Mönche, Seide und Delfine (Mekong Kreuzfahrt Teil 4)

Two monks came on board in the morning so that we could listen to their typical chants and see a 'water blessing'.

Then we went ashore on the Silk Island to see the local production.

Along the way, we passed some magnificent and large stupas that were still under construction. The Cambodians bury their dead in them and spare no expense. Our guide told us that the structures we saw were likely to cost $200,000, but there are even more expensive burial sites in the country.

In the past, a lot of silk was produced in the area of Koh Okna Tei. Since silk is now much cheaper in China, local production is hardly profitable anymore.

Afterwards, there was a short demonstration of ancient Khmer martial arts by a martial arts club.

In the afternoon, there was a lecture on the history and geography of Cambodia. Otherwise, we could relax on the sun deck.

The next morning, we set off at 6:30 am. Since the water level of the Mekong is currently so low, we unfortunately could not take the boat to our destination and had to take the bus instead.

The roads were not always designed for larger vehicles and were partly quite uneven. At one bridge, we all had to get off because it was not allowed for our bus. So we walked across and our bus drove - with a special permit - empty over the bridge.

Later, we crossed to Koh Trong Island with a local ferry, while the jetty looked a little unreliable.

Nevertheless, we reached the other bank without getting wet and got into an ox cart. We would probably have been faster on foot, but now we can say that we have been in an ox cart before.

We got off in front of the local school and were appointed English teachers. We talked to the students to help them practice their pronunciation. Except for us, all passengers were native English speakers.

Then we continued to a reforestation program, where each of us could plant a tree.

Meanwhile, there was a whole field with small trees that had name tags. The view reminded us of a cemetery.
There we also met a Frenchman and a German who were traveling in Cambodia, but a few years ago they had already made a trip around the world in 80 days without money.

Actually, they wanted to ask our captain for a ride, but that proved difficult as we were traveling by bus and still had to go on a dolphin watching tour.

We took small boats at our next stop to go out on the water and see Irrawaddy dolphins. These animals, unfortunately, are rather shy and have a round head shape, distinguishing them from the ones we've seen before.

Unfortunately, they only surfaced briefly and then disappeared again. They can stay underwater for up to 15 minutes before resurfacing.