MEANDERING ON THE MEKONG
Cruise through Vietnam, Cambodia
Recently I asked Bob and Nancy Dunn, part of the Ports and Bows team, to share their first impressions of Cambodia and Vietnam. Here’s what they thought.
Cambodia and Vietnam are as different as they are alike. They are linked by the Mekong River, by the legacy of a war which — like most wars — had no popular winner and by a language of communication that shocks outsiders — English.
For cruisers, the river is first and foremost an “Ama” waterway — first because this was the original “outside” river company to test these waters, foremost because with its partners, AmaWaterways has the three largest ships on the Mekong. The AmaLotus has been here since 2013 and the AmaDara was launched on Aug. 17. La Marguerite was first, six years ago, and now operates with a partner company.
The cruises are between Siem Reap, Cambodia and Saigon formally known as Ho Chi Minh City. Not unlike Canadians in the shadow of America, Cambodians demonstrate varying degrees of the insecurity that comes with being the smaller geographical sibling. Vietnam is one of the world’s remaining five Communist countries (China, Cuba, North Korea and Laos the others). Cambodia is a kingdom, quietly supported by China. Their respective languages are as different as Swedish and Japanese, hence the reason “river English” is how the ship’s compulsory Cambodian pilot talks to the Vietnamese captain.
The two ships, built specifically for the Mekong, are how Westerners can experience what’s different and what isn’t in these two comfortable, touristfriendly and thoroughly enjoyable Southeast Asian nations. And that is unlikely to change.
“My heart is in the Mekong project and this is a constant, good market,” says CEO Rudi Schreiner, a former Viking Cruises executive who founded the cruise line with his wife Kristin Karst and the late Jimmy Murphy in 2002. “It will be stable. I am not concerned about the political climate nor the water levels. The world has many great rivers but very few like the Mekong with such a rich experience in such a short distance.”
The AmaDara (“dara” is Cambodian for “star”) is almost a twin of the AmaLotus, their differences obvious only to their Ama parents. The newer ship is a metre longer and 1.2 metres wider, which means staterooms are slightly larger than 226 square feet. Like its sibling, the AmaDara is luxurious. The decor is progressively Asian. Dark wood panelling in the 62 rooms (including 14 suites) and throughout the ship exudes richness. The cuisine is exquisite — a mild criticism is menu items could be more locally authentic instead of locally accented (i.e. ribs with “Khmer” sauce), especially in its reservation-only restaurant, Fusion.
These ships are entirely in the hands of Vietnamese partners Dang Bao Hieu and Thai Ha, a North Vietnamese husband and wife who now live in the south The unusual partners met at a trade show in Las Vegas eight years ago. Hieu operated a small ship on Halong Bay near Hanoi; Schreiner operated a two-fleet river line in Europe. Both wanted to cruise the Mekong and needed help that came with each other’s abilities.
The result today is weeklong, exotic cruises from Siem Reap or Saigon, August through April, meeting halfway at the capital city of Phnom Penh. Prices start at US$2,300 per person. Besides seeing the magnificent Angkor Wat at one end and the bustling Saigon streets at the other, passengers have opportunities to be blessed by Buddhist monks in Phnom Penh, to ride rickshaws in Tan Chau (the newest Vietnam town — five years old — and allegedly the last one with rickshaws) and to visit the chilling Khmer Rouge prison and Killing Fields.
That’s where thousands of victims are interred from what is Southeast Asia’s “Holocaust” — an estimated 3.5 million Cambodians were murdered for such crimes as wearing glasses because it “meant” they were educated.
While there is lingering fear of another Khmer Rouge-style regime in Cambodia, in Vietnam there remains an almost American-style economy that prompts locals to call their country one of the happiest places on Earth.
The inference is that both countries have the same hopeful end game, a true democracy, a climate that will make river cruising even more attractive than it is today. Cruise tip: Buy travel visas from home and make sure your passport is good for at least six months.
You will find lots more on this cruise at portsandbows.com