It’s been a very relaxing day here on the Mekong River after leaving the capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, setting our sights towards its neighboring country of Vietnam. With an 8:30 a.m. cast off time, guests had ample time to enjoy a sunrise stroll along the promenade and see the hustle and bustle of morning life in SE Asia. Before the sun rises, the streets are already filled with motorbikes and minivans shuffling food and supplies to and from the local marketplaces, which are busiest between six and eight in the morning. Before disembarking from the big city, we pick up guest lecturer Jean-Michel Fillipi from the University of Phnom Penh. Jean-Michel has been living in Cambodia for the majority of his life and has an extraordinary knowledge of the politics and history of the country. He provides us with a lecture to sort out the complex interventions and government transitions leading to and beyond the US-Vietnam War and the Khmer Rouge, putting them into a semblance of order.
After the wonderful morning lecture, guests are able to take a ship’s tour and explore the inner-workings of Jahan, including the engine room, the bridge, and the storage areas down below deck. This is a great opportunity to explore this amazing vessel we have been traveling on this last week, and to better understand how complex it is to operate every detail of such a trip.
During lunch, the ship drops anchor at the Vietnam/Cambodia border and we spend an hour or so waiting to clear customs, before continuing on our way again south into the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Cultural expert David Brotherson gives a talk on the research he and his colleagues are conducting at the Angkor Temples near Seam Reap using LIDAY and remote sensing. This is a fascinating account of how technology has simplified the process in which we discover new temples and ruins, not only in Angkor but around the world. After David’s lecture, the galley offered a cooking class for anyone interested in learning the fundamentals of Cambodian cooking.
In the evening, we make it to our destination of Chau Doc and pick up our two new Vietnamese guides who will be joining us for the remainder of the trip. The guides introduce us to Vietnam, and tell us about local culture here in the Mekong. After the briefing, we make our way to yet another delicious dinner prepared by the fantastic galley staff here on board Jahan. It’s been a great day to relax on the ship after a busy day in Phnom Penh yesterday, and we enjoyed catching our breath from the whirlwind of information that was thrown our way in Cambodia’s capital city.
