I’ve never before been welcomed to a village by giant fruit, but I could get used to the sensation. There’s something homely and cheerful about the oversized replicas– each taller than a person – lining the path from the riverbank to the Cambodian village of Angkor Ban. There’s a mango and a pineapple, for example, and that love-it-or-hate-it South-East Asian fruit, the durian. As it happens, I’ve just been eating durian ice cream on the ship that brought me here, so I welcome this gargantuan fruit as an old friend.
I’m in Angkor Ban on the Mekong Serenity, a cruise ship operated by APT that heads along the Mekong River between southern Vietnam and Cambodia. And of all the onshore excursions we’ve enjoyed over the past few days, this one promises to be the most special, for the village of Angkor Ban was lucky to escape the full devastation of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s. Instead of meting out the destruction inflicted elsewhere throughout the country, the Khmer Rouge preserved this town for its own use, using it for storage and housing. Thus, through a twist of fate, its traditional appearance was preserved.
It has also retained – and restored – much of its culture, as our group can see as we walk past a beautiful Buddhist temple, with decorative details outlined in gold and red. However, the most interesting elements of Angkor Ban lie in its everyday traditions and practices. As we walk into the residential area of the village, we pass banana plants and a small shrine; beyond that is a series of timber houses – large, square, lofty homes propped high on wooden stumps to avoid flood damage.
Though often weathered, these houses have an appealingly solid appearance, with flat sides and a touch of decoration atop tiled roofs. Different paint jobs add variation, with blue window shutters set against a red background, or green against grey. Outside one home, we pause to admire a netted enclosure that contains live grasshoppers bred by the home’s owner. Invited inside the house, we find an appealing interior that’s a big airy space with floors of narrow timber slats.
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A little further on, our guide Darith points out what the locals say is the oldest house in the village, thought to have been built about 200 years ago. It’s a humble weather-beaten home, smaller and less colourful than its neighbours but with plenty of presence, tucked behind tropical plants and with a bike parked near its entrance.
The rest of the tour is a leisurely stroll through the village, as kids wave and people pass by on bicycles and motorbikes. We pause here and there as Darith indicates large storage pots for catching rainwater and discusses the value of the cattle we see tethered by the path. Passing a small shop, which sells everything from noodles to bottles of petrol, a woman uses a rice milling machine to separate full grains of rice from broken ones.
As we turn to head back toward the temple and its large but serene reclining Buddha, I reflect on the layout of the village. I admire the way it combines practical items such as fruit trees and livestock with housing and machinery, everything within walking distance and plenty of trees providing shade against the tropical sun. The people of Angkor Ban must have endured a great many challenges over the centuries, given times of war and floods and the Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror – but it’s consoling to see that traditional ways of life have won through, here on the banks of the broad Mekong.
THE DETAILS
Cruise
The 11-day APT “Spiritual Cambodia and the Mekong” journey, with eight days/seven nights aboard Mekong Serenity, runs from Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap or vice versa and costs from $6995 per person. Meals, most drinks and excursions are included, along with three nights’ accommodation at the Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra resort in Siem Reap and tours/experiences in and around Siem Reap. See aptouring.com
Fly
Singapore Airlines flies to Ho Chi Minh City via Singapore, see singaporeair.com
Tim Richards fell into travel writing after living and teaching in Egypt and Poland. He’s a light packing obsessive, and is especially drawn to the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Follow him on Instagram @aerohaveno
