Jane Phare cruises from Cambodia to Vietnam on a Viking riverboat, discovering there is much to see on the mighty Mekong. “The Mekong?” a friend queried when I told her about my 16-day trip to Vietnam and Cambodia, half of which was on a riverboat. “Isn’t it muddy, and what is there to see?” Turns out, lots.
It’s a vast, fast-flowing river that never sleeps, teaming with life above and below, and clinging to its riverbanks. Beyond its shores is a glorious medley of wooden stilt houses, ramshackle shacks, petrol stations, rice factories and fish farms, elegant colonial French architecture – the remnants of a 90-year protectorate rule – and, rising from the green foliage, golden temples and the occasional giant reclining Buddha. It’s a river I fell in love with during a cruise on the luxurious Viking Saigon.
It’s the rainy season, or what the locals call “the floating season”, when we set sail from Kampong Cham in Cambodia. We can just make out the top tips of the famous Koh Paen bamboo bridge poking above the water. In the dry season this kilometre-long bridge, built strong enough to hold the weight of cars and trucks, provides access to Ko Paen island.
In the rainy season, it disappears beneath the river, and the locals go by boat..