Back on board the ship for our last couple of days before disembarking and heading to Siem Reap. The time has flown by.
Tonight we were invited to a specialty dining experience aboard the Mekong Serenity, in their most gorgeous small and intimate restaurant named “Indochine”. Each night around a dozen guests have the pleasure of a specially curated degustation dinner and what a pleasure it was.
The restaurant itself is elegantly designed and the service just brilliant.
This was as good a dining experience as we’ve had in a loooong time.
After dinner, everyone gathered in the lounge bar (as usual) for a “Staff Show”. All of the crew performed some pretty fun acts and they had the time of their lives. it was really very entertaining and the crew was so proud of what they’d done and they didn’t take themselves too seriously. Great fun. And another late night.
The bar crew are very good – your glass magically gets filled without you knowing…
We awoke to a gorgeous little village perched atop a hillside in Kampong Cham overlooking the river called Wat Hanchey.
The village is home to a 7th Century Temple at the top of 300 steps up from the River, hone to a group of Monks and a small local community.
The views from the hilltop are spectacular up and down the Mekong with distant views of Laos.
The original temple is now over 1,300 years old and in pretty good condition and is used every day.
Lots of other period buildings grace this most sacred site and it’s just beautiful.
The walk back down the 300 odd steps is equally dramatic with the sights, sounds and smells of the Mekong flooding your senses. And making your knees and thighs ache.
This part of Cambodia is filled with farming – fruit, vegetable, cattle, and anything else they can plant and tender. all organically with no assistance from any pesticides.
Most of the produce is sold at markets in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap, supermarkets come to this location to buy directly from the farmers and the rest is sold and swapped locally.
It’s a family affair that’s for sure
Back on board the ship preparing to continue our journey north, it was the perfect time to have a refreshing dip in what seems like my personal swimming pool
Magnificent.
We set off again on the river heading north to an agricultural island called Koh Pen in Kampong Cham.
It is an absolutely stunning small island, not far from the bustling town of Kampong Cham which is the second largest city in Cambodia behind Phnom Penh.
We jumped into tuk tuks in the rain for a bit of a look around d town then crossed the bridge to Koh Pen and immediately we were transformed into lush tree lined laneways full of all kinds of fruit, herbs and vegetables.
This is the most fertile land in Cambodia (allegedly) and any crops that are planted just grown fruit such as pomelo, pomegranate, paw pay, banana, coconut all grow like crazy. Tubers, galangal, garlic, chilli, mint all out of control
Suffice to say, the farmers in Koh Pen are the wealthiest in all of Cambodia but they still
I’ve a very simple life – living off the land and the family all pitching in for the farm work.
What a fantastic lifestyle they enjoy.
Back to the ship for our last night aboard and a farewell dinner after which the crew all presented to us for a fond farewell – 45 crew for 44 passengers. You could say we were spoiled.
What a wonderful sailing experience. If you ever get the chance to do this Mekong River cruise with APT then just do it – it will not disappoint
We depart early tomorrow morning for a six hour bus ride to Siem Reap and the fi al few days of this brilliant.Vietnam and Cambodia adventure
Sad to see the end of the ship …
Ralph and Karen's Tours 