Mekong cruise from Saigon to Siem Reap 13 days – Old

Saigon (currently Ho Chi Minh city) varies from the rest of Vietnam due to its modern flair. Various cultures mesh together to create a colorful city with foreign influences:

• Built by the Cantonese congregation, Thien Hau Temple and the Binh Tay Market both reside in the Cholon district, which is presently the largest community of Chinese.
• The War Remnants Museum houses a history of locals’ perspectives of the American/Vietnam War.
• The old Presidential Palace is where victory was declared after years of fighting and is preserved as found with vehicles still in the garages.
• The Notre Dame Cathedral and Old Saigon Post Office are both magnificent displays of French architecture.

Venture away from Saigon, through rural scenes, to encounter mysterious religious practices and unusual sites of preserved history:

• Investigate the unique Cao Dai Temple, and be launched into this melting pot of Eastern and Western theologies.
• Witness the famous Cu Chi Tunnels, and scramble through part of an unbelievably complex system of tunnels built by the Vietnamese resistance fighters.

Board a grand, yet homely cruiseliner and embark on a leisurely four-day cruise. Depart Saigon and head for the rich, fertile lands of the Mekong Delta region and its extraordinarily busy inhabitants:

• Observe pastoral scenes from your cabin’s balcony, or whilst taking tea on deck.
• Pass by the floating market of Cai Be, though this is shrinking as trade moves increasingly inland, and to the central markets.
• Catch your first sight of Cai Be, a quaint town famed for its French Catholic Church and the production of food products, especially rice.

Start another eventful day in the Mekong Delta at Cai Be, before heading out to smaller communities around Sa Dec, and end at Tan Chau, on the border with Cambodia:

• Witness the floating markets in which traders barter and bargain from boat to boat, differentiated by markers in order to distinguish which product is being traded.
• Be impressed by the local industry as you visit an onshore workshop making rice wine, rice paste or rice paper.
• Board a local boat and transverse the network of smaller canals.
• Return to the cruiseliner and arrive in Sa Dec, where you will take a traditional sampan tour.
• Wander villages occupied by craftwork industry, and have a go at weaving yourself!

Embark on your journey towards Phnom Penh – taking in Tan Chau on the way.

• Dawdle in the slow-paced town of Tan Chau, with its Chinese, Khmer, and Kinh ethnic minority populations.
• Survey the area from a “xe loi”, a local vehicle used as a taxi, and prepare to bargain at a bustling market!
• Take to the water in a local boat once more, to visit a floating fish farm which feeds the country.
• Engage in culinary escapades and join in an onboard cooking class!
• Dock in Phnom Penh, where you’re free to stroll down the promenade and explore Cambodia’s capital independently.

Learn about the tragedy of the recent past under the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Afterward, be swept away in the sensations of Phnom Penh’s spectacular architecture.

• Take in the sombre atmosphere of the camp Choeng Ek Killing Field, outside Phnom Penh, the final resting place of many Cambodian people, murdered by the brutal Khmer Rouge regime.
• Be educated about the nation’s past at the Museum of Genocidal Crime, which was the S-21 prison – the scene of the worst examples of brutality and torture under the infamous Pol Pot. (You can also opt to visit the city by yourself and rejoin the group later).
• Visit the Royal Palace, resplendent in its gold edifice and traditional Khmer architecture.
• See the Silver Pagoda and its magnificent Emerald Buddha.
• Fascinating Khmer crafts await your inspection at the National Museum of Fine Arts.

Enter a bygone age with a wander around Angkor Ban village, before dropping by a local school, and then viewing rare pre-Angkorian architecture at Wat Hanchey.

• Gaze on unspoilt views and a thouroughly traditional way of life at Angkor Ban.
• Delight in the laughter and skills of children at an NGO supported school.
• Converse with monks at Wat Nokor, a colourful monastery.
• Appreciate the historical significance of Wat Hanchey, from its vantage point looking down onto the Mekong.

Sailing downstream, appreciate the sheer variety of life on the Mekong, particularly on the island of Koh Oknha Tay. Reaching the confluence of the Mekong and Tonle rivers, roam around the locality in truly novel style – with an oxcart ride!

• Follow the production of silk from worm to finished product on Koh Oknha Tay, a renowned center of silk manufacture.
• Witness an auspicious monks’ blessing ceremony on board the ship.
• Glide through the jungle landscape of Kampong Tralach, and disembark from an oxcart ride! Get up close to the livestock with sustain this community.

Finding yourself surrounded by a completely aquatic landscape, see how everyday life is transformed by its proximity to, and dependence on water. Onshore, saunter around a local village, complete with speciality produce, and then gap at the vast Tonle Lake as you sail across it.

• Become acquainted with the local specialities of Khmer pottery and palm sugar of the finest quality.
• Appreciate panoramic views of Asia’s biggest lake.
• Lose yourself in this azure scene, and rejoice in the overwhelming power of nature.

Arriving in Angkor Wat, you’ll rove among the ruins of the world’s most famous Hindu temple complexes, built for gods, and fit for kings.

• Gaze upon the fascinating Buddhist monastery of Ta Phrom, where the jungle threatens to reclaim all stone structures, in time.
• Visit the three-tiered Baphuon (a temple in honour of another Hindu deity, Shiva) with its spectacular layered structure.
• Pass through the Terrace of the Elephants, once a viewing platform for kings.
• See the Terrace of the Leper King with its beautiful carvings of gods, nagas (semi-divine serpents), and dancers.
• Visit the Royal Enclosure and its small temple, Phimeanakas. These ruins are particularly significant as they date from the 10th century.

Delve deeper into Angkor Wat, and get a sense of true history in the Buddhist sites patronised by King Jayavarman VII, including the Angkorian monastery of the “sacred sword”. Then, go back to where it all started, and view some of the earliest temples in Siem Reap, heralding the start of Khmer architecture.

• Leave behind the crowds of tourists and view the less-appreciated, but newly restored Ta Som temple.
• Discover the Roluos Group, and its three main temples, dedicated to Shiva.
• Prepare to be dumbfounded by incredibly intricate sandstone carvings at Temple Lolei.
• Visualise the first Angkorian capital city, by gazing at the remains of Bakong Temple, which was the city’s focal point for worship and rituals.

Free time until transfer to the airport for your departure flight.