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Published: April 22nd 2014
RV AMALOTUS
Embarks 120 passengersWe were welcomed aboard by invitation into the Saigon lounge to have a Welcome drink (or two … or three!) followed by lunch in the Mekong Restaurant on board. After lunch the anchor was raised and our ship was headed for Cai Be.
As usual, settling in took time that included the welcome drink, unpacking, briefings and exploring the ship took up most of the afternoon. There are now 119 APT Tourists on board so our original group of 38 has been outnumbered with 2 newcomers for every one of us. It’s not a problem though as RV Amalotus is very spacious. The additional numbers come from new arrivals into Saigon, another group that has been following us and a group doing a Botanical Tour. So, for us, many more people to get to know.
We are located on the second level on the Starboard (right) side and have a very nice cabin that includes bedroom, inside ensuite, sitting alcove and external balcony. Overall, it is roomy and suits our needs very well. It is great to unpack and know that for the next seven nights we won’t have to repack again.
It wasn’t
Floating Wholesale Market
A small section of more than a kilometer of river. long before Happy Hour arrived. The Saigon Lounge was abuzz with fun and frivolity. During this time we had what was to become a routine briefing by Hoa (our Tour Director) as to what the program would be for the next day.
After that we were invited to the Mekong Restaurant for a Luke Nguyen designed banquet. It was very pleasant and provided many different tastes. We really enjoy Vietnamese food and he seems to add a little magic. A few more chats and drinks and it was time to retreat to our cabin. Beer, wine and mixed drinks (such as Gin and Tonic) are complimentary for the cruise.
Tuesday 4th March We are both sleeping well on this trip and last night was no exception. After breakfast we were ferried by boat to the village of Cai Be on the banks of the Mekong River. Cai Be has a number of colonial buildings, one of which is a French Gothic Cathedral. We walked around the village and went into the cathedral.
The French ruled Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos for about 90 years before they were thrown out in 1945. Before leaving however,
they destroyed many important buildings throughout these countries including historical buildings and monuments in Palace compounds. The destruction has in many cases been permanent. A real shame!
Moving along, we visited a local factory that processes rice products including rice paper and popped rice. They also made coconut candy. The entire processes were done manually and it was interesting to see the genius that is employed to handle some of the laborious jobs. Most of the workers are female and we were told that their incomes were very low. Just a few dollars per day.
We then were ferried back to the Amalotus for lunch. As we enjoyed the fare the ship sailed on to Sa Dec. We were docked mid stream and were ready to go ashore by 3pm. Once again the boat was loaded to ferry us ashore.
We began by visiting a brick factory where they made flat rectangular tiles and light clay bricks (the normal clay red colour). The bricks were light because of the way they are made. If you can imagine the end profile, it is square with four square holes all the way through and the solid part is only
2-3 cm thick. The machinery used to mix and shape the clay looked completely archaic to me but they worked well enough. Again staffing was predominately female and they had to do some pretty heavy work.
The next item on the agenda was a visit to a Cao Dai Temple. Cao Dai is a religion founded by the Vietnamese that embraces the beliefs of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam and Christianity. A religion for everyone! The temple was very colourful and our guide (Tim who was fantastic. His other job is teaching.) explained how the temple functions and who prays where before the altar. The principal object behind the altar is a large image of the left eye. The reason is lost to me so Google will probable know (must check it).
Tim took us to visit an old Vietnamese house. With the typical three doors in the front (to enable the money (good luck) to flow in and two exit doors only to keep it in, we could clearly see a neat and tidy house with very few possession. I was approached by a group of students who asked to interview me about my perception of their country.
They were quite shy once the camera (iPhone) was turned on. A bit of fun. From there he led us into the local market. It was a bustling place with many vendors selling their fruit, vegetables, fish and flowers. The market was very colourful.
It was then time to take the boat back to the Amalotus for drinks and our daily briefing. Dinner followed. Meals tend to work as follows. There are a number of salads laid out in buffet style for you to have. Table service is provided for soup, appetiser mains and dessert. Needless to say we rarely had everything.
A nightcap was essential of course, so we moved up to our floor to the Saigon Lounge for a drink and a chat listening to a chap playing the piano. Time for bed! And the ship moved on.
Wednesday 5th March Our sleeping patterns have led us to bed between 10-11pm and waking at roughly 6am. So we are fully refreshed by the time we have our shower and head for breakfast.
Today we are anchored near Tan Chau, a rural town virtually untouched by tourism. Even so the typical
friendly smiles and quick “hello’s” were just as welcoming as we had received along the way.
We were ushered aboard our boat to travel up the narrow channel where there were floating fish farms and a floating wholesale (sold to street market vendors) market spread over hundreds of metres. Each boat sold just one or two vegetables and advertised what they had by hanging a sample on a vertical pole.
Our boat put us ashore so we could take a tour through town (including the street market) on Xe Loi (Rickshaw). On the way we stopped off at a silk factory where the clatter of a hundred looms was deafening. The explanation of the processes was very good. I didn’t realise that the worm was killed inside the cocoon before the moth could chew its way out and damage the continuous thread. We then took another rickshaw and moved on to a mat making factory. Again these two factories (silk and mat) were operated by women at low rates of pay. Vietnamese sleep on a rattan mat about 2m long and 1.8m wide. Each mat is made on a machine that requires a person to hand feed rattan
The 'interview'
The kids were very respectful (colours to form patterns. Plain, red, yellow and green.) strand by strand. It takes about three hours to make a mat.
Back aboard the ferry and on up another channel to visit a very poor village called Evergreen Island. In spite of the obvious lack of wealth, the people of all ages were very welcoming. We did a walk through various parts of the town but the highlight was when all the children who had followed us around with some expectations (especially the ones that had spotted Rhonda carrying a plastic bag they correctly presumed to carry presents for them) were lined up to receive gifts (pencils, books, soap, toothpaste, etc.) from our group. It was bedlam for a while! After the goodies had been handed out they grouped together to sing us a traditional song as a thank you.
Once more we boarded our ferry and headed for the Amalotus. On the way we put ashore to walk along a roadside market that went on and on. Being careful to avoid the dozens of motorbike moving up and down, Tim introduced us to a few more items (particularly fish) that were on sale. Apparently there are about
Snakes in a jar
For medicinal purposes 1,500 fish species in the Mekong including Piranha and that is an introduced species a-la carp in Australia.
The next few hours (4-5hrs) were spent aboard because staff and crew were processing immigration visa requests so we could enter Cambodia. They handled it all and we were not required to attend so after a bit writing for the travel blog and a few drinks we set sail for Phnom Penh during dinner. After dinner Hoa screened a documentary about Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. It explained Pot’s background and how he came to power to oversee the implementation of his plan to make Cambodia a communist agrarian community of about 40,000 people (there were 7m as it was). The whole thing was nonsensical and prepared us for tomorrow’s visit to the Killing Fields. Sometime during the night we arrived at Phnom Penh but we were unconscious at the time.
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