"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report # 70 Sailing Towards Sihanoukville, Cambodia March 10, 2016 Thursday Partly cloudy & 88 degrees 72 Pictures

Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2016 3:02:04 PM

Subject: Report # 70 Sailing Towards Sihanoukville, Cambodia March 10, 2016 Thursday Partly cloudy & 88 degrees 72 Pictures

We are now heading towards a country that we have not visited since 2001…..Cambodia. An emerging nation, Cambodia has an area of 69,880 square miles with 14,494,293 people. The capital is Phnom Penh and the language is Khmer. The legacy of leader Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge is forever imprinted on the landscape and in people's minds. Knowing the tragic history that was associated with the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot still sends shivers up our spines, as we remember the news at the time the atrocities took place. Once again, you can only hope that history does not repeat itself in this nation.

With that in mind, Cambodia is slowly being rehabilitated as a key destination in Asia. The most famous attraction in Cambodia has to be the awe-inspiring temples and ruins of Angor Wat, the largest Buddhist complex in the world. That is one UNESCO World Heritage Site that we have not seen yet. Don't plan a visit there this trip.

Other sites are the yellow waters of the Mekong River, monks in golden robes, and gorgeous beaches of the Gulf of Thailand. It is not usual to see monks on bikes in the capital of Phnom Penh, and crazy chaotic markets. If you are brave, you can grab a helmet and ride a motorcycle with the thousands of other locals. But don't buy illegal drugs, sold in alleyways, as the penalties are severe, such as death. Yep, that works.

The best time to visit is during the dryer season between November and January. We had toured here at the same time of year as now, and we can remember extreme heat and humidity while we toured the many temples and palaces in Phnom Penh. Sort of reminded us of the Buddhist temples and grounds of Bangkok, Thailand, except not on quite a large scale. Disturbing memories at the time were the number of very young girls, 12 or 13 years old, lugging newborn babies to use them for begging from the tourists. Our guide called them "rent-a-baby", and the girls were not the mothers as they wanted you to think. We were warned not to give them anything, in order to stop the practice. Hard to imagine a mother allowing her tiny baby to be used for begging in that oppressive heat, but then, this is a poor country for the most part.

More sites to see are Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong River, and Bokor National Park with the mist-covered ruins of the French hill station. If you are looking for some excitement, try a ride on a motorcycle taxi – the back seat is the ride. Or watch racing boat crews during the annual water festival. A nicer trip would be taking a ferry up the Mekong, watching river life of the locals. You can go to the jungles of Virachay National Park or visit a beach in Sihanoukville, where we will be docking.

What is there to eat? Hot and sour beef salad with rice noodle soup. That sounds all right, but biting into a deep-fried tarantula is not up our alley.

Tours here include one 7 ½ hour excursion, with a drive to a nearby village with a lunch for $140. The other tours are shorter with 3 ½ hours to a drive to Sihanoukville and surrounding area for $90. Culinary Cambodia is all about the food with a demonstration on cooking followed by a meal for $200. Beach getaways for a short stay at a resort or right on a beach run $104 and $40. Since the ship is docked from 6am to 7pm, there is not enough time to have a tour to the capital, Phnom Penh. We do remember it was quite a long ride on bumpy roads. Back in 2001, it was not the most safe road to drive, as we had police escort front and rear, with armed guards on each bus. Much the same as we had in Egypt on the way to Cairo in the same year. Anyway, one of our buses literally caught on fire, the engine was burning black, thick smoke, causing them to pull over in the darkness. The police stayed, but our driver passed right by them, saying he was not allowed to stop for any reason. Sure glad we were not on that bus. Eventually, a replacement coach picked them up, and they got back to the ship by midnight. That was a one-time trip for us. Happy to have seen it, but would not return. Just too far.

Right after breakfast, Bill got a haircut with a cute Japanese hairdresser in the spa. She did an excellent job, which was a relief. With new hair cutters, you never know what you are going to get. The other hairdresser was a fellow from Sri Lanka ,but he will be leaving the ship at the end of his contract. The passengers seem to like him very much too.

The highlight of our day began at 11am this morning. We had been invited to a special event by the culinary department called President's Club Galley Social. The description was tour, mingle, snack in our galley's various active preparation and service areas with beverage for cooking. Well, the beverage was Moet Champagne, which was handed to us as we entered the lower dining room. There were eighteen President's Club members that attended. We were taken into the galley in two groups. We had head chef, Petr as our guide, and even though we have been in this kitchen at least twice before, we never toured it in this depth.

He proudly explained how the computerized ovens worked, the over-size soup pots, grills, and ranges. Some cooks were in the process of preparing lunch, which would begin at noon. They even interacted with us, happily showing off their specialties. We did not see the actual preparation areas, such as the fruit and veggie prep kitchens, as they are down on deck A. We saw those places last year. But one of the cooks told us how the peeled and cubed potatoes are delivered to him, where he adds them to a giant cooking pot with salt and water. They are boiled until tender, then the bowl actually tips over with the push of a button, and is drained into a grate through the floor. Pasta is cooked this way as well. We often wondered if some of the food was dried or frozen, but they told us nothing was pre-packaged, such as instant mashed potatoes. And special ordered cakes or pies are made from scratch, as we expected.

We continued to see the soups cooking, a soufflé being whipped up, and chicken wings cooking in the special oven that does everything. They looked delicious, and yes, they were for us later. Sauces were simmering, and plates of food were beginning to be put together. Soon, the waiters would be coming in to serve the food.

Petr led us to the dishwashing area, and showed us how one massive machine was loaded. From there we saw the bread area, which was done for the day. Most all of the bakers work early morning hours, like 4 or 5am. Truthfully, we think there is a crew working 24 hours around the clock, on different shifts. We did see one fellow making the chocolate candies for the Pinnacle Grill. Never knew there was so much work creating these treats.

After seeing the actual kitchen of the Pinnacle Grill, we went to the fish prep room, which is kept separate from everything else to prevent cross-contamination. Plastic tubs of baking items were on the shelves in the pantry, although the major supply of the staples and meats and fish are kept on deck A.

They had high tables set for us near the back end of the galley. We continued to sip champagne or wine at this point. Then the food began to arrive. There were small plates of the glazed chicken wings, grilled shrimps, small shrimp in a sauce, skewered sesame beef, veggie egg rolls, crab cakes on a stick, and Barb's favorite……..caviar, the good stuff, served on boiled egg slices. She and Sandra were in caviar heaven. Since we don't eat it, we passed ours to the ladies. Presty brought them even more. Our glasses never went empty. Finally, we were served a chocolate-filled pastry, rolled in powdered sugar. With all this food and champagne, we were done for the rest of the afternoon.

We were the last to leave, but not done with our conversations with Allan, Sandra, and Barb. We took a table in the dining room, and continued to enjoy our champagne and wine until 2pm or later. No more lunch for us this afternoon.

It was a good time to download the kitchen tour photos, and take a walk later on the deck. Gosh, it was so hot and humid, we didn't last too long. Even with the extreme heat, some of the crew guys were painting on the promenade deck. The fumes were powerfully strong, because there was no breeze to clear it out. So we went back inside.

We did make it back out for the sunset, which wasn't spectacular, but did have some color. What was more interesting were the sighting of many fishing boats and marked nets in the water. The ship was actually going over these markers, but did not get tangled in lines at all. The closer we were getting to Cambodia, the more boats we saw.

There were eight of us for dinner, with Heo and Greg attending Le Cirque in the Pinnacle Grill. All of us are doing something different tomorrow, except for Leslie, Handler, and Barb and us. If we can take the heat, we will be taking the free shuttle to downtown and the market.

Last night, the water had been shut off from midnight to 6am. When the water came back on, we ran the sink and tub to find it was discolored. Eventually it cleared up, and all worked fine. However, we got another letter tonight, saying that it will be turned off again tonight from 11pm to 5am. Would love to know the reason behind this, but we are being told it is routine maintenance. We are being told that the work cannot be postponed, so we just have to live with it. And don't drink a whole lot of coffee tonight.

Bill & Mary Ann

Meeting for the President' Club Galley Social