Westworld Alberta
Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/40418
the river, a staff member traced the monk's path onboard with a mop and pail. Holy water is well and good, provided guests don't tumble on the slick mahogany deck. THE JOURNEY HAD BEGUN DAYS EARLIER IN HO Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Two days into the trip, the Jayavarman had floated from Vietnam into Cambodia, and the river had immediately slipped into new attire. The hive of traffi c that had crisscrossed the river most of the way from the South China Sea dwindled, as if we'd veered from an inter- state highway onto a sleepy, country two- lane. And the thick, sylvan canopy and emerald rice paddies that had swathed the banks faded to a drier, umber landscape of prickly trees and gangly palms. The Mekong became fl at and wide and hushed. For those who don't consider themselves cruisers, chugging up the Mekong is differ- ent. All day, a pastoral tableau unfolds, and a series of intimate vignettes gives a feel for life on the river. One moment, six little boys splashed and played in a cleft on the banks, pinwheeling from the stuffy midday heat into the cooling, chocolate-brown water and cheering as the Jayavarman glided past. 24 WESTWORLD >> SEPTEMBER 2011 (both pages) Jen Judge; (room) Signatures of Asia Co.