Aboard the Jayavarman Mekong river

As the water levels are low we had to transfer to Kampong Chang via coach and not get the boat from Siem Reap. Bit of a shame as the coach transfer was 4.5 hrs. Anyway soon aboard and welcome with a cool ginger tea. Then we are treated to traditional dance and music from the children of Chiro Village school. We have a lovely lunch as we set sail to a temple along the river. I decide to stay on board and Ian goes off with his new friend Murray who lives in Napier New Zealand. They visit Wat Hanchay a 7th century pre-Angkorian temple on a hill.
The boat is lovely everything we need and wish for. We are in the upper Mekong at the moment so it is quiet on the river, only fishing boats. We are told it will get much busier when we get onto the main river. It is so peaceful here and whilst the itinerary is busy you can pick and choose what to do. In the evening we have a welcome Champers party followed by another wonderful meal, buffet and lots to choose from. Wine and beer is included with lunch and dinner a bonus as we did not expect that.
We chat with our fellow guests Jackie and Murray from NZ and John and Marianne from St Albans. We have all done a fair bit of travelling so lots to talk about.

Now it is Sunday 27th, we are woken at 6 am by a really loud noise which we think is the anchor being lifted. We have been anchored mid stream all night. The boat is so smooth you hardly notice it moving. 
Oh dear missed Tai Chi at 6.30am.
We are cruising down stream to Angkor Ban village.

A light breakfast well for me. Mr F is having his usual Asian noodle soup and anything else of interest he can find. We have been told they eat crickets and tarantulas here. Not seen any tarantulas thank goodness, but they were selling fried crickets at Angkor Wat.
The boat moors up and we clamber up a grassy bank as the river level is so low and cannot reach the steps to the quay.
We walk around the tiny Cambodian village of Angkor Ban  and see Buddhist Monks they are extremely young. However joining the temple and becoming a monk is the way they can survive and get an education. There are 2 monkeys tied up under neath a house. I don't like it, neither do the monkeys. The Cambodian children are excited to see us. Tourism has not had an impact here yet, so no expectation of gifts or money from the people. I don’t mean that in a stingy way just that we have not impacted on their way of life.
There is a Cambodian wedding going on, the noise, wailing, is at a terrific volume. All the village is at the wedding so not a lot of normal village life going on.
We see the people bring back peanuts to dry out, huge carts pulled by oxen.
Back on board and we have a blessing by the Buddhist monks. Then it’s up on deck where I write this a have a lovely ginger tea.
WiFi a bit sketchy but will try to keep you updated as much as possible.

Anchored overnight mid river at Kampong Chhnang.