After our brief 24 hours of freedom in Phnom Penh, we are back in the daily bubble of shore excursions, mealtime cliques and ‘high school playground’ gossip. In a way, our arrival in Siem Reap can’t come soon enough, and yet there is a magic about river travel, especially at sunrise when the ship’s company are mostly still slumbering, and I can imagine for a moment that this is the slow boat journey I’d dreamed about.
At this hour, fishermen in their small boats and farmers on the riverbank are already well into their workday and there are enthusiastic waves and big smiles as we head past. I remember this time of day so well from our sail trip up the Nile, where it seemed like the illustrations on the pages of my schoolboy bible had come to life. Here in rural Cambodia too, there’s a prelapsarian rhythm to these quotidian riverine activities.
Again, amidst the herding on and off of sampans and tuk tuks, there have been some beautiful moments. On the silk weaving island of Koh Oknha Tey, we observed the various stages of production, starting with silk thread retrieval from shed cocoons (the golden threads at the centre are the finest), to the weaving of the finished articles.
Further upstream, the hilltop monastery at Wat Hanchey has a 7th century pre-Angkor temple, which is one of the few ancient religious structures to survive both Vietnam war bombing and the wanton destruction of the Khmer Rouge. There are glorious views of the Mekong, and there was a wonderful moment as a group of chatting and laughing young saffron robed monks boarded a flat bed truck to seek alms and food from the neighbouring villages. Having watched the solemnity of an alms giving procession in Laos, it was lovely to see their lighter side. There must be a secret pocket in those robes for mobile phones, as several of them were busy on theirs.
Sabrina and our daughter wisely sat this particular excursion out, as it involved climbing 300 steps in 100 degree heat and 90% humidity, but I was not to be denied.
The food onboard has been consistently good all week, and a real standout from the stretch north of Phnom Penh was this Khmer Shrimp Noodle Salad.
Khmer Shrimp Noodle Salad: Serves 2
This traditional Cambodian dish is perfect for a warm summer’s day in either hemisphere.
2-3 oz vermicelli rice noodles, soaked in boiling water until very soft
1 cucumber, seeded and julienned
1 red pepper, julienned
3 fresh mint sprigs (use leaves only)
2 cups finely shredded cabbage
12 cooked shrimps
3 tbsp roasted peanuts, crushed
4 tbsp fish sauce dressing
Fish sauce dressing
1/8 cup sugar
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 Thai red chillis, minced
1/4 cup shredded carrot
Add all ingredients of dressing together and set aside.
When ready to serve mix all the ingredients together with the fish sauce dressing.
Yesterday morning the captain confirmed to huge relief and a round of applause that water levels in Tonlé Sap lake are just deep enough for us to make the crossing and in late afternoon light we navigated the narrow Chnok Tru channel entrance into this massive body of water, which is the largest in South East Asia. This evening’s sunset was memorably magnificent and there was a poignancy to our cocktail ritual, on this our last evening on board. All of a sudden, the three of us were wishing that we could just keep travelling northwards, up this mighty river.
And so tomorrow we will disembark in Siem Reap, to experience the well trodden paths to the ancient wonders of Angkor civilization (although there do seem to be some more obscure ruins beyond Angkor Wat in the depths of the jungle, that can be visited). Now, if we can just find a way of exploring them without the crowds.
I suspect this will make for some pre-dawn patrols and loud complaints from Sabrina and our daughter!
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Marco flexing his formidable literary muscles with the phrase " prelapsarian rhythm to these quotidian riverine activities". Another evocative read - and a fine tribute to the mighty Mekong river. Meanwhile the shrimp noodle salad sounds delicious.
Not being a great fan of water except in a bath, I’ve always worried about river trips and prelapsarian rhythms. Perhaps I should throw my ancient fears out of the window and embrace Cambodia from the rivers and lakes