Robyn and I had been discussing the
possibility of a river cruise on the Mekong for some years. We had
not specific thought about timing just that it should be high on the
list of things we'd like to do. Then, in mid-2017, Robyn found a good
deal and within a week we had decided on going, on when we were going
and in which direction.
That was the centre-piece of this trip
and, given we were going downriver and would finish in Saigon, we
then decided to add Hanoi at the front (as we had always wanted to go
back) and then figure out a tour through Laos and a few days in Siem
Reap to see the temples.
And there it was. The overall structure
of the trip was decided fairly quickly by both of us. The fine detail
I left to Robyn (though all options and possibilities were discussed
at great length) as she has taken to that over the past few years
with an enthusiasm that can be rather overwhelming at times.
There had been a bit of
mis-communication regarding the start of the cruise, so the earlier
problems with the passports allowed us to get the correct pickup
location and time – both different from our original booking
details. We had asked the hotel to arrange a taxi to take us across
town to the other hotel, explaining that we weren't checking in
there, just so we didn't leave them thinking we hadn't liked the
place. And in typical hotel fashion they didn't do that but rather
offered the Rolls Royce as their preferred option. We decided not to
hurt their feelings and took up the offer with more than a little
appreciation.
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| The hotel Roller gets a polish |
We had been under the impression that
the first part of the cruise would be a 30-60 minute bus ride to the
Siem Reap pier and then embarkation. Not this day however. After we
got onto the English guided bus we were informed that the bus trip
would be closer to five hours. No explanation was provided and most
of us speculated that the river must have been down, making
navigation of the water close to Siem Reap impossible. This actually
wasn't the case, as we found out later, and people started to get a
bit cranky about the long ride. I think in this instance a short
explanation early would have been extremely helpful.
A couple of pit stops later and we
arrived on the boat in time for lunch. The food was slanted towards a
Western audience with some nods to Asian cuisine and it became very
obvious, very quickly that the quantity of food available was
enormous. Some control was needed otherwise I was going to end up
looking like a balloon.
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| The boat awaits |
Some people took off for the afternoon
excursion but Robyn and I opted to forego the tour of another pagoda
in favour of reading and snoozing.
Each evening the Cruise Director gives
us a rundown on the program for the next day and answers any
questions people might have. The major question asked on this first
day concerned the change in the tour itinerary from that publicised.
It appears that a daughter of the current Cambodian Prime Minister
owns a large tract of land across the river from Phnom Penh and
access was restricted to one of the existing bridges, which she and
potential buyers considered less than ideal. So a temporary steel
bridge was put up connecting one side of the river to the other,or
more importantly connecting the city to her land. The trouble was
this bridge was built too low and the pylons were too close together
to allow medium passenger and cargo vessels to pass through safely.
As a consequence the Mekong Pilots Association have banned boats such
as ours from passing under the bridge. The other concrete bridges
across the Mekong around Phnom Penh are fine. It's just this one
that's causing the problem for everyone. And it's just this one that
no-one can do anything about.
The thought is that this bridge will be
replaced in a few years by a better planned and designed concrete
structure that will allow river traffic to pass once more. Political
privilege is a wonderful thing.
The boat moved from from the initial
mooring and travelled for an hour or so down-river. We then dropped
anchor in the middle of the Mekong, where we stayed overnight.
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| Sunset |
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| Passengers lined up for the photos |
I over-indulged at dinner. Must be more
careful.
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