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The legend of Toum and Tiou

The Toum Tiou derives its name from a traditional Khmer tale of star-crossed lovers, the Cambodian equivalent of Romeo and Juliet, Toum being the boy and Tiou, the girl.

This beautiful love story turned tragedy features Tiou's mother, an ambitious woman who wants to marry her daughter off to the king and Toum as the awkward lover. The king, good-hearted and understanding, eventually gives up on the marriage to make Tiou happy.

It ends tragically when a frame-up involving the mother and the governor leads to the death of one of the two lovers, the other committing suicide to follow suit.

This story is taught from primary to high school. Many songs and pieces of traditional music allude to the pair of ill-fated lovers.

a large lounge area, a panoramic viewing space to the front, a half-covered bar-restaurant to the rear and a roof patio. Air conditioning, hi-fi system and library are provided.

The captain, boat hands, hostesses, cooks and boat master are quiet and inconspicuous in the performance of their duties.

Technical facts:

Leng: 38m

Beam: 7m

Draught: 1.7m

Cabins: 10 pax

Propulsion: 315 CV

Speed: 15km/h

Electricity: 220 Volt

This traditional locally built boat started out as a freighter with a metal hull and a capacity of 150 tons, with two large but low-ceiling decks in order to maximize storage space. Like all boats of this type, it went up and down the Tonle Sap and Mekong, stopping at Siem Reap, Kompong Cham, Kratie and Stung Treng.

We stayed as close as we could to the original line of the boat, because we wanted to retain its slightly curved and elegant lines.

The Toum Tiou is 38 meters long and 6.5 meters wide in the middle. It has 10 rooms in all (3.3 m x 2.5 m), 4 on the first deck and 6 on the second, each air-conditioned and with a bathroom (2.5 m x 1.4 m) including toilet, shower and sink. The water on board is taken from the river, passed through a powerful filtration system and chlorinated in the final step of the treatment.

In order to make the best possible use of the common areas from the standpoint of both size and variety we have installed a library-reading room on the lower deck. There is also a covered space at the front of the middle deck, a restaurant to the rear and half-covered sundeck on top.