Cruise Planners - On The Road - Sailing on Ama Dara on the Mekong River Delta - Day 2

After a day of passing pastoral countryside along the river bank and boat rides through floating villages, we headed ashore on our second day aboard Ama Dara.  First up - a spiritual experience at the Oudong Monastery.

After a short - 20 minute or so bus ride - from our docking location, we arrived at the Oudong Monastery.  Oudong was Cambodia's capital from 1618 to 1865 and today, the Vipassan Dhura Monastery in Oudong is the largest in Cambodia.

Our highlight was the Buddhist Blessing which led off our visit.  We were all seated in a large room on woven mats facing the monks who were preparing to bless us.  Ensuring we kept our feet from facing our hosts, the chanting began.  Led by the senior monk, the chanting was accomplished in perfect harmony - kind of in a challenge by the senior monk and a response by the junior monks.  The sound, rhythm, and cadence was so calming and helped us relax, focusing on the chant. When, several minutes later we could feel flowers raining down on us, it was if we had been transported and hours instead of minutes had passed.  When the chanting stopped and we opened our eyes again, we were surrounded by the sight and smell of Plumeria flowers which the monks had used to consecrate our blessing.  We both took videos of the blessing ceremony -- playing them back later took us right back to the state of relaxation we'd experienced live.

This is the building where we received our blessing.

After a hard morning of dedication and study, the monks gather and head to lunch

Monk's luncheon hall

The Monastery grounds are beautiful

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If you're from Florida, you have to take all the 'Gater pictures

After our visit to the Monastery, it was back to our buses for a half hour ride to Kampong Tralach.  Kampong Tralach is a small agricultural town surrounded by a number of new factories being set up by foreign manufacturers to take advantage of relatively cheap land and labor prices in Cambodia.  The contrast -- between new factories springing up in former rice paddies -- and our next adventure couldn't have been sharper.  Next up, an ox cart ride for about 60 Ama Dara passengers...

The ox carts and their drivers were lined up on the road along side small, neatly kept homes and rice paddies.  Ox carts are the traditional means of agricultural transportation in this part of Cambodia; interestingly enough, small two wheeled tractors that to our eyes look like large roto-tillers with rubber tires -- and called by locals, "Japanese Buffaloes" -- are slowly replacing Oxen as the way to pull the farmers carts.  Interestingly enough, this is the same transition I saw in South Korea back in the mid-70's.  In one field, a farmer has an ox pulling the plow through the rice paddy, in the next, the other farmer is using one of these mechanical tools to pull his plow through the soil.

The ride itself was a really nice experience - Valerie and I were sitting in the back while our driver sat on a small seat and encouraged our ox along.  While we were trotting along, small kids from the village came out to see us and talk with us while we moved along.  One of the older kids gave us a hand drawn picture -- made us feel so special; like our being there had brought a little excitement to the kids of Kampong Tralach.  After our ride, we had another 30 minute ride back to Ama Dara and another amazing lunch.  While we were eating lunch, Ama Dara pulled away from the river bank and headed south to Phnom Penh.

Ornate Blessing Hall

Monks preparing for blessing

Getting ready to take off on Oxcart ride

Newly planted rice paddy 

Cruise Planners - On the Road - Embark Day and a Fear Factor, Road Trip White Out...

So August 17th, 2015 has finally arrived...  Been planning our inaugural cruise about Ama Dara since November 2014 and now - Lake and River water levels are down - bus trip is up...

Mr. Son - our Ama Waterways Cruise Director gathered and processed everyone in the lobby of the Sofitel with a minimum of effort and stress.  We were all assigned to one of four colors - blue, yellow, green, and orange - which corresponded to ribbons on our bags and the bus we would be boarding for the 5.5 hour bus trip from Siem Reap to our low water boarding area at Prek Dam.

Gathering in the Lobby

The buses were comfortable and each had their own Ama Waterways tour guide to fill us in along the way - talking about the various areas, how it was growing up in Cambodia and stories shared from their parents about the bad times in Cambodia.

The countryside along the way was very pastoral

Along the way we were introduced to the term "Happy House", as in "We will have Happy House stop in 2 1/2 hours..."  We were also introduced to "Road Massage" and finally to the concept of dust white outs on the highway.  Happy House as you might have guessed is the Cambodian term for comfort stop.  Our first stop was at a road side cafe - gave us our first view of the Tonle Sap Lake.

Tonle Sap Lake as seen from our first Rest Stop

I think that Road Massage and White Outs are very closely related.  We had been warned that the road got a little rough - which was absolutely true.  Seems like road work in Cambodia proceeds at glacial pace or not at all. One side of the road would be paved; the other would be dust, dirt, and pot holes and with the amount of traffic on the road throwing up the dust, there were times when you literally could not see 10 feet in front of the bus - since we were right behind the driver and could see what he (couldn't be) was seeing, this is not an exaggeration.  We couldn't believe it the first time it happened so we didn't get a picture - after the first time, we had the camera ready - this picture doesn't do justice to what it looked like because you can still actually see the bus in front of us.

This looks more like a Brown vice White Out

After another 90 minutes, we had our second stop - aka the Spider stop.  After a good amount of Road Massage, the line to the Happy House was plenty long.  Once everyone was done, the Fear Factor Follies began...  

Crickets, Tarantulas, Assorted Bugs anyone?

Several passengers and one of our guides had a snack

About 45 minutes later, just as the sun started to play hide and go seek with a few rain clouds, we caught our first glimpse of the Ama Dara, moored bow first on the river bank.  This was our first indication that river cruising on the Mekong will be a little different than on the Danube or Mosel in Europe.

Ama Dara moored on the bank

As soon as our buses pulled up, the embarkation party and celebration began with a celebratory Dragon dance to chase evil spirits away and guarantee us smooth sailing.  Our gang way is actually extended from the ship directly onto the river bank - no pier at all - mooring lines were attached to trees along the river bank.  Worked really well but our crew had to work pretty hard to pull the mooring lines through the trees and reeds to get them attached.

Dragon Dance

Ama Dara gangway

Our sail-away was smooth and we headed north on the Tonle Sap...

Brown Water cruising...

Sun Deck was a great place to watch our sail away

The natural beauty of the Lake and River at sunset

After our obligatory life jacket and emergency procedures drill, we all gathered in the Saigon Lounge for our Welcome Aboard greeting.  We had colorful local dances, the Captain's introduction of his crew, and a personal welcome by our host, Ama Waterways CEO, Rudy Schreiner.  After the festivities, it was time for our first dinner aboard and a restful night's sleep anchored mid-stream on the river.

Welcome dance by Cambodian troupe

Cruise Planners On the Road - Dressing for the Tropics

Let me start up front by stating unequivocally that everything I mention below is something I purchased - no sponsorship, quid pro quo, etc.  There is no science involved - strictly personal experience that I thought might be useful to share for those heading to similar climates.

Lots of folks will tell you to stick with natural fabrics in the tropics - silks, cottons, etc.  When I'm home and working in the yard, or having a late afternoon drink with friends at the club, cotton and silk are fine.  I have a drawer or closet full of clothes and a washing machine.  When I am carting things around in a weight restricted suitcase, "One and done" fabrics don't work for me...  I will also share that several ladies took the Silk shirt and skirt route for their cruise shore excursions - they looked intensely uncomfortable and wet...

Back in 2005, Valerie and I spent 3 weeks in South Africa and Botswana "On Safari".  Of course, to be properly outfitted, we googled "Safari" and then visited our local REI store.  Fast forward 10 years and heading out to the tropics again for our river cruise on the Mekong River, we re-visited our previous research to update our tropical travel wardrobe.

Technical fabrics have come a long way in the past 10 years and so has our appreciation -- now that we live year-round in sunny and humid southwest Florida -- of the need for clothes that are comfortable in high heat (90 +) and high humidity (65%+) but are stylish enough for river cruising or a beer at your country club's poolside bar.

In addition to being comfortable and breathable, they need to be light and packable, and if you can wear them for several hot sweaty afternoons before washing (without offending those around you!), so much the better.

When we were on safari, we looked like we were on safari and while the clothes were practical, they weren't stylish and once home, were relegated to the working clothes closet space.  Frankly, lots of folks in SW Florida like Columbia's PFG (Performance Fishing Guide) line -- but like our safari style clothing, the styling is kind of limited.

In contrast, the stuff we bought this time looks good enough to wear when we get home and the comfort and convenience during Cambodia's summer heat were perfect. Our hard weight limit was 44lbs per person and I carry most of the camera gear, all of the plugs, transformers, and recharging equipment for our road show.  So I probably had, at most 30lbs for clothes and shoes for three weeks -- including a one week cruise.

From the bottom up, here's what I took and my opinion of how they performed...  Staring at the bottom, I needed a pair of sports shoes I could get wet and dirty, play golf in, go to the gym with, deal with the expected summer monsoon deluges, walk comfortably through airports, and slip on and off for airport security checks. After some research, I ended up buying Sperry SON-R Sounder sneakers.  I was really happy with how they performed. Non-slip soles - great for getting on and off the numerous boats we used to move around on the Mekong River - decent enough looking, with nubby soles usable in a pinch on the golf course, with full wrap around protection for my feet but completely breath-able.

For more formal occasions, I took along two pairs of Cole Hahn slip on loafers - one in black and the other in darker brown.  I wore both several times.  The other pair I took with me - my trusty Cole Hahn Air's in black - should have stayed home - great walking shoes around town in Europe but way too hot for tropical weather by far.  Footwear was completed with a good pair of flip flops for short treks.

Socks are where I stay with natural fibers - I have washed my Smart Wool dress socks in hotel sinks many times and had them dry and ready to wear the next morning.  For this trip, I stayed with Smart Wool anklets for the most part - paired perfectly with the Sperry's since the wool blend wicks and the Sperry's breath, keeping my feet cool and dry.

Pants were an interesting mix - Bluff Works travel pants for formal wear - look good and stay wrinkle free but have secret zip pockets to secure things - one in Navy, the other in Khaki.  My more active pants were Columbia (Black) and Ex Officio (Khaki) convertibles -- with zip off legs they were perfect for hot, humid walks then - zip, zip and you are ready to go into a Buddhist temple with covered legs.  I included one pair of black golf shorts to complete the pants side of things.

I also took along a pair of REI convertible pants and matching long sleeve safari shirt that I'd treated with Permethrin -- these were in my bag to deal with the anticipated mosquitos when elephant trekking or walking around Mekong River villages.  Honestly, despite three weeks in Bangkok, Siem Reap, Uodong, Phnom Pehn, river villages in both Cambodia and Vietnam, and 5 days in Chiang Mai including elephant camps in the Thai countryside, I got fewer bites (one exactly) than I get here in SW Florida.

Shirts seemed to be biggest improvement over the past 10 years.  Under Armour's new Hydro Armour line of button down, short sleeve and long sleeve shirts with vented pits, technical fabrics, and some color and style were perfect.  No matter how sweaty things got, the shirts dried out and were ready to go -- without washing -- on each and every day of the trip.  Their advertised, Anti-Odor treatment, really works.  I took four of these shirts - 2 short and 2 long sleeved, along with three formal (?) Aloha shirts for cruise ship dinners and two golf shirts.

Ok - what about skivvies?  Have been traveling with Ex Officio travel skivvies for 7 years now - three pairs is optimal for a three week trip; managed with two on this one since the weather was plenty warm enough to ensure tomorrow's pair was dry each morning.

When all said and done, my bag weighted 41lbs when we left; 46.5lbs on return -- goodies, souvenirs, and brochures from our stops.  I wore most of my clothes at least once but could probably have gotten away with one less Aloha shirt and the Cole Hahn Air's.

Cruise Planners - On the Road - The Killing Fields of Cambodia Philosophy

The Killing Fields

During the 3 years and 8 months the Khmer Rouge were in power (1975-79) life in Cambodia was changed — 20% of their population was killed, one of Asia’s most beautiful cities was depopulated, and all of the educated and accomplished people that didn’t escape, were sent to the rice fields.  

But truly, according to Sophia, one of our guides, her grandmother who had passed in 1998 had not known more than two consecutive years of peace in her 80+ years of life — perhaps because the Khmer Rouge war was more widely perceived in the west due to the movie “The Killing Fields" — we are much less aware of the continuous strife the Cambodian people suffered during our lifetime.

In the midst of this nearly continual suffering however, a remarkable and noteworthy attitude has emerged.  This attitude was explained by another of our guides, Lovey, who shared not only the story of how his family survived and eventually flourished, but how the Cambodian people survived as a people despite neighbor killing neighbor until 20% of the entire country was dead.

Forgive but not Forget - move on with our lives because to live our future for vengeance would make today’s life no better than yesterday’s… “Peace, the chance for prosperity and the happiness of our children, is more important than Revenge”.

Ultimately, only 5 people were convicted of Crimes Against Humanity for the Pol Pot - Khmer Rouge genocide.  Today’s Prime Minister and many other officials throughout the country were Khmer Rouge.  But as Lovey said, “...if all who were guilty were punished, the country could not go forward. If focused on righting wrongs of past, then focus on future would be lost…"

We learn and will learn many things in our lives, most of them fortunately, not bought and paid for by the blood of millions who perished in our life time - the life time of Baby Boomers - who represent the restart and reset of parents’ lives - who fought in Europe and Asia and who, with their former enemies in Germany and Japan, rebuilt the world we would live in with more peace, prosperity, equality, and vision than the one they were born in.

Spending 5 days in Cambodia, learning about the lessons they lived with the blood of their brothers, aunts, neighbors, and parents, has re-enforced for me a simple lesson.

At the end of the day, those who seek to redress past wrongs will never make a future worth living and will instead, be doomed to a life of unhappiness.

S21 Detention Center

S21 Camp Rules - Everyone Confessed

Confessions provided one way trip to the Killing Fields

Killing Fields

Cruise Planners "On the Road" - River Cruising on AMA Waterways - Paris to Amsterdam on Ama Lyra - November 4-14 2014 - Day 8 and 9 - All Inclusive - Learning about Mainz & Rudesheim

"All Inclusive" is an interesting concept - this is our first experience with an all inclusive cruise of any kind.  Generally, we don't bother with cruise line offered excursions.  We are experienced travelers and accustomed to finding our own way to the places we want to see.   In a non-all inclusive environment, adding excursions means the price of your vacation just seems to keep going up. As a result, we've never seen the value of paying someone else to go see something. So what have we learned on our first all inclusive cruise?

First, we learned so much from our local guides -- we had no idea of the back and forth of France and Germany over the past 450+ years - we'd heard about this war and that war but you don't even begin to understand the effect of this much war until you understand how long this went on.  All but two of the castles we saw on the Mosel and Rhine were completely destroyed by the armies of Louis 14th (leave no stone unturned) in the late 1600's and early 1700's.

Then there are the Netherlands whose King is connected directly back to France - Napoleonic period - a monarchy had no place in Dutch history until the early 1800's when Napoleon's brother was installed as King.  I am sure this is all middle school history to students in Europe, but to a middle aged (ha!) American, this is what you end up learning when tours led by local guides are offered each and every day of your cruise.  The places you see have infinitely more significance when they are place in historical context and you begin learning about people and places from the people from these places...

So, what were we seeing?  Mainz and Rudesheim - two cities along the Rhine (or Rhein) - both to the north and east of where the Mosel meets the Rhine in Koblenz.

In Mainz, we did a "Tastes of the Rheinhesse Region" tour.  Starting in Koblenz, and continuing into Mainz, Rudesheim, and Cologne -- in contrast to the German cities along the Mosel -- most of the cities on the Rhine  were essentially destroyed by Allied bombing during WWII.  When you consider their location - along a main line of communication (the Rhine) and most containing major rail yards, their importance to Germany's war effort and thus importance on Allied targeting lists is obvious. This meant that most of these cities along the Rhine have been rebuilt since WWII but in many cases, they have been restored to their traditional look using pictures that pre-date WWII.

Our Mainz tour was a complete blast because we were there on one of the most important party days of the year - the start of "Carnival" - the 11th day of the 11th month at 11:11 am.    We saw all kinds of people in crazy costumes running around as we walked from AmaLyra through the downtown streets to our tasting location in downtown Mainz.

Historical District in Mainz, Germany

Timber on Stone buildings (1400-1600 construction) in Mainz

11/11 at 11:11 party preparations

Museum honoring the man who invented movable type printing - In Mainz

Costumes Aplenty - but no beads...

Main Church in downtown Mainz

Getting ready for Christmas Market in downtown Mainz

Rhinelanders love a party

Tastes of the Rheinhesse Region location

 

Yes - before lunch - good Red wine in Germany

Feasting before lunch

So after wading through the Carnival crowds back to the ship, we were greeted with warm towels and mulled wine on AmaLyra - I could get used to this kind of service.  After a short lunch cruise, we reached Rudesheim - another picturesque town along the middle Rhine region - a place Valerie and I visited when we were stationed in Naples Italy.

Continuing on our wine journey along the Mosel and Rhine, we spent the afternoon tasting wine in the vineyards of a family owned winery (Adolf Störzel) in the hills above the Rhine.  On their web site, they call it a wine ramble - walking through the vineyards with your host - pictured below, providing informative and humorous commentary on wine, the region, and its history.  He was truly good and is a "must not miss" if you are in the area.  Their wines aren't bad either - we are bringing two bottles home with us

Narrating German humor in English

Telling Valerie where to find the Lady's Room

Val and June posing in fall fashion

The downtown streets of Rudesheim are quaint and inviting.

Beautiful fall grape leaves

I guess one last thing I learned during our narrated tours along the Rhine and Mosel has to do with Germany's history and its peoples.  Specifically, I always thought of Germans as by the book, hard working folks - turns out that people along the rivers Mosel and Rhine - are fun loving people more focused on fun than work - today rather than tomorrow.  You can't believe the wine rations provided back in the day (we're talking liters per day) for priests and generally well to do people.  Supposedly the wine had less alcohol in it back then, but egads, they were drinking wine instead of water - no wonder they liked to party and enjoyed their lives.  We heard the term "Prussians" on several occasions in the towns we visited - guess the Prussians and their habits are what I have always associated with Germans and Germany.  Turns out that the river folks were essentially brought into "line" by the Prussians - our guides used this word in the same tone reserved for Louis 14th and his march along the rivers.  Germany may be a republic today but her soul is much more complicated and interesting than I had imagined.  Like I said, I learned a lot having all inclusive tours that helped me learn local history from local guides.

Tomorrow - Cologne (Koln) and our last day in Germany....