Recommend November 2015 - (Page 16)
CARLA HUNT
onboardreview
AU G U S T 2 015
Monks file to prayer in
Oudong, Cambodia.
Through the Mekong Delta
AmaWaterways
Goes With the Flow
carla hunt
Sailing on the inaugural cruise of the AmaDara on the often
bucolic, totally exotic Mekong River meant passing paddy fields of
shimmering rice stretching to the horizon, golden Khmer pagodas
and Buddhist stupas, floating villages built on stilts, floating markets
whose wares are sold from colorfully painted boats, and conehatted fishermen silhouetted against dazzling sunset skies.
Cruising along with us, AmaWaterways' owner and CEO
Rudi Schreiner, who, with years of designing riverboats and
charting their itineraries, reminds us that "while this newest
ship in the fleet now provides the highest luxury on the river,
the actual key to memorable river cruising is the destination
itself." And on this, the 124-passenger AmaDara delivers the
most fascinating river cruise this lucky-to-be-aboard guest has
ever taken. Consider a handful of favorite excursions and onboard
cultural activities that capture the specialness of the 16-day
Vietnam, Cambodia & the Riches of the Mekong cruise.
Highlights in Cambodia's corner of the Mekong Delta include
Oudong, the royal capital of Cambodia in the 17th century. It's a
miraculous place, home to the nation's largest Buddhist Monastery
complex, where relics of Buddha lie in a silver-covered stupa, while
saffron-robed monks glide among sacred temples and provide the
chanting chorus for our very special blessing ceremony.
Cambodia's modern-day capital is Phnom Penh, where we
anchored overnight, leaving time by day to gape at the walledin Royal Palace, whose dazzling monuments include the Silver
Pagoda, paved with 5,000 silver floor tiles-that's five tons of
the precious metal-and a gold Buddha decorated with 2,086
diamonds. I visited the National Museum, home to an outstanding
collection of Khmer sculptures, while most passengers opted to
visit the Killing Fields, a grim reminder of a recent atrocity-filled past.
On crossing into Vietnam, it doesn't take long to realize we're in
a very different country. Our cruise manager Trieu Son describes
the national differences this way: The Vietnamese like to grow rice,
the Cambodians like to watch rice grow, and the Laotians like to
listen to the wind blow through the rice as it grows. Here, the roads
16 november 2015
are good, tractors join buffaloes in working the rice fields, women
dress in the form-fitting ao dai, and everyone wears the iconic
conical hat to shield the sun.
The Mekong here is swifter and wider, the riverside villages
bustling. We travel by small skiff to Sa Dec, which during the
Vietnam War housed an American Swift Boat base. Today's
riverfront villas betray a French influence, particularly where we
take tea-in the Huynh Thuy Le house of the wealthy Chinese
lover of French teenager Marguerite Duras (her novel "The Lover"
tells all about that affair).
The markets here overflow with produce, including snake
wine that is simply wine in which a cobra has been macerating;
ditto scorpion wine. We small-boat on to Cai Be, where floating
markets have been a way of commerce since the 19th century,
and all transactions are conducted on the water. Particularly
luscious tropical fruits-melon, durian, sapodilla and bananas-
are piled high on wooden sampans with painted eyes on the front
prow to scare away attacking sea monsters.
people-to-people
People experiences are well integrated into AmaWaterways'
planning, in part because the Cambodians and Vietnamese are
warm and open, and also due to the smart and caring direction
of Hanoi-born cruise leader Son, who shared with us his story
of growing up and living in Hanoi. Ditto kudos to the guides who
explain their lifestyles and political views fairly freely. Super fine
are the folklore troupes who come aboard, performing traditional
dances based on each country's legends, accompanied by
musicians playing extraordinary handcrafted instruments. And
AmaDara's native-son chef Pheara coached us through a cooking
lesson starring the traditional Vietnamese pho bo (rice noodles
and beef) and goi cuon (Vietnamese hand roll).
On one excursion, students at the ODA Free Village English
School, supported by AmaWaterways, showed us how to write
the script of their Khmer language. In Cambodia, in the village of
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend November 2015
Editor’s Notes
Hotel Desk: Hilton
Tour Talk: What’s New
Cuba for Everyone
Cruising Asia’s Waterways
AmaWaterways’ AmaDara
Why Vietnam Now!
Canada: Road Tripping Through Ontario
Cool Patagonia is a Hot Ticket
Manchester, England
The Art of Cooking
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