Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City (1R3) - 11 days -or- Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap (1H3) - 11 days	For further assistance call 1-800-526-8539
Ship - RV Indochine I, RV Indochine II , Lan Diep	Ask about our Travel Insurance

Detailed Itinerary: Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City

Skip to Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap itinerary

Your program will begin according to your time of arrival. If your flight arrives between 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., your program will be: Lunch will be served at the hotel. After, we’ll visit the mysterious Beng Mealea temple, whose ruins were once utterly consumed by jungle. The temple was built in the 12th century and used the same floor plan as Angkor Wat. We’ll have dinner in the city and spend the night at a four-star hotel.

This morning, we’ll tour Ta Prohm and Angkor Thom. Stroll through the grounds of the former Royal Palace, and discover the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King. We’ll have lunch in the city before visiting the Senteurs d'Angkor, a local business with a diverse collection of silk and carvings, as well as a superb range of traditional beauty products and spices, all made locally. We’ll end the day with Phare, the Cambodian circus, and spend the night at the hotel.

We’ll visit the Angkor Wat temple: the epitome of Khmer architectural art and the most famous and imposing of all the monuments in Angkor. Lunch will be served at the hotel. After, you’ll be transferred to your ship. Our crew will welcome you and help you get comfortably settled into your cabins. We’ll have dinner and formally meet our crew. Our ship will remain anchored overnight.

WWe’ll spend the morning crossing Tonle Sap Lake. We’ll enjoy lunch on board before visiting Kampong Chhnang, one of the largest fishing ports on the Tonle Sap. 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 also enjoy a tasting of regional products before returning on board and beginning to cruise to Kampong Tralach. Our ship will remain anchored overnight.

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. We’ll enjoy lunch on board before exploring the small village of Koh Chen, where craftspeople specialize in silver and copper work. After our tour, we’ll return on board and begin to cruise to Phnom Penh. Once we arrive, 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. Our ship will remain overnight in Phnom Penh. 

We’ll enjoy a tour of the fabulous Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda, which is inlaid with more than 5,000 silver tiles. After, join us for a visit to the National Museum of Cambodia. We’ll have lunch in the city. In the afternoon, 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. After our tour, we’ll return on board and begin to cruise to Vietnam. Our ship will be anchored overnight.

Located on the border between Cambodia and Vietnam, the prosperous city of Chau Doc has developed around fish and fish farming. We’ll pay a visit to the Ba Chua Xu Temple and the Tay An Pagoda. Lunch on board. We’ll begin to cruise toward Sa Dec. We’ll have dinner and spend the night on board. 

DAY 8: 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. We’ll have dinner and spend the night on board. 

We'll visit a bee farm and enjoy some honey tea and exotic fruit. We'll then take a ride in small sampans along the canal lined with mangrove palms and have a glimpse of villagers going about their daily lives. We’ll enjoy lunch on board and then set out to cross the very narrow canal, heading for Ho Chi Minh City and spending the night on the ship, which will remain moored in central Ho Chi Minh City.

DAY 10: HO CHI MINH CITY

Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, is the most populous city in Vietnam. We’ll enjoy a tour of the city to see the Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Saigon Central Post Office. After, join us for a visit to the Museum of Vietnamese History. Lunch will be served on board. We’ll leave by coach for the Cu Chi tunnels, an immense network of underground tunnels that were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War. After our excursion, we’ll return to the ship. Tonight, we’ll have our farewell cocktail and dinner and spend the night at the port.

Enjoy breakfast on board this morning. After you disembark from the ship, we’ll head to Cholon, the Chinese-influenced section of the city. We’ll enjoy lunch and we’ll bid you farewell at approximately 2:00 p.m. Please do not book your flight before 5:00 p.m.

Departures & Pricing

Skip to Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh itinerary

Meet at the Liberty Central Riverside Hotel restaurant between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Lunch at the hotel.

In the afternoon, a tour of the city to see the Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Saigon Central Post Office.  Next, we’ll head to Cholon, the Chinese-influenced section of the city, to tour its hectic market and the Thien Hau temple. You’ll then be transferred to our ship. After comfortably settling into your cabins, we’ll introduce our crew at a welcome cocktail. We'll have dinner and spend the night on the ship, which will remain moored.

We’ll leave by coach for the Cu Chi tunnels, an immense network of underground tunnels that were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War. After lunch, join us for a visit to the Museum of Vietnamese History. We’ll then begin to cruise to the splendid Cho Gao canal. We’ll spend the night on board.

During our passage through the Cho Gao Canal, you’ll discover the daily life in Vietnam—organized around fishing, farming, and transport. In My Tho, we'll visit a bee farm and enjoy some honey tea and exotic fruit. We'll then take a ride in small sampans along the canal lined with mangrove palms. After lunch on board, we’ll visit Vinh Long, located in the middle of the Delta region between two of the Mekong’s distributaries. We’ll discover a brick and pottery factory, a fruit-tree nursery, puffed riced, rice-paper wrappers, and rice alcohol.* We’ll spend the night on board.

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 return on board and cast off as you sit down to lunch. Our ship will begin to cruise to Cambodia. We’ll spend the night on board.

After breakfast and our arrival in Chau Doc, we’ll visit a local fish farm, the Ba Chua Xu Temple, and the Tay An Pagoda. We’ll enjoy lunch on board and arrive in Phnom Penh in the evening. We’ll enjoy dinner on board this evening. Set out on a brief tour of the area by "tuk-tuk," the easiest way to get around the city. We’ll remain in port overnight.

We’ll enjoy a tour of the fabulous Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda, which is inlaid with more than 5,000 silver tiles. After, join us for a visit to the National Museum of Cambodia. We’ll have lunch in the city. In the afternoon, 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 to the ship and enjoy a performance of classical Khmer dancing and music. We’ll have dinner on board and remain in port overnight. The rest of the evening is yours to do as you please.

Once we arrive in Koh Chen, you can explore this small village where craftspeople specialize in silver and copper work. Enjoy lunch on board. We’ll head to Kampong Tralach 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. Our ship will remain anchored overnight.

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 also enjoy a tasting of regional products. Enjoy lunch on board. We’ll cruise to Tonle Sap Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. Tonight, we’ll have our final cocktail and dinner on the ship. Our ship will remain anchored overnight.

We’ll spend the morning cruising the river before disembarking and having lunch on shore. After, we'll visit the Angkor Wat temple: the epitome of Khmer architectural art and the most famous and imposing of all the monuments in Angkor. Enjoy a stroll through the Angkor Night Market. Dinner and overnight in hotel (Accommodations will be at either a 4-star or 5-star hotel according to the cruise you choose).

DAY 10: SIEM REAP

This morning, we’ll visit the mysterious Beng Mealea temple, whose ruins were once utterly consumed by jungle. The temple was built in the 12th century and used the same floor plan as Angkor Wat. We’ll have lunch in the city. We’ll visit the Senteurs d'Angkor, a local business with a diverse collection of silk and carvings, as well as a superb range of traditional beauty products and spices, all made locally. We’ll also visit a silk farm to learn about the complex process of creating the luxurious fabric. We’ll end the day with Phare, the Cambodian circus, and spend the night at the hotel.

This morning, we’ll tour Ta Prohm, a Cambodian temple dedicated to the family of Jayavarman VII. We’ll then explore Angkor Thom. Stroll through the grounds of the former Royal Palace and discover the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King. Lunch will be served at the hotel.

We’ll bid you farewell at approximately 2:00 p.m. Please do not book your flight before 5:00 p.m..

Departures & Pricing 

Note:

• This type of cruise is not recommended for passengers with limited mobility.
• You must have a passport valid for at least 6 months after the return date home. Visas are compulsory for Vietnam and Cambodia, please check visa requirements with your local consulate(s); responsibility for obtaining visas rests with the traveler.
• HEALTH: There is no compulsory vaccinations for this destination. However, it is strongly recommended that you ensure that your inoculations for the following diseases are up-to-date: Polio, Hepatitis A and D, Diphtheria and Typhoid. It is not recommended that you drink tap water and to drink bottled mineral water only (watch the seal being broken before accepting the bottle) and tea. It is important that you bring with you any of your usual medication (aspirin, anti-diarrhea, tablets, etc.). Mosquito repellent is strongly recommended.
• The itinerary, ports of call and visits are subject to modification by the ship owner and/or our representatives on the spot. The excursions may be amended or completed in the reverse order if it is deemed necessary. The ship’s captain reserves the right to modify the cruising itinerary to ensure the safe navigation of the vessel.
• The banks of the river on which we travel can be very steep and slippery, depending on the water levels.
• Crossing the Tonle Sap Lake : when water levels are high, from August to the end of December, the RV Indochine crosses the lake. When water levels are low, from January to Mid-March, we cross the lake with speedy boats to join the RV Indochine at Koh Chen. Finally, when water levels are very low, around Mid-March, transfer between Siem Reap and Koh Chen would be organized by air-conditioned coach.