The Jayavarman, built about 6 years ago is run by the Heritage Line, and takes eight days to cruise between Siem Reap and Saigon (or vice versa).
In the current dry season, the Tonle Sap Lake (the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia) has already reversed its flow and the junction with the Mekong River is too low for the cruise boat to negotiate, so the boat cannot sail from Siem Reap and unfortunately for us, rather than a pleasant day’s cruise down the lake watching the bird life, it is a five hour bus ride from Siem Reap to Kampong Cham.
The boat consists of 27 comfortable cabins; each with its own rather small balcony – just enough room for two deck chairs and a coffee table, enjoyable if the sun is not too hot, but it is usually more comfortable to sit in one of the upper deck areas. There are three public areas; the upper desk with a spa pool with an overhead covered awning for those wanting to cool off or sunbathe,
Then there is the funnel bar with a plentiful supply of tea and coffee or alcoholic beverages for those who wish something a little stronger.
There is also the Lobby or Henry Mahoot Lounge where evening briefings are held and details about the next days activities are presented. It comes complete with a small souvenir shop, reception desk, purser station and the totally inadequate wifi. Early morning before any short excursions, one sees bleary-eyed passengers trying to access their emails in the hope that they are up before anyone else, but with 50 passengers and almost as many crew, the wifi dongle cannot cope, especially out of the big city range of antennae.
It is, of course, always quite hot by 2pm, around 33 degrees, although as the boat makes its way downstream there’s a breeze across the deck that makes it bearable.
On both banks the vegetation comes down to the rivers edge, and sometimes one sees a string of bamboo fishing poles extending into the river, or a long, low and sleek looking wooden boat that’s used by the family of a fishermen. These boats are very narrow, and with their slightly raised pointed bow they look a little like Chinese dragon boats.
Higher up the bank are usually single story wooden houses on stilts, with rush or palm leaf roofs and walls of corrugated iron or of sawn planks of local timber. Many of the flat areas around them are used for rice cultivation, or alternatively for fruit such as jackfruit, dragon fruit or pineapples. Further away there are forests of bamboo which are being cleared to be replaced with rubber trees, the latex from which is collected and which becomes a very valuable crop. It takes about eight years before a new rubber plantation becomes harvestable. So, only companies, or quite rich people can afford to take up this line of work.
Most country people are subsistence farmers, living on an income of between 50 and 150 US dollars a year. The country is poor. It’s the direct result of the years of in real terror when PolPot and the Khmer Rouge purged the intellectuals, professional classes, and other perceived enemies, thereby reducing the possibility of progress to zero. That was all over bar the shouting by 1990 but recovery from such a distressed period takes a long time.
Family History Tours 