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Discovering Asia - the Mekong
Story and photos by Andrew J Wood
Living in Asia for any length of time you will hear reference to the
Mekong River. It truly is one of the great rivers of the world, stretching
2703 miles (4352 km) from Tibet to the South China Sea. The meandering
Mekong links Indochina’s rich cultures as it flows through 6 nations China;
Myanmar (Burma); Laos; Thailand; Cambodia and Vietnam.
During my two decades here in Asia, I have never had time to really explore
the Mekong and when I was given the opportunity recently, I jumped at the
chance. Travelling as a group of 6 friends (including 3 hotel GMs) we
decided to undertake our voyage on a river boat, with Pandaw River
Expeditions <www.pandaw. com>.
Billed as an exploration, our journey proved to be a voyage of discovery,
travelling through some of the remotest parts of Asia. I’ve always loved
river trips; you get a true sense of what life for the local population is
really like. Not sugar-coated, but warts-and-all. I was a permanent resident
on the boat’s observation decks, eyes glued to the passing kaleidoscope of
river life, soaking it all in, camera in hand. Utterly loved it. A
cornucopia of new images, sights and sounds. Relaxing and stress free. A
truly great way to travel.
I like to think we are taking nothing away from the local population, but
instead providing alternative revenue streams for communities that live
quite literally on what the river provides.
My journey starts in Siem Reap, home of the famous Angkor Wat and its great
monuments. We then travelled south to Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh. From
there we crossed the border into Vietnam heading towards our final
destination, the French colonial port of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).
Our 8 day Pandaw downstream itinerary included fascinating excursions.
Day 1: Siem Reap / Kampong Cham
We transferred by coach from the busy colonial styled Victoria Angkor Hotel
to Kampong Cham.
Day 2: Kampong Cham Area
We visited the hilltop temple of Wat Hanchey in the morning. Then later in
the afternoon, we travelled by bus to visit the Twin Holy mountains of Phnom
Pros and Phnom Srey (Man and Woman Hill) and the ecotourism village of
Choeungkok supported by the French-Cambodian NGO Amica.
Day 3: Tonle River / Kampong Chhnang
We take a buffalo cart ride to Kampong Tralach Pagoda (dating back to early
last century). Followed after lunch by an excursion up the Tonle River to
Kampong Chhnang. Beyond Kampong Chhnang we travelled by local boat to
explore around the floating villages on the edge of Tonle Lake.
Day 4: Phnom Penh
The day started with a fun morning in our own private cyclo. (A kind of
single seater bicycle rickshaw).
The Cyclo Centre Phnom Penh provides the cyclos is a charity that provides
basic welfare and medical services to cyclo drivers (www. cyclo.org.uk). We
spend the morning exploring the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda (with a floor
comprising of 5 tons of silver) and the National Museum. In the afternoon,
an optional excursion (by coach) to the Killing Fields.
Day 5: Cruising the Mekong / Border Crossing
We spent the day cruising in the main Mekong channel, an international
shipping route heading for the Vietnamese border.
Day 6: Chau Doc
Today a visit to a Cham tribal village, and a catfish farm. Later we pass
through the Chau Doc canal.
Day 7: Sa Dec / Cai Be
In the morning we took a local boat excursion to Sa Dec via Vinh Long along
canals and backwaters. Visiting Sa Dec and the local market and the ancient
house (1875) of Mr. Huyn Thuy Le, the subject of ‘The Lover’ of Marguerite
Duras’s novel and film. Afterwards we visited a brick factory. In the
afternoon at Cai Be, we cruised through the floating markets on the way to a
village producing local rice wine, coconut candy, pop rice and rice paper.
At the end of the day we toured the catholic church before returning to the
Mekong Pandaw.
Day 8: My Tho / Saigon
Early morning sail from Cai Be for My Tho, where our river journey ended and
we disembarked for a coach transfer to Saigon.
The Mekong is the 12th longest river in the world and the seventh longest in
Asia. Estimated to drain an area of 795,000 km², which is more than the size
of France (640,000 km²).
In English the river is called “the Mekong River”, derived from “Mae Nam
Khong”, a term of both Thai and Lao origin. In Thai all great rivers are
considered mother rivers signaled by the prefix mae, meaning mother, and nam
for water. In the Mekong’s case, Mae Nam Khong means “Khong, The Mother of
Water”. Many Northern Thai and Laos locals refer to it as the “River Khong”.
Andrew Wood is a Director of Worldwide Destinations Asia Co Ltd. based in
Bangkok <www.worldwidedestinationsasia.com> and Immediate Past President of
Skål International Thailand.
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Why do governments marginalise the benefits of tourism?
Andrew J Wood
Global tourism represents over 9% of GDP (direct, indirect and
induced impact). One in eleven jobs globally is in tourism. Tourism
represents 6% of world exports and generates over US$1.3 Trillion
dollars annually (Source: UNWTO Tourism Highlights 2013).
Yet governments continue to raise taxes and damage this vital industry:
“The UK’s Air Passenger Duty introduced in 2013 is the world’s highest
aviation tax”; & “The 2013 US budget cuts to air traffic management
threaten safely standards and flight scheduling.”
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg and all are additional
burdens on an industry that in many cases cannot take much more before
seeing drastic reductions in revenue and the resulting detrimental flow
on effect to many economies. Why do governments then continue to impede
the industry with the introduction of more and more taxes and levies?
Skål International World President, Karine Coulanges, states, “It is
timely that governments calculate the real benefit and income streams
gained from overseas visitors before imposing yet more taxes and levies
to try and bolster their treasury funds. Even a small increase in
charges can see a far greater loss of revenue as a result of tourists
voting with their wallets and travelling to other destinations.
“As the world’s economies see the first shoots of growth and confidence
after six years of turmoil it is timely to remember that tourism was one
of the only sectors to see growth during that time and like all
industries it will continue to need fostering and care to ensure this
growth continues and not policies of additional taxation for short term
gain.”
Tourist revenue in many countries is in the top five of their total GDP,
yet many continue to hinder tourism through unnecessarily long visa
application periods; the high cost of visa on arrival systems, as well
as increasing airport taxes and border control levies. How would these
governments react if tourist numbers fell by 10 - 20% with the resulting
downturn in revenue? And what flow on effect would that have to their
economy?
An example can be seen in the decline in tourists visiting Thailand as a
result of the unrest in Bangkok. While not related to this issue it does
illustrate the effect a drop in tourism can have on a country’s economy.
According to Thailand’s Minister of Tourism, arrivals in the country
fell by 1 million visitors in January 2014 as compared to January 2013.
The Tourism Council of Thailand estimated the revenue loss as 22.5
billion baht (approximately USD$690 million)
How many countries could absorb losses like that? Remember; tourists
vote and travel with their wallets and if they perceive the cost and
time required to gain visas, plus the cost of additional charges and
levies imposed by both central and local governments, are too high, they
will reconsider where they travel to.
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