but we
didn’t get a chance to see the city. Saigon
has a population of over 12 million people and has over 6 million people riding
scooters and motorcycles. Saigon was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City in
1976.
In Saigon, we stayed at the
beautiful InterContinental
Asiana Saigon. The rooms were very nice
with plenty of space and the bathrooms were very elegant with a large tub and
shower.
On Friday, we started of our day
by driving about an hour outside of Saigon to the Cu Chi District which contains
the famous Cu Chi tunnels. The maze of tunnels
was an unbelievable network that underlies a lot of the country. We were told that there were over 30,000 Viet
Cong living in these tunnels at any given time in the Cu Chi area during the
Vietnam War. The Viet Cong based most of
their operations here and underground tunnels were the location of many of the
major military operations. They had communication centers, living quarters,
food kitchens and hospitals.
The Cu Chi tunnels were the location of several military
campaigns during the war. The Americans knew how valuable these tunnels
were and dropped thousands of tons of bombs and napalm on the area. Back then the landscape looked like something
on the moon from all the bombs and napalm. The Americans were reluctant to send
any troops into the tunnels because they were all booby trapped with explosives
or punji spikes. Back then the landscape looked like something on the
moon. The Viet Cong remained in the
tunnels during the daytime and only came out at night to attack or get food.
For the more adventurous people in our group, we got to go down
into one of the sections of the tunnels that are open to the public. We only traveled about 25 yards so it wasn’t too bad. They had dug out these portions
of tunnels to make them bigger for people like me to get through. But it was
still pretty claustrophobic. All of the
miles of original tunnels have been closed off or filled in because there were
still thousands of booby traps. I’m glad to say that all the greenery and
jungles have now grown back over the tunnels and it is a very beautiful area.
Friday night we had our farewell
dinner at the Ly Club Saigon which
is named for the 11th century Ly Dynasty.
This was a beautiful restaurant and we had our on private room.
On Saturday as most of our group left,
we toured around Saigon for the entire day with some friends we had met from
Australia that were on the cruise.
Saturday night we had a nice dinner
and went to the beautiful Saigon Opera House for the musical called the AO
Show. The show is a Vietnamese
production that uses giant woven baskets that turn into crabs, flamingos and
other beautiful art forms. It tells the
story of the Vietnamese people from the beginning as an agrarian culture all
the way through time to the busy metropolitan lifestyle that they lead now. The
show is beautifully choreographed with many optical illusions and the dancers
and musicians were spectacular.
So this ends my wonderful trip to
Cambodia and Vietnam and it was one of the best trips of my life. I would highly recommend it to anyone. Please feel free to contact me if I can
provide you with any information and help you plan your next trip there.
Happy travels,
Roy
