The Mekong Delta is a vast and beautiful region of Vietnam and Cambodia. Life in the Mekong Delta revolves much around the river, and many of the villages are often accessible by rivers and canals rather than by road. Mekong Delta is home to predominantly Vietnamese, Cambodians, the Khmer, the Hoa (ethnic Chinese). This lush area is one of the most alluring stops for nature and culture lovers.
Read moreLet’s explore Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s most bustling city once called “Pearl Of The Far East” on a motorbike tour like a local. Then board a cruise for a leisurely ride along the river. Along the banks you’ll see elegant colonial buildings, caramel rivers, rustling forests, painted boats, eye-catching floating markets, tropical fruit orchards, family-run factories, traditional craft villages,… And then there’s the unique cuisine.
As one plies the waters from Vietnam to Cambodia, Mekong Delta is bursting with life, while Phnom Penh tempts with its rustic charm. The heart of Cambodia showcases the charming, rural local life and a glimpse into pre-Angkorian architecture. And the route is full of thriving cities or rural communities or floating villages and floating markets and endless rice paddies, pagodas and temples,…
Villagers bathe in the waters and trade along the banks. Men cast traditional fishing nets into the river pregnant with freshwater fish at daybreak, and, at day’s end, kids paddle around, holding large banana trunks as a floating device. Indeed, while pampered by all the luxurious material spoils one can ask for, it is the priceless warmth of the local people that makes a journey like this truly exceptional.
Package includes international airfare (4-star Vietnam Airlines), 11 nights cruise & hotel accommodation (4-5 stars), all transfers and transportation, local English-speaking guides and more.
This journey takes you to: Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) – Mekong Delta – Phnom Penh (Cambodia) – Angkor Ban – Kampong Cham – Siem Reap
(For destination’s further information, please click on the destination name.)
Day 1: Sydney / Melbourne – Ho Chi Minh City Arrival (International Flight)
Day 2: Ho Chi Minh City
Day 3: Ho Chi Minh City – Ben Tre (By Cruise)
Day 4: Ben Tre – Can Tho (By Cruise)
Day 5: Can Tho – Hoa An (By Cruise)
Day 6: Gieng Island – Hong Ngu – Border Crossing (By Cruise)
Day 7: Phnom Penh
Day 8: Phnom Penh
Day 9: Phnom Penh – Angkor Ban (By Cruise)
Day 10: Kampong Cham – Siem Reap (By Cruise)
Day 11: Siem Reap
Day 12: Siem Reap Departure – Back To Sydney / Melbourne (International Flight)
Departure from Australia and New Zealand, upon arrival Tan Son Nhat airport you are met and transferred to your hotel. Then you are free at leisure.
Note: Check in time is 14:00 P.M. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.
Meal included: None
Landing time around 4pm with Vietnam Airlines
Breakfast at hotel. At around 09:00 our talented guide with the motorbike picks you up at your hotel for the 4hour motorbike tour. After a short riding instruction and program introduction, we hop on the motorbike. First stop is at at tourist attractions in District 1 including Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral, Saigon Central Post Office where you admire the beauty of old French architectural works, learn more about history and culture, take the most beautiful photos in the city. A lovely book street next to the post office is worth wandering. we will visit Venerable Thich Quang Duc Monument. We will tell you some less-known history and story about the monk and his unburned heart.
Head to District 3 and a Nguyen Thien Thuat apartment building which were built in the 1960s and have been home to lots of Saigon people. There you can see the real Saigon local life. Before reaching the coffee shop, we stop at one of Saigon’s Top 3 Banh mi shops, see how they make a great Vietnamese sandwich with crispy crust and amazing fillings. Drive to a small street food stall which is over 20 years old to learn how they wrap and grill one of top Saigon Street foods – Grilled banana & sticky rice in banana leaves. It is a big chance to stop at Cheo Leo cafe – an 80-year coffee shop hidden in an alley and famous for its distinct “Vot” coffee. There you sit around a table, take a rest, enjoy the drink, eat Vietnamese bread, Grilled banana in sticky rice, and chat leisurely with the guide as a friend like locals. You also learn how to make a cup of “Vot” coffee and interact with the nice owner of the coffee shop. Then we head to District 10 and stop at Ho Thi Ky flower market – a huge wholesale flower market where you have a chance to see thousands of colorful flowers, fresh vegetables, live animals, and many strange things.
After that, we drive around hidden parts including fashion street, painting street, medicine street, electronic market, fabric market, lantern market, fruit market, bird market gives you an insider view of the hidden city which is missed on normal city tours by car/bus. Escaping from the noisy and busy streets, we head to Thien Hau Temple to listen to mysterious stories, learn more about the unique architecture and religious life. On the way to District 1, we stop to eat again at an over 20-year-old restaurant known as Top 5 Places to eat Vietnamese pancake in Saigon. The guide shows you how the cook makes thin, large, and crispy pancakes skillfully, how to wrap the cake in vegetables and eat. There we also enjoy Rice noodles with grilled pork/fried roll – a specialty food of the city. Guide drive back to your hotel after passing by Ben Thanh Market. It is time to say goodbye, the Private Saigon Sightseeing & Food Tour by Motorbike ends but memories last forever.
Meals: Breakfast at hotel. Lunch: street food at local places
Breakfast at hotel. At 11:30 A.M, our guide awaits you at Park Hyatt Saigon, then transfer to the Mekong Princess docking at Saigon Port – 05 Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, Ward 13, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City. Once aboard, a safety briefing as soon as you embarked will take place in the Ramvong Lounge. You will be welcomed by your Vietnamese and Cambodian ship’s crew, before embarking on the most extraordinary journey of discovery.
Lunch, with highly attentive oriental hospitality, will be served soon after departure, as we cruise along the Saigon River. Having settled into your luxurious suites, you can relax and enjoy the new scenes and watch the world pass by. We sail at midday through Saigon River, Soai Rap River, Nuoc Man canal, Vam Co river and Cho Gao canal to the ‘Mighty Mekong River’. Late in the day, we anchor in the heart of the Mekong Delta, time to enjoy crafted cocktails by our skilled bartenders and watch the sun sets, and sampans passing by. A traditional Vietnamese “A La Carte” dinner will be served in the Indochine onboard Restaurant, embracing a subtle fusion of dishes for the most delicate palates.
Meals: Break fast at hotel. Lunch and dinner onboard
This morning, sampans take you through a channel lined with mangroves. We will try one of most popular local transportation named “xe lam” (three-wheeler) to visit a local coconut candy maker. After watching the candy-making process, walking through the village to visit an orchard where fruits native to Vietnam can be seen in various stages of maturity on the vine.
After a fresh fruit tasting, you continue to a pier where you board small, local boats for a trip through the narrow creeks lined with Nipah palm before returning to the ship. This afternoon, the ship sails through an area of the Mekong Delta barely touched by tourism to Can Tho city, known as Tay Do – the capital of the Mekong Delta. Guests will take a short and orientated city tour with visiting to the Zihuang Pagoda (Chua Ong) and enjoying the welcome unicorn dances. Explore on your own around the charming city before having dinner onboard. The ship docks in Can Tho overnight.
*Onboard activity: Lecture of Vietnam, Vietnam’s People, Culture & colonial History.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner onboard
We start our morning before breakfast aboard the sampans for a cruise through the fascinating Cai Rang floating market near Can Tho. The sampans will weave in and out of the many boats that sail into the market each morning to sell produce and other items the residents of the Mekong Delta need in their daily lives. As they weave through the market, there will be many opportunities for amazing photographs, while enjoying fresh fruit and the Vietnamese “anti-aging drink,” fresh coconut water.
Before returning to the ship for a sumptuous buffet breakfast, we stop at a local noodle factory, where we witness the amazing process of how they are made. After lunch, continue excursion by boat to Hoa An village, where is untouched and well-known with flower growing and handmade craft. Our first stop at flower gardens where we will see many kinds of flowers and learn how to grow and take care of them. Then, a short walking to a local house and chat with the host to see how they live and work in their daily life.
After a short break, continue our excursion on motor trishaw to another village. We stop by at the conical hat-making families, have memorable time chatting with local family members and learning how to create products. Enjoy your walk in the peaceful village with rice fields, fruit trees in between visiting few local families. The Princess sails and anchors near Gieng Island.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner onboard
After breakfast, we board sampans that will take us into Gieng Island. After a short walk around the local sampan village, where sampans are produced daily by local families, we take a canal drive to explore the mango gardens along the riverbanks. We will try one of most popular local transportation named “xe loi” (motor trishaw) driving through this island to visit a Phanxico Monastery.
This afternoon, we visit the local island village of Hong Ngu, not far from the Vietnam-Cambodia border. Hong Ngu produces a large number of the traditional, Khmer scarves exported to Cambodia. Woven in many homes around the village, here we have the opportunity to see the weaving process under several homes. Some villagers are also embroidery artists, displaying their art in and around the homes. The inhabitants of this area had only encountered a few western visitors prior to the arrival of the Mekong Princess, they are especially friendly and welcoming.
Guests will also visit the local temple dedicated to a unique religion founded in this area of Vietnam, Hoa Hao. This late afternoon, the Mekong Princess will arrive at the border area to complete exit procedures and continue up the Mekong River to Phnom Penh (capital of Kingdom Cambodia).
*Onboard activity: Cooking Class Demonstration by our Executive Chef.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner onboard
Our Princess will dock at Phnom Penh port. After completing immigration procedures to Cambodia, local cyclo drivers meet you for an exciting city tour of Phnom Penh. You begin your ride along the riverfront to the Independence Monument, Wat Phnom.
Following a short break, your cyclos take you to the National Museum. Housing the largest pre-Angkorian and Angkorian holdings in Cambodia, the National Museum ends the tour with a comprehensive look at many of the artifacts excavated around the Angkor Archeological Area in Siem Reap, as well as other areas around the former Khmer Empire. The ship docks in Phnom Penh overnight.
*Onboard activity: Fruit Carvings & Tropical Fruits Demonstration; Lecture of Cambodia’s Geography and Life along the Mekong River by your host.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner onboard
This morning, private motorcoach take you on a scenic 45-minute drive from the ship, arriving at Choeung Ek, the killing fields depicted in the movie, and the center of the darkest days of Cambodian history. You may walk through the fields, visit the small museum and Memorial Stupa, and learn more about the atrocities committed during the Khmer Rouge regime.
On the return drive to Phnom Penh, a stop is made at Tuol Sleng (infamously known as S-21), which was converted by the Khmer Rouge from a large school to a prison and torture headquarters. This afternoon is free at leisure for your own exploration the charming city of Phnom Penh.
This evening before dinner, enjoying the entertainment onboard with a cultural performance including Apsara, Cambodia’s national dance, as well as several traditional folk dances. The ship docks in Phnom Penh overnight.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner onboard
The Mekong Princess leaves Phnom Penh and sails to Angkor Ban. We start the afternoon tour with a visit to the charming and authentic town of Angkor Ban. Here, we witness the daily life of the local people, starting with a visit to the pagoda with a special blessing ceremony for our guests by local monks, then we keep going on visiting to a local family’s home, to meet them and discuss their lifestyle.
We continue through the village to the local school where we join the children in their classroom and experience what their typical school days like. Ship sails to Kampong Cham and docks overnight.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner onboard
Enjoy a sumptuous Breakfast Buffet in the Indochine Restaurant. After breakfast, we disembark the Mekong Princess in Kampong Cham. Transfer by motorcoach to Siem Reap. Arrive Meeting Point at the Park Hyatt Siem Reap Hotel at noon. Transfer to check in hotel in Siem Reap. enjoy a boat ride on the Tonle Sap Lake at Kampong Phluk Village.
This is the largest permanent fresh-water lake in Southeast Asia and flows into Tonle Sap River, joining the Mekong in Phnom Penh. We will see a fishermen’s “floating village” with floating schools, floating police station, etc. It is same as a big village floating on the lake, and the “village” move from place-to-place following water levels and current. Back to town and overnight in Siem Reap.
Meals:Breakfast onboard
After breakfast at hotel, Visit the antique capital of Angkor Thom (12 century) the South Gate with its huge statues depicting the churning of the ocean of milk, the Bayon Temple, unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces of Avolokitesvara, the Phimeanakas, the Royal Enclosure, the Elephants Terrace and the Terrace of the Leper King.
Lunch at local restaurant. Visit to Ta Prohm, one of the area’s most beautiful temples. Ta Prohm has been relatively untouched since it was discovered and retains much of its mystery, and the most famous of all the temples on the plain of Angkor: Angkor Wat. The temple complex covers 81 hectares and is comparable in size to the Imperial Palace in Beijing.
Its distinctive five towers are emblazoned on the Cambodian flag and the 12th century masterpiece is considered by art historians to be the prime example of classical Khmer art and architecture. Enjoy wonderful sunset from the top of Angkor Wat Temple. Back to town and overnight in Siemreap.
Meals: Breakfast at hotel. Lunch at a local restaurant
Breakfast at hotel. Free time for your leisure. Check out and transfer to the airport for your flight home.
Free activities in Siem Reap:
1/ The Old Market (Phsar Chas) most favourite market, catering to locals as a household goods and wet market during the day, and for tourists as a souvenir market both day and night.
2/ Pub Street: there are a lot of restaurants, street bar/ pub along this street.
3/ Artisans Angkor is a Cambodian social business which was originally created to revive Khmer cultural. A shopping area which all products are handmade.
4/ Wat Damnak: Visit from 6am to 9pm. You may enter and sit to listen to the monks chant/prayer
Meals: Breakfast at hotel
Ends of services
| Net Tour Cost Per Person in AUD Base on Double/Twin Sharing Land + Airfare from Sydney & Melbourne & Perth * Our Add-on Interstate Surcharges from Brisbane/ Adelaide & New Zealand to Sydney/ Melbourne will be the BEST to create through Airfares. |
||
|---|---|---|
| Group size (Min.2 person) | Superior Class (4*) | Deluxe Class (5*) |
| Price per person from | $ 5,890 | $ 6,390 |
Children Policy:
Remarks: Cruises are not safe and suitable for small children under 6 years old as they have railing but no netting.
Superior Class (4*)
| City | Hotel | Room Type |
|---|---|---|
| Ho Chi Minh City | Central Palace | Luxury |
| Cruise | Mekong Princess | Saigon Suites |
| Siem Reap | Tara Angkor | Superior |
Deluxe Class (5*)
| City | Hotel | Room Type |
|---|---|---|
| Ho Chi Minh City | Grand Saigon | Deluxe |
| Cruise | Mekong Princess | Apsara Suites |
| Siem Reap | Borei Angkor | Deluxe |
Departure 2024
* Our Add-on Interstate Surcharges from Brisbane/ Adelaide & New Zealand to Sydney/ Melbourne will be the BEST to create through Airfares.
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