Cruise on the Mekong River

A sample itinerary for the Mekong river cruise follows, but other itineraries are also available. Please inquire for details. 

Day One

• Arrive in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, and check in to your beautiful and centrally located hotel.
• Once you are checked in to your room, feel free to explore the surrounding area on your own or relax and take advantage of your hotel’s amenities, including an outdoor pool, fitness center, and a full service spa (for an additional cost).
• Dinner on your own and overnight in a Ho Chi Minh City hotel.

Day Two

• Breakfast.
• Depart on a walking tour of the city’s historic center and most popular attractions, including the Municipal Theatre, Ho Chi Minh Square, the Central Post Office, Notre Dame Cathedral, and more.
• Continue your tour to the Ben Thanh Market, the largest and oldest market in the city. The market provides you a unique opportunity to see where all the locals shop and what they shop for. It carries everything they could ever want or need too.
• Now that you have explored Ho Chi Minh’s main attractions, food, and culture, head to the kitchen for your first lesson on Vietnamese cuisine. You will learn how to make traditional dishes using local techniques and once you are done creating the meal you will feast on it for lunch.
• The rest of the afternoon is at your leisure. Perhaps continue to explore the vivacious city or relax at your hotel’s pool.
• In the evening, meet for a special welcome dinner.
• Overnight.

Day Three

• After breakfast, go back in time and explore the remarkable tunnel system known as the Cu Chi Tunnels which were used immensely during the Vietnam War. Stretching 120 miles, the discreet tunnel system was a vital tactic used by the North Vietnamese fighters for communication, protection, moving supplies, and medical attention. Although the tunnels were extremely difficult for the fighters due to limited visuals, air, food, water, and contained illnesses, the tunnels are what lead to the Viet Cong’s victory. Learn how the tunnels were made and get the chance to walk through a part of one to get a better understanding of what it was like down there.
• Return to Ho Chi Minh City. The rest of the day and evening is at your leisure. Perhaps go to the Rex Hotel for a drink and panoramic views of the city before departing the city the following day.
• Lunch and dinner on your own.
• Overnight.

Day Four

• Breakfast.
• Check out of your hotel and group transfer to the port on the Saigon River where you will board your river cruise.
• Once aboard and once your voyage is underway, take time to explore all that the intimate but luxurious ship has to offer.
• Lunch will be provided onboard the ship.
• In the afternoon, take time to relax on the observation deck or take advantage of the onboard spa treatment room, fitness center, library, or complimentary wi-fi access and bar services.
• A welcome reception will take place in the evening followed by a delicious onboard dinner.
• Overnight.

Day Five

• Following breakfast, board sampans, tradition wooden boats, for side trips to Vinh Long.
• Once you are on land, your first visit will include a workshop on how rice paper, rice wine, and other traditional candies are made. (For those who are brave, there might be a special treat for you too!)
• Return to the ship for lunch.
• Reboard the sampans and enjoy the scenes of daily life while heading to Cu Lao Gieng for a visit to local home, where you’ll get a chance to see how hand-craft sampans are made.
• Following your visit, board a special motor cart to visit one of Vietnam’s oldest churches.
• Return to the ship for dinner and overnight.

Day Six

• Breakfast.
• Today is your last day in Vietnam before crossing the border into Cambodia. Take in the last of it with a stop at the local market, where you’ll see locals buying and selling meat and fish, as well as produce.
• Board a sampan for a trip down the Mekong’s backwaters to the base of Sam Mountain, where there are a number of religious sites. During this trip, you’ll pass by a variety of traditional floating homes, as well as markets selling dried goods and speedboat merchants. Stop for a cotton-weaving demonstration at a local village.
• Return to the ship for lunch and leisure time as the ship heads towards Cambodia.
• Dinner onboard the ship and overnight.

Day Seven

• After breakfast, arrive in the capital city of Phnom Penh and tour the large city by private cyclos. You will visit the Royal Palace with its beautiful Silver Pagoda. Built in 1866 by His Majesty Preah Bat Norodom, the palace continues to house the current Cambodian king and his family. The Silver Pagoda is well known for housing an enormous 17th century emerald Buddha statue that is adorned with 9,584 diamonds among other highly treasured and beloved sculptures and frescoes of Phnom Penh.
• Continue your city tour to the city’s National Museum, known for its spectacular collection of Khmer artifacts and other cultural treasures.
• Lunch included today on board the ship.
• In the afternoon, take your time to explore the city on your own.
• Before dinner on board, come together to watch a group of children from a local orphanage put on a very special show for you.
• Return to the ship and overnight.

Day Eight

• Breakfast.
• Today, take some time to learn about the painful history of the Cambodian people by visiting the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The museum was once a high school that was transformed into a prison holding over 17,000 prisoners during Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979. According to the records, fewer than 15 prisoners survived the torture and killings when the Vietnamese Army finally stormed the camp in 1979. Overall, more than 200,000 Cambodians were killed by the Khmer Rough in just 4 years.
• After lunch, depart Phnom Penh and enjoy leisure time and dinner on the ship.
• Overnight.

Day Nine

• Breakfast.
• Visit Wat Hanchey, an 8th century temple of the Chenla Empire. (Please note that it is a steep hike to Wat Hanchey and a car and driver can take you to the top if you cannot make the climb.) Once at the temple, take in the breathtaking views and take part in a traditional water blessing lead by local monks.
• After lunch, visit Angkor Ban, a rural village, for a walking tour. Meet the people, see traditional Khmer houses and visit a local school.
• Return to the ship for dinner and overnight.

Day Ten

• Breakfast.
• Enjoy the day exploring the beautiful Cambodian countryside.
• By motorcoach travel to the floating village of Kongpong Louang to meet skilled local silversmiths who use centuries-old techniques to make popular art out of pure silver.
• Continue your day in Kampong Tralach for a scenic ox cart ride past local rice paddy fields and to meet a local farmer.
• Return to the ship for lunch before departing for Tonle Sap (Great Lake), a 10,000 square mile lake that is the center of life for the nearby people. The lake provides the best breeding grounds for the fish, leading to a main food source and jobs. (During low water conditions, generally mid-December to August, the ship will not be able to go up the Tonle River to Tonle Sap.)
• Return to Phnom Penh. Enjoy your last dinner and night aboard the ship.

Day Eleven

• Breakfast and disembarkation. Fly to Siem Reap.
• Arrive in Siem Reap, famous for its remarkable temples of Angkor and a popular tourist destination in Cambodia. The temples were built between the 9th and the 13th centuries as the Khmer religion transformed from Hinduism to Buddhism and therefore they display unique architectural designs of the time period. After lunch visit Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat.
• For the remainder of your day, choose to stay at the temples for a beautiful sunset or explore the rest of Siem Reap on your own.
• Dinner is on your own.
• Overnight in your Siem Reap hotel.

Day Twelve

• Breakfast.
• For your last day, take in all that Siem Reap has to offer. Visit Ta Prohm, a unique Angkor temple that is relatively untouched compared to the other temples seen the previous day with tree roots growing around and through it.
• Lunch on your own.
• Tonight enjoy dinner and a private Apsara dance performed by local, talented dancers, singers, and musicians.
• Overnight in Siem Reap hotel.

Day Thirteen

• Breakfast and check out.