Guests got an early start off loading Jahan onto local long boats to see the sunrise and floating merchants selling vegetables, fruit, noodles, and other local products for resale at nearby markets. The boats then stopped by privately run fishery where local families live above water and the fish, both Vietnamese catfish (basa) and tilapia, are raised below. Guests then visited a bustling market via trishaws, the Vietnamese version of a cyclo, in Chau Doc trading everything from live fish and crabs to chilis to apples and pears! Chau Doc is a very active provincial city with a pulse that mesmerizes the senses.
After Chau Doc, Jahan set sail for Cambodia, first cruising through the manmade Tan Chau Canal, a waterway that connects two main branches of the Mekong River that flow from Phnom Penh. Along the banks are lined with hundreds of rice factories, fish farms, and boats transporting rice husks, fish, vegetables, and fruit.
Exiting the canal at lunch, guests dined in the dining hall, Jahan entered the broad and mighty Mekong mainstream sailing north towards the Vietnamese and Cambodian border. In the afternoon, guests were treated to a tour of inner workings of the ship followed by a talk on “The Mighty Mekong River and the Impact of Change.” Immediately following the talk, guests had the opportunity to further develop their culinary talents with a cooking lesson in the dining room, making spring rolls and Cambodian chicken amok.
Following the traditional evening recap, guests enjoyed a delicious meal in the Viceroy Dining Hall. The evening finished with a showing of the brilliantly edited amateur film New Year Baby.
