A Mekong River Dream

Life Onboard the AMADara:

I remember the first time I saw the ship, the AMAdara.  It was waiting, patiently, for all of the passengers to arrive.  Luckily, it has a capacity of 124 passengers and there were only 99 of us.  It sat there, beautiful with the mountains of Cambodia behind it, waiting to take its next journey.  

Once onboard the ship, my colleague, Jess Roberts and I, went to our cabin.  We were staying in a Category B cabin, complete with a balcony big enough for two people to stand or sit on.  The cabin was decorated beautifully in an Asian style, taking me back to the times when I lived in various parts of Asia.  I was already in love.  

Since I'm not one to spend a lot of time in my cabin, I focused on getting to know other people on the ship and checking out every nook and cranny.  The beautiful part of the AMAdara is that there are just so many places to watch the world on the Mekong go by - and I did this all the time.  As I love to wake up early to catch a sunrise, I found that there was a lovely part towards the back of the stern.  This is where I sat quietly, reflecting upon the day ahead, and grateful for the opportunity to be on the Mekong and onboard this ship.  The stern is a great place for reflection (and most people don't go there).  Right below the stern is a special restaurant that can be booked - once a voyage - complimentary.  It's a five-course meal and it's delicious (that's for another post).

The part of the ship where everyone congregated was the lounge, which ironically also had a bar in it.  The seats were comfortable, again with an Asian flair, and you knew you were in Asia.  This is also where workshops, such as fruit carving, happened.

The main dining room was a spectacular layout and it was easy to look out the windows from anywhere you sat to see the life on the Mekong.