Vietnam/Cambodia Day 5: To Cambodia

Monday, February 9, 2026
 

We woke up early today and decided to explore outside our cabin while the Jahan navigated down the narrow Tan Chau canal. It was a beautiful morning, and I found our photography expert, Chris, and one of the other photographer guests on the bow of the ship. I returned with my camera and got some instruction and practice taking pictures of the birds flying alongside.

After breakfast, we were taken, again by sampan, into the town of Chau Doc. We started with a bicycle rickshaw ride through town, each of us getting our own rickshaw and driver. We arrived amid a bustling wet market, where it seemed that every kind of meat and fish imaginable was available for sale. As we walked, this transitioned into a dry market featuring many kinds of vegetables and fruit. We were then guided across a busy street to a Chinese temple, where we observed a wide range of activities from worship to Instagram photo sessions. There were many kids present, who were as cute as usual.

After returning to the Jahan, we were treated to a tour of the crew areas, including the (loud) engine room, galley, laundry, and crew bunk areas. I have often been fascinated by imagining these areas that are usually off-limits to guests. As expected, they were very spartan and somewhat small, but the tour gave me more appreciation for the people serving us on the cruise.

Paddy, one of the naturalists on the tour, gave a presentation on the hydrology of the Mekong River after lunch. This was followed by a cooking class (with accompanying cookbook) that Kenna took, but I decided to rest instead. Meanwhile, we passed from Vietnam into Cambodia.

As usual, the day finished with a cocktail hour, end-of-day briefing, and dinner in the dining room.

As I was getting ready for bed, I realized that I didn’t have my day pack and realized that I probably left it on the rickshaw. I did a bit of analysis and realized that this wasn’t a catastrophic loss, the most significant item being my sunglasses. Still, I was disappointed that I hadn’t kept better track of my things.

This article is part of a series about our recent trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.