This morning we disembarked from the Viking Saigon and boarded our coach to take us to Siem Reap. Viking provided a brown bag with juice, chips, an apple, and a protein bar as a snack to have for our ride.
As we rode along you could see rice drying out on tarps. They do this near the roads because it usually doesn’t flood there.
Drying rice on blue tarps
Our coach made several “comfort” stops along the way and another stop was for our bus driver could have lunch and have a break.
Have you ever seen furniture moved on a flat bed pulled by a tractor?
A clothing store that travels from village to village selling merchandise!
We made a stop at a rubber tree plantation where we saw resin dropping from the trees.
Young rubber tree- about a year old, takes 7 years to grow for rubber resin to produce.Rubber trees over 10 years oldRubber resin from the tree
These ants would bite so we stayed away from them!
Another stop was to see an elephant! The elephant made a trek into town once a year for its owner to sell his medicine that we were told helped arthritis!
Girl elephant, 2 months away from home, 90 years old, takes this journey once a year, sells medication to help with arthritisHeading out
Before reaching our hotel we made a stop at the entrance of Angkor Wat to get our picture taken for our three day pass.
Angkor Wat Entrance
When we reached our destination we checked into our hotel. We were greeted by some musicians.
The hotel was beautiful! Below are pictures from the lobby and some of the outdoors.
We visited the pool which was refreshing but didn’t cool you off. The water was quite warm from the sun not from any pool heater! At 6:00 AM the water temperature was posted as being 86˚ F!
Our room had a balcony and a beautiful view of the grounds.
The hotel gifted each of us a Cambodian made scarf when they came to do the evening bed turn down and at dinner we had a Cambodian dance team perform.
When we arrived we got off the riverboat and walked into town. As we walked along the road we passed many stupas. A stupa was a place of burial and there were many of various sizes and colors as we went by.
We also passed by a school and the students were interested in us just as much as we were with what they were doing.
In town we got on a tuk-tuk for a ride that was sometimes bumpy, to the Oknha Tey weaving village and it was also known as Silk Island.
Our tuk-tuk and our adorable driver! She didn’t realize we could hear her singing as she drove along!
We saw the silkworms and the process it took to raise cocoons and make silk by using traditional worms. It was a very interesting process.
The silkworms with mulberry leaves
The silkworms lay their eggs in the mulberry trees. The silkworms lived in man-made habitats.
The worms eat a lot of mulberry leaves for a little over a month.
Minea showing us mulberry leaves and its fruit.
Then they begin making a silk fiber to wrap around themselves making a cocoon.
The workers unwrapped the silk fibers from the cocoons by boiling them to loosen the thread.
Raw silk
The threads were then wrapped onto a large spindle. They used natural dyes for most of their silk threads.
Each family had their own foot pedal loom in their home. These villagers also were farmers and fishermen.
The weavers sat at handmade wooden looms. We watched them weave some intricate patterns.
44 rods, peacock design
Below was a quick video showing the process of weaving.
Also, we had time for shopping to help the local economy! I think our group did a great job helping their finances.
One of the village stores.
Back on the riverboat we watched a local take his horses into the river to cool them off and he also washed himself at the same time!
The road that just stopped!
The road just ends.
Late this afternoon we attended a lecture and the topic was “Life at the Mekong River”.
Mammals in Cambodia
Today wasn’t as busy so we enjoyed some time in the afternoon to sit up on the sky deck and read.
We met our Cambodian guide, Minea. She had a great sense of humor and was very informative.
Tony, our program director, and Minea, our Cambodian guide
When we got off the riverboat we were met by cyclos and their drivers. We each rode in a cyclo through the city where our first stop was the Royal Palace.
The traffic as we traveled on the cyclo was busy and sometimes scary.
Walking up to the Royal Palace
One of the entrance gates to the Royal Palace
The Buddhist monks were walking from their school as we were walking up to the palace entrance.
The monks leaving school.
The Royal Palace was a complex of buildings and many of the buildings did not allow photos inside. One of those buildings was the King’s residence. The flag wasn’t flying so he wasn’t there.
Map of the Royal Palace
Our entry ticket
Strict entrance requirementsThis woman had to purchase these huge drawstring pants because she had on shorts!Wrapping the pants around her.
The Silver Pagoda or Temple of the Emerald Buddha was located in the Royal Palace. In 1962 it was rebuilt out of concrete and Italian marble. It was formerly made from wood. It was one of the few buildings that wasn’t destroyed during the Khmer Rouge regime. The Khmer Rouge regime lasted for four years, 1975-1979 and took the power away from the Cambodian people. We learned more about what happened during that time period this afternoon.
Silver Pagoda
It was called the Silver Pagoda because of its floor which was covered with 5000 tiles but when we went in most were covered for protection. No photos were allowed inside.
Throne Hall, used for official ceremoniesImpressive gardens and palm tree
On the Royal Palace grounds was a mini model of Angkor Wat. We visited it later on in our trip. Our guide told us this was a great model to see the full depth of Angkor Wat.
The funeral stupa of King Suramant was located on the grounds as were other deceased royalty. A stupa was a monument that housed the ashes of the person.
Stupa of King Suramant
Walls around the complex contained a mural that depicted the Indian epic poem called Ramayana, or Reamker in Cambodia. The story was too long to retell here. Feel free to look it up online because it was interesting to read about. The mural was created in 1900 and parts had been restored.
Restored panelRestored panelnot completely restoredNo restoration had begun
Have you ever seen a cannonball tree? We did at the Royal Palace. A cannonball tree’s flowers and fruits grow directly from the tree’s trunk. Their name cannonball came from their brown and round fruits.
Cannonball treeCannonball fruit and flower
Each of our cyclo drivers picked us up and took us to the National Museum which was made out of red sandstone. It was the largest museum of cultural history and the finest collection of Khmer sculptures.
The museum suffered a lot of damage during the Khmer Rouge regime. The Australian government and other patrons helped undertake a major remodeling during the 1990s. The Cambodians want to maintain the exhibits in the museum and one was the largest collections of Khmer artifacts in the world.
Near the Royal Palace was the Wat Ounalom. It was one of five original monastries in Phonm Penh. It was damaged during the Khmer Rouge period but had been restored. It was established in 1443 and consisted of 44 structures.
Wat Ounalom
Our cyclos took us back to the boat around lunch time. We saw some more interesting sights as we headed back.
Markets selling wares/food along the road.His business was located in his wagon and he relaxed in his hammock!The truck bed was also his flower/plant shop!
After lunch we had a somber visit to the Tuol Sleng Detention Center Memorial. In 1975 Tuol Svey Prey High School was taken over by Pol Pot’s security forces and it was turned into a prison and was known as S-21 (Security Prison 21). It was the largest center for detention and torture in Cambodia and the most famous.
Pol Pot was the dictator who ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979 and his regime, Khmer Rouge, was responsible for the killing of between 1.5 and 3 million people. They created 189 prisons.
Between 1975 and 1978 over 20,000 people from S-21 were taken to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. The Khmer Rouge kept meticulous records of their torture. Each prisoner was photographed when they arrived to S-21 and sometimes after they were tortured! The museum had these photos displayed.
Only 7 prisoners were alive when Phnom Penh was liberated by the Vietnamese army. Two of those survivors, Chum Mey and Bou Meng were still alive and they were at S-21 promoting their first-hand accounts of their prison time!
Our last stop was to one of the Killing Fields, Choeung Ek Genocidal Center.
It was here that the Khmer Rouge regime killed thousands of people.
The memorial with glass sides houses skulls froj victims.There were 5,000 skulls placed in thes memorial of executed victims.
We purchased a lotus flower to place in the memorial urn.
They saved bullets by doing it in the fields and most were hit in the back of the head or swords were used and the victims were then mass buried in shallow graves. We walked through the memorial.
At least 20,000 Cambodians were killed here! Our guide explained that the tree with all the bracelets was where the Khmer Rouge killed small children by beating them against the tree. She visited here on a school field trip and she was very emotional telling us about what happened at this tree.
It was a somber ride back to our riverboat and everyone needed time to process the atrocities of what we heard and saw this afternoon. We were warned it would be an emotional excursion.
We ended the evening on a high with a performance by Cambodian children of traditional folk dances. The youngest performer was four years old. He was a monkey!
After breakfast we boarded a sampan boat. A sampan was a wooden boat that took us to Cái Bè Village and along the Mekong Delta. Boats were the main form of transportation in this region.
Sampan boatsOur Sampan captain
Looking back at our riverboat.
We visited a local family where we tried various locally grown fruits with some tea. We had rambutan, watermelon, mangos, pomelo and jackfruit.
Our family visit.Our plates of fruit and tea!The fruit inside the rambutan
We also walked around their property.
Jack fruit treePomelo treeRambutan treeThe netting is where they catch and raise their fish.This is their toilet with a tube that leads right into the irrigation stream!
The kitchen. Most homes do not have refrigerators.
Our next stop was to visit a pop rice factory where we saw the production of rice paper, coconut candy and pop rice sweets and savory snacks!
The workers demonstrated for us how whole grains of rice with their husks were put into a large pot that had black sand from the Mekong River. It was poured over the fire. The first video below showed the rice popping!
They sifted out the black sand and a second time to remove the rice husks. Then the crispy rice was put into another wok-shaped pot and mixed with a syrup of sugar and water. This video shows the mixing to make a savory crispy rice treat.
This last video showed adding the popped rice to the mixture.
Then they poured the rice mixture into the frame, press it and let it cool.
We tried the savory crispy rice treat and the sweet rice treat and both were delicious!
Our group did a shot of banana wine. It was strong!
They also had snake wine that you could try. The bottle had dead snakes in it! A few of our group members did try it but none of them liked it.
Snake wine
The Vietnamese coconut candy was very popular in Vietnam. It was the most popular candy.
Cutting the candy.Wrapping the coconut candy.
A worker was making rice papers. She showed us the process and the pictures below illustrate the steps.
After our morning excursions, our riverboat left Cái Bè and we were headed to Sa Déc. As we were cruising along we watched the sights along the river.
Vietnamese village homesWashing dishes in the Makong.Carrying crops down the river.Fish farms and homes on the riverFish farms along the MakongWorking on the river
This afternoon we visited the Sa Déc open air market that was incredibly busy. Click on the slide show to see some of the unusual and interesting items that were being sold at the market!
Sa Dec Market
Busy street
Very busy market
Selling her fruit
Vegetables
Cucumbers
Eggs
Vegetables
Cutting meat
Fish
Pig parts
Meat cuts
Seafood
Seafood
Seafood
Skinned Rats
Motorbikes shopping
Hanging meat
Pig parts
Watermelon
Flowers
Durian Fruit
Flowers
Flowers
Purchasing veggies.
Veggies.
We also saw Marguerite Duras’ lover’s home, Mr. Huynh Thuy Le. Marguerite, a French writer, wrote an autobiographical novel called The Lover. Only the outside of the home was available because the inside of the home is in disrepair. They had an affair but his family didn’t approve of it and his family forced him to marry a Chinese woman but we were told he never stopped loving Marguerite.
Huynh Thuy Le’s Home
We cruised along the Mekong river. We saw homes along the river and some were pretty modern looking and others were barely standing.
Before dinner Captain Hiep invited all of us to the lounge for a toast to welcome us on board. Besides the captain, the hotel manager, our program directors, the head housekeeper, maître d’ and the executive chef were introduced. We found everyone to be so kind and helpful.
Thursday, February 3rd, 2022, Friday, February 4th, 2022& Saturday, February 5th, 2022
Today we slept in because we weren’t going to Lerwick, Shetland Islands. The nasty weather that hit the east coast of the United States was now coming across the ocean.
Water falls from the melting of the snow!Heading under the bridge near Bergen!No snow!
We went to the front of the ship to read and also walked around the ship. When we look out the windows we can only see water and fog, no more beautiful mountains.
Nothing but water!
Late afternoon the ship began crossing the North Sea and heading toward London. The wind was blowing about 31 mph and the ship was swaying a little bit. We enjoyed visiting different places so we were rather bored with sailing today and then tomorrow too!
We also were given instructions for filling out the Passenger Locator Form for our arrival in Tilbury (London). We also would gain one hour, from six hours ahead to five hours ahead!
This evening was the farewell celebration even though we have one more day of sailing. They felt that if they did it tomorrow night people would be busy packing and wouldn’t attend the celebration. The captain spoke and champagne was served and refills were given! Tonight’s entertainment was “Stage & Screen- A Viking Venus Variety Show”.
A song from Hamilton
Day 15, Friday, February 4th
This morning was our last time to do a saliva COVID test, health survey and temperature check! From this test, we would be given our results on an official paper so that we could enter England and fly home tomorrow!
Today was another day at sea heading toward England. Sunrise was at 7:51 AM and sunset was 4:37 PM. It was our longest day so far.
This afternoon Mr. Terence Murtagh, a guest lecturer on this cruise, gave a talk entitled, “Your Aurora, Your Experience”. He shared some of his photos and time-lapse photography of the Aurora Borealis that occurred during our cruise. He also shared some of the passenger photos that were sent to him. It was fun as he discussed the techniques of the photography and reviewed what causes the northern lights. He also shared a great site for those interested in aurora alerts, you can submit photos, and up to date information on the science related to the sun. It was spaceweather.com
Katie Healy, our cruise director, entertained us tonight with a variety of swing songs.
Day 16, Saturday, February 5th
We docked in Tilbury (London), England around 4:30 AM. For our disembarkation from the Viking Venus we were to meet in the atrium at 6:30 AM. When our color tag was called we disembarked from the ship and boarded our bus for Heathrow Airport. The sky was beautiful as we rode along.
Crossing the River Thames
As we checked in our luggage at Heathrow airport, the agent from United asked us if we wanted to fly on an earlier flight to Chicago. Our original itinerary had us flying from Heathrow to Washington, DC, then from there to Chicago, and then Chicago to Columbus. This change would eliminate one flight and get us in to Columbus about an hour earlier. We were happy to change our flights. The flight from London to Chicago left about two hours earlier! We had time to get through security and get to our gate and then it was time to board!
Leaving Heathrow
Snow was on the ground again as our flight got close to Chicago.
Snow covered land outside Chicago
Flying into O’Hare Chicago Airport
We arrived in Chicago on time. We went to Global Entry, claimed our luggage and went through security again to get to the gate for our flight to Columbus. We had time to catch a late lunch before boarding our last plane!
Our time in Norway was marvelous. Every port we visited we learned more about Norway and its people, customs, traditions, and history. And our highlight was seeing the Aurora Borealis! It was another memorable adventure!
Tuesday, February 1st, 2022 and Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022
The sun was rising, 9:10 AM as we headed to Bodø!
It was beautiful scenery as we sailed this morning.
Sailing to Bodø
Today we were to dock in Bodø, Norway around noon. Unfortunately the captain decided the wind gusts at the pier were 20-30 mph and it wasn’t safe to dock! We could see the town but didn’t get to visit.
The town of Bodø and its surrounding fjord.
So the ship turned around and we headed south and we were at sea the rest of the day. The captain said they were looking for another port for tomorrow. We will be refunded for our excursions from Bodø. So the rest of the day we walked around the ship, enjoyed the views, and did a lot of reading!
The fjords were majestic and covered with snow. The day was a little longer. Sunset was at 3:22 PM.
A fish farmBeautiful mountainsA lighthouseReadingSunsetSunset
This evening the Viking Singers did a show called “The Beatles Songbook”. It was fun to hear many of the Beatles’ hits. We also found out that the Excursion desk did find a port for tomorrow. We would be visiting Trondheim, Norway. The only excursion would be a tour of the town.
Day 13, Wednesday, February 2nd, we docked in Trondheim around 8:30 AM. Sunrise this morning was at 8:51 AM.
Arriving at Trondheim
Since the ship anchored in the harbor we were tendered into Trondheim for our tour. This port replaces Bodø which we couldn’t dock at yesterday.
Tender Boat
We were on the first tender to Trondheim. This was also the first time the Viking Venus had been to this city. Trondheim was located in the Trondheim fjord and at the mouth of the River Nidelva.
Our ship anchored in the distance!
On our tour we stopped for a photo-op that looked over the city.
The population of Trondheim was 210,000. It was the 3rd largest municipality in Norway and the 4th largest urban area. The Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU) with 40,000 students was located in Trondheim.
The Old Town Bridge (Gamie Bybro) crossed over the Nidelva River and was originally constructed of wood and supported on three stone piers and was reconstructed in 1861. The bridge, Gamie Bybro, was also known as the Gate of Happiness!
Gamie Bybro, Old Town Bridge
We passed by the Royal Residence. It was the largest wooden palace in Scandinavia and was built during 1774-1778 by the widow and privy counsellor Cecilie Christine Schøller. Today it served as the official royal residence of Trondheim.
Stiftsgården- Royal Residence
The oldest wharves along the River Nidelva dated back to the 18th century.
The island of Munkholmen was near our ship. It was originally named Nidarholm. It had many uses. During the Viking Age this island was where public executions here held, then it was a Benedictine monastery. Later it was reconstructed as a fort and then used as a prison. During WWII it was again used as a fort by the Germans. Today it’s a popular tourist attraction and recreation place for the residents of Trondheim.
Early morningMid AfternoonIsland of Munkholmen
Out last stop was the Nidaros Cathedral. The church was built over the grave of St. Olav, Norway’s patron saint. Most of the cathedral was in a Gothic style and was completed about 1300. In 1869 there was extensive renovations. Then a century later it was restored to its original state. The stained glass dated from the early 1900s.
Nidaros Cathedral
Because Trondheim is a university town we saw their student society (Studentersamfundet). It was owned and run by its members, almost 9,000 students. It was their hub. Our guide told us their were plans to expand the student center.
Some sights as we toured Trondheim!
Icy and snowy roadsOld wood homeStatue of Norway’s King SverreIt was very cold but the kids were outside!
After our tour we read in the Explorer’s Lounge and our ship departed Trondheim around 4:00 PM.
Leaving Trondheim
The captain came on and said the weather was bad in the Shetland Islands which was our next port. Tomorrow instead of visiting Lerwick, Shetland Islands we will sail southerly along the Inside Passage of Norway. This evening’s entertainment was another show by Harry the Piano!
Overnight we sailed toward Tromsø and docked before 8:00 AM.
Looking out over Balsfjorden, a fjord that is over 35 miles in length.
Tromsø has been called the “Paris of the North”! This is because of its lively atmosphere, varied nightlife, cultural activities, and restaurants abound. It is also the largest city within the Arctic Circle and is also considered to be another great location to view the Northern Lights.
This morning we had an included tour of Tromsø.
A lot of snow!Heated sidewalks!Running Women Statue!
Our first stop was the planetarium on the Tromsø campus of the Arctic University of Norway and it was the first Norwegian planetarium open to the public. We went in and watched in the dome a movie from a photographer’s clips from his trips to watch and photograph the Northern Lights.
CampusThe PlanetariumInside the dome
We passed by the Arctic Cathedral which was a Norway parish church and not actually a cathedral. Its construction was from concrete and metal.
The city also had an underground road system called the Tromsøysund Tunnel. It was an undersea highway tunnel and even had a roundabout! This road system connected the island of Tromsøya with the main suburb of Tromsdalen. Our bus driver took us in the tunnel and through the roundabout several times! The residents of the area have two ways to cross the water: the bridge and the tunnel.
Underground Roundabout!
Up a hill we stopped at a school where we had a great view of the town and surrounding area!
Up to our city view lookout.Tromso BridgeArctic Cathedral
Even though it was dark, it was just a little after 3:00 PM, when we took a shuttle into Tromsø. There was snow all around but the sidewalks were perfectly dry and clear and that was because the sidewalks were heated.
Trolls are all over Norway!Piles of Snow.A Statue of a Whaler in a boat who is battling rough seas. (Arctic Hunter)Tromsø Town CenterTown Center
In town we were able to visit two stores. The ship wanted to keep us in a bubble so the shops were closed to everyone except Viking passengers. We were given about 45 minutes to look around.
As we left the ship we saw a masked snowman created by some of the Viking Venus crew. There were many members of the crew that had never experienced snow!
Viking Venus Snowman
This evening we went on an excursion called “Chasing the Northern Lights”. At first the aurora borealis was faint but given time it danced across the sky and put on a show for us. We were lucky to see them three nights in a row! We got back to the ship very early the next morning.
Watch the three videos below to see how the Northern Lights danced, changed and filled the night sky!
It is much colder today with a high of only 5˚ and sunrise was at 9:27 AM and sunset at 1:53 PM. This morning we went on an excursion called “Northern Norway during WWII”. We traveled to the Tirpitz Museum in Kåfjord.
