Monday 28th March

Woke at 6.40 to find us on our way again but don't know how the ship freed itself. We were told that apparently the vessel had been pulled off the mud bank by the Scenic Spirit another river cruise boat.

A late start today as we moved on to Kampong Chan, the 3rd largest city in Cambodia, arriving at about 11.30. After a film on Angkor Wat & lunch we set out at 2.30 to the Wat Nokor temple sitting on a hill outside the city. This proved somewhat ordinary, the highlight, although not for us, being a troupe of monkeys living there. It was also the site of mass killings in the Pol Pot era & a memorial stupa with many skulls commemorates the time.

From there we returned to the city to see an ancient temple complex from the 12th century featuring some very fine stone masonry & carving. The complex was built by the Buddhists, then held by the Hindus for a century before passing to the Buddhists yet again. It was the first example of the fine stonework we had seen as all the other buildings had been of concrete & of much later periods.

Finally we returned to the waterfront & walked down to the most extraordinary bamboo bridge we have ever seen. It is 750m in length 4m wide & sits about 4m above the river connecting an island to the mainland. The bamboo poles are spaced at about 50cm & the decking is made of split bamboo. It carries cars, motorbikes & pedestrians & the decking is quite springy. Apparently when the river rises it is washed away each year & is then rebuilt in the next dry season. It was astonishing to us that such a structure could still exist & apparently it will be replaced with a permanent structure next year.

Back at the boat we watched some of the locals on their sampans bagging small clam like shellfish to be sent off.

Before dinner we had to thank all the boat crew & then prepare to pack up to leave for Siam Reap by bus, as the river is too shallow for the boat.