OUR MEKONG ADVENTURE PART 3

So overnight we sailed the 90 km journey from Sa Dec to Tan Chau which is 20 km inside the border in the southwestern part of the country. Again it was another early start after breakfast for our tour around the town of Tan Chau. Tan Chau with a population of approximately 200,000 and the main district of the An Gang Province is set within rich, green rice paddy fields. The area known as the Vietnam’s rice basket, produces astonishing 30 percent of it’s entire production on only a tenth of the areas terrain.

So we took a short 5 minute boat ride from the ship to the town, where we then took the local transportation a rickshaw to explore the town. Our first stop was to visit a family-run silk weaving factory, this area is famous for Tân Châu silk with the famous product lãnh Mỹ A which black is dyed by Diospyros mollis‘s fruit (Vietnamese: Mặc nưa). There the was the opportunity to buy high quality 100% silk goods for the fraction of the price you pay in the UK, which myself and wife took advantage of.

Then it was back on the rickshaw again for the 15 minute ride to reach the mat-making factory. Here you could see generations of the same family producing and selling their produce. After 30 minutes at the local factory it was the back to the jetty where we sailed and explored the rest of the local area by boat and see how important the Mekong river is to the local people.

We then arrived back to the AmaLotus for lunch and then set sail to the Vietnam and Cambodia border for the passport and visa formalities. Also here we had to say goodbye our Vietnam tour guides who had to leave us and welcome the Cambodia tour guides to the ship, as it is prohibited for tour guides to work in each others country. Also I think they would have a better wealth of knowledge of their own countries culture and history.

The border control and the handling of the passport and visa although lengthy was very relaxing as we just relaxed on the sundeck whilst APT took care of the formalities. Anchored in the middle of these two countries whilst having a few cold ones, sunbathing or having a dip in the pool is a far cry of the long queues you have at some international airports.

Also during our wait on-board there was the opportunity to listen APT’s Ambassador Luke Nyguen who discussed his background and passion for food in the Saigon Lounge. Whilst later on that afternoon was the Ice Cream Party, followed by the Chef’s Local Fruits explanation and tasting. It was then time to get showered and change for the evening ahead, as we started to sail in to Cambodia and towards Phnom Penh.

After a lovely dinner at the Mekong restaurant, we made our way to the Saigon Lounge to watch an award winning documentary about the Khmer Rogue Leader “Pol Pot – The Secret Killer.” I got to admit I had my reservations about watching this but have to admit it was a real eye opener and gave me a great insight not only to the killer himself but what this country of Cambodia went through.