Saturday, August 16

Cambodia on the RV Angkor Pandaw


Here is another video from my recent Pandaw trip on the Mekong from Saigon to Siem Reap.
After crossing the border we cruised to the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.
In fact we woke up in the morning to find we were tied up at the tour boat wharf there which  meant we didn't see the Phnom Penh skyline as we sailed in - a bit unfortunate as the wats and palaces look quite impressive (as I remember from my previous Mekong journey). However the morning sky was spectacular for we early risers.
We spent the day in Phnom Penh with a cyclo ride to the royal palace in the morning and sort of free time in the afternoon. Pandaw organised a visit to the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng prison in the afternoon but I went to those places on my last trip and they were both utterly grim and inhuman. Maybe you should see them once but never again.
Next morning we had a short sail to Prek Bong Kong, a silk weaving village. There are very many of these in Cambodia - this is quite different from the one we visited on our last trip; no hordes of hawkers on the river bank when we tied up, just a walk to a couple of family-owned weaving areas and stores.
Later that day, after another sail, we visited the rural village of Angkor Ban. The highlight here was the local primary school where all the Pandaw people were co-opted into talking to the kids to improve their English. Cute!