Thursday 24th March

After breakfast we were taken in sampans to Evergreen Island to see a small village of farmers & fishermen. On the way we passed several floating fish farms consisting of what looked like galvo clad sheds of 30m by 20m which apparently have netted wooden cages below in which catfish are reared. Further on we passed a huge rice husking plant before turning into a tributary to the village. We walked though the settlement where all the houses are on stilts as the river rises to flood the island, in the wet season, immersing all the land. Tienh, our guide explained again about the importance of the family in every way & also the closeness of the villagers. We walked to a mat factory & were confronted with what were some of the most dangerous working conditions, where girls fed individual lengths of reed into a fast moving loom, without any form of protection.

Taking the sampan again we went over to Tan Chau & were met by a fleet of extremely crude trishaws which took us individually to a silk weaving factory. Here again we were appalled at the work place where huge pattern card, controlled looms were operating. We had seen a similar loom in a museum in Lyon several years before but were surprised to see them still in use.

Once more we were whisked away on the trishaws along to the riverfront & back to a landing stage to meet the sampans again for our return to the ship.

The ship moved on to the border & after lunch we watched the film "The Lover" based on the book by Margeurite Duras who the ship is named after.

At about 5pm the ship moved into Cambodia.

Jane meanwhile was suddenly quite ill & so didn't make dinner. She felt that she was dehydrated but the symptoms were quite severe & she spent the rest of the day & night in bed.

d*** watched the movie about Pol Pot & his effect on Cambodia, which turned out to be a good, if grim, introduction to the country.