Downstream journey: Siem Reap - Mekong Delta - Ho Chi Minh City (port-to-port cruise)

SIEM REAP - KAMPONG CHHNANG - KAMPONG TRALACH - KOH CHEN - PHNOM PENH - CHAU DOC - SA DEC - VINH LONG - CAI BE - MY THO - HO-CHI-MINH CITY

Day 1: SIEM REAP
Please arrive at the Hotel Lotus Blanc at 1:00 PM for the boat RV Indochine II and at the Hotel Victoria for the boat RV Indochine. Transfer to your cruise boat. After comfortably settling into your cabins, we’ll introduce our crew at a welcome cocktail and enjoy dinner. We’ll spend the night on board.

Day 2: TONLE SAP LAKE – KAMPONG CHHNANG
Enjoy breakfast as we cruise across the lake. After lunch, we’ll visit Kampong Chhnang, one of the largest fishing ports on Tonle Sap Lake. Fish farming is abundant here. The region is also known for its traditional pottery combining ancient knowledge with modern techniques—Chhnang itself means "pot." We'll enjoy tasting of regional products before returning on board and beginning to cruise to Kampong Tralach. We’ll have dinner and spend the night on board.

Day 3: KAMPONG TRALACH - KOH CHEN - PHNOM PENH
We will set out to visit the beautiful Vihara at the Wat Kampong Tralach Leu pagoda. To access the pagoda we need to cross the village of Kampong Tralach in ox carts, moving along a small road that runs perpendicular to the river in the middle of magnificent rice fields. After lunch, we'll arrive in Koh Chen. You can explore this small village where craftspeople specialize in silver and copper work. After returning on board, we'll spend the afternoon cruising towards Phnom Penh, arriving in the early evening. Enjoy a brief tour of the area by "tuk-tuk", the easiest way to get around the city. We’ll return to the ship and enjoy a performance of classical Khmer dancing and music and have dinner. 

Day 4: PHNOM PENH
We’ll enjoy a tour of the fabulous Royal Palace, one of the most impressive examples of Cambodian architecture, and its Silver Pagoda. Onward to visit the National Museum. After lunch in town, you can pay a visit to the Tuol Svay Prey School, a former detention, torture, and execution center run by the Khmer Rouge during the civil war. Afterwards, enjoy some free time at the market. We'll return on board for dinner in the evening and start sailing towards Vietnam.

Day 5: CHAU DOC – SA DEC
Have breakfast on board and spend the morning afloat. We cross into Vietnam and complete customs formalities at the border. Lunch on board, arriving in the early afternoon in Chau Doc, a town at the border between Cambodia and Vietnam which became part of Vietnamese territory some 300 years ago. Situated in the heart of a gigantic grid of rice fields, the city of Chau Doc embraces both banks of the Mekong and the floating farms overspill into the waters. Chau Doc is a very prosperous town which developed around fishing and farming. Inside the town, a few colonial buildings with their old fashioned charm still remain. The market which surrounds them is the vibrant heart of the city. We transfer by small boat to visit a Cham village, a village of silk weavers and fish farms. We then set off by mini-van and visit Ba Chua Xu temple and Tay An pagoda. We return on board and continue our cruise towards Sa Dec. Dinner and overnight stop on the river bank.

Day 6: SA DEC – VINH LONG – CAI BE
Visit the former house of Huynh Thuy Le, the man who Marguerite Duras based her book The Lover on. After our excursion, enjoy some free time in Sa Dec. We’ll have lunch on board and cruise to Vinh Long. We’ll set out in smaller boats and travel through canals and orchards before arriving in Cai Be. We’ll discover a brick and pottery factory as well as a traditional factory producing puffed riced, rice-paper wrappers used to make nems, and rice alcohol. We’ll return on board our ship and begin to cruise. Having dinner and spend the night on board. 

Day 7: MY THO – HO CHI MINH CITY (SAI GON)
Early morning breakfast on board before we visit the near islands of My Tho in small local boats. Renowned for its many vegetable gardens, fruit orchards, the climate here is hot and pleasant all year long. The surrounding countryside includes one of the most luxuriant gardens in Vietnam with coconut, banana, mango and logan trees. Along the maze that makes up the network of small canals, pretty country villages appear and we see the local craftsmen at work. On the largest of the islands (Thoi Son), we will visit a beekeeping farm where we will taste honey tea and exotic fruits. Continue onto the traditional rowing sampan along the manmade canal to visit one of coconut processing workshops located along canal where you can sample fresh coconut and see how every single part of this versatile nut is turned into food and other products. We return on board for lunch and continue with our magnificent cruise, taking the narrow Cho Gao canal and heading for Ho Chi Minh City. Dinner and overnight on board in the port of Ho Chi Minh City. After dinner the evening is at leisure. 

Day 8: HO CHI MINH CITY (SAI GON)
Ho Chi Minh City was heavily influenced by French colonialism in the 19th century. We’ll enjoy a tour of the city to see the Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral and Central Post Office, Museum of Vietnamese History. Lunch will be served on board.
Afternoon depart Ho Chi Minh City for a drive to Cu Chi district. Leaving the city behind, the scenery changes to views of rice paddies, villagers drying noodles by the side of the road and other scenes typical to southern Vietnam. Arrive and start the visit of the famous Cu Chi Tunnels which consist of an incredible underground tunnel network constructed by Vietnamese resistance fighters (Viet Cong) during both the French and American wars. Start the visit with the Ben Dinh sections of the tunnel. Here you can imagine what it was like to be a guerrilla complete with Russian Carbine rifles and AK 47’s on display.
Return to the ship for farewell cocktail and dinner. Moor for the night in the port of Ho Chi Minh City.

Day 9: HO CHI MINH CITY (SAI GON)
After breakfast, we disembark our ship and devote our morning to visiting Cholon district, the major centre of Chinese trade in the capital city, and Thien Hau pagoda, dedicated to the Goddess of the Sea at the end of the 18th century. After lunch at Liberty Central Riverside hotel, you will be transfer to airport or departure. (Please do not book your flight before 5:00). End of journey.