March 28
After breakfast, we disembarked the Mekong Princess in
Kampong Cham. Excited for the next phase of our 6-week journey, we were sad to
leave the Mekong Princess. The friendly and attentive staff were hard to leave
behind. Our butler Srey & her assistant Chann kept our suite well attended.
The never bottomless cookie jar was always full. (we took some for the long
ride to Siem Reap)
One day we were in the lounge and Srey didn’t find us in the
suite, and she found us and brought our daily hors d'oeuvres.
Meals on board were varied and very good. The candied ginger
at the dinner table was to die for.
So many little things that made the river boat trip special.
Eric gave a daily update on what we would be doing the next day and recapping
what we did that day.
Laundry sent out in the morning came back that evening. Everything was included - no tipping for sampans, cyclos or anyone on excursions. (though we did give extra to Nin) The mini bar was restocked daily and of course was free. I imagine there were some top shelf drinks that some chose to pay extra.
We felt that the stops along the Mekong Delta were all well done and were interesting and varied. I’m sure the money the Mekong Princess and the passengers bring to the villages is vital to them. Seeing the families demonstrate the traditional way of doing things was priceless. If I were to nitpick, I'd say some of the stops were rushed even when we had overnights at the stop. I'm sure it is all timed to get in all of the onboard scheduled things.
The time on the boat spent watching life along the Mekong
was eye-opening and very relaxing.
The passengers were mostly from Australia or New Zealand
since it’s a short flight for them with a smattering of UK folks and a Russian
that now lives in Australia. We were the only Americans.
This morning after breakfast, the crew lined up as we exited
while playing "Time To Say Goodbye" on the speaker. They stood there waving until
the bus drove out of sight. It was over a 6-hour drive to Siem Reap, and we
were the last hotel drop off.
It was the final cruise of the season for Nin, and he accompanied us on the ride and occasionally spoke about places that we passed. He grew up in Kampong Cham, but now lives in Siem Reap as it’s easier to do tours from there in Angkor Wat.
We passed through many villages, farmlands, rubber trees and animals in fields.
Our first rest stop was very cute.
At last, we arrived at our hotel, but the bus was too large
to get to the front, so they called a car to come get us. We were greeted with
cold towels and drinks, and we got checked into the Khmer Mansion Residence. They
showed us to our rooms and all we could say was WOW. It was a beautiful resort
and it proved to be a great location.
The hotel is beautiful. The custom in Cambodia is bowing and
everyone does it as you walk past.
We unpacked a bit, but since we had not had lunch and it was around 3:30. Greg and I took a Grab to town and had “linner” (lunch/dinner). Pub street is the heart of Siem Reap and there were so many restaurants and bars and just an interesting place to hang out. We came back to finish unpacking what we would need for the 4 nights here.
Our guide Sam for our stay in Siem Reap called to let us know that we needed to get up very early to meet around 5:00 AM to experience sunrise over Angkor Wat. We requested breakfast boxes to go for pickup in the morning.
Early to bed.....
No comments:
Post a Comment