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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 walled-in 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 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 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 Koh Chen, known for its silver and copper crafts, we visit another school, attended by lively students interested in knowing where you live; what you do; how old you are.
The Cambodia experience is framed by three days pre-cruise touring Angkor Wat, a huge UNESCO World Heritage Site wonderland of Khmer temples. Accommodations for the visit are in the laid-back, French-styled city of Siem Reap at the 238-room Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Golf and Spa Resort Hotel. It’s a sprawling, comfortable, welcoming hotel; cruise-only passengers spend the first night here with time to hail a tuk-tuk to go shopping at Artisans d’Angkor or join in the swinging local cafe scene.
The cruise officially ends with a transfer from the AmaDara to Saigon (no one uses the official name, Ho Chi Minh City). If feasible, travelers won’t regret buying the cruise/land tour, which adds two nights in Hanoi, one night in Ha Long Bay, and three nights in Siem Reap pre-cruise, and two nights in Saigon post-cruise. Most travelers won’t be coming this way again, and the sights are fabulous. The 8-night cruise-only starts at $2,999 per person (double occupancy); the 16-night land/cruise itinerary from $5,198 per person.
On its inaugural cruise, the good ship AmaDara proved indeed tailor-made to luxury river cruising on the Mekong. Unlike the rivers of Europe, the Mekong has no locks to pass through, so cruise vessels can be larger, and AmaDara is indeed the longest and widest on the river. The top deck comes with these welcome essentials: a pool big enough to actually swim in; a canopied area with lounging chairs; a bar; and a panoramic view of guaranteed breathtaking sunrises and sunsets. Gleaming dark wood floors everywhere are just one element of the decorative mix of Colonial and Asian styles, from the atrium lobby and the Saigon Lounge with panoramic-view windows, to the Mekong and Chef’s Table restaurants.
Meals, too, are a blending of Western and Asian cuisine, and through a blur of delicious food memories and appropriate wines to match, the lamb curry with vegetable, lentils and rice, plus a Phnom Penh pumpkin custard, sit at the top of the hit list.
In our stateroom (and all cabins), a wall of glass is created by the twin balconies: one French, the other full with a table and two chairs. If you upgrade the reading lights, then we can say our cabin didn’t miss a beat in layout and furnishing: comfy beds and upgraded bedding, ample closet and drawer storage, bath with a true people-size shower, quality amenities, and charging stand for the Vox audio system headsets. And the piece de resistance, sensational silk bathrobes with embroidered dragons climbing up the back!
This review was written by Carla Hunt and is republished from an earlier date from Recommend magazine with permission.
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