| | | | | Arrive | Depart |
| 6th06 | DecDec | 202424 | Siem Reap, Cambodia, embark on the RV Indochine II | 11:00 | 11:00 |
| Meeting at 1 p.m. at the hotel Lotus Blanc(1) (ships: RV Indochine I and Lan Diep) and the hotel Sofitek Angkor(1) (ship: RV Indochine II). Transfer to your cruise boat. After comfortably settling into your cabins, we'll introduce our crew at a welcome cocktail and have dinner on board. We'll spend the night on board. |
| 7th07 | DecDec | 202424 | Siem Reap, Cambodia | | |
| We'll arrive in Koh Chen. Lunch on board, then we will set out to visit the beautiful Vihara at the Wat Kampong Tralach Leu pagoda. We'll spend the night on board. |
| 7th07 | DecDec | 202424 | Kampong Tralach, Cambodia | | |
| 8th08 | DecDec | 202424 | Kampong Tralach, Cambodia | | |
| Well visit Kampong Chhnang, one of the largest fishing ports. Lunch and 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. Well return to the ship and enjoy a performance of classical Khmer dancing and music and have dinner. |
| 8th08 | DecDec | 202424 | Phnom Penh, Cambodia | | |
| Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s busy capital, sits at the junction of the Mekong and Tonlé Sap rivers. It was a hub for both the Khmer Empire and French colonialists. On its walkable riverfront, lined with parks, restaurants and bars, are the ornate Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and the National Museum, displaying artifacts from around the country. At the city’s heart is the massive, art deco Central Market. |
| 9th09 | DecDec | 202424 | Phnom Penh, Cambodia | | |
| Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s busy capital, sits at the junction of the Mekong and Tonlé Sap rivers. It was a hub for both the Khmer Empire and French colonialists. On its walkable riverfront, lined with parks, restaurants and bars, are the ornate Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and the National Museum, displaying artifacts from around the country. At the city’s heart is the massive, art deco Central Market. Well enjoy a tour of the fabulous Royal Palace. 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. We'll return on board, cruising to Chau Doc. We'll spend the night on board. |
| 10th10 | DecDec | 202424 | Phnom Penh, Cambodia | | |
| Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s busy capital, sits at the junction of the Mekong and Tonlé Sap rivers. It was a hub for both the Khmer Empire and French colonialists. On its walkable riverfront, lined with parks, restaurants and bars, are the ornate Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and the National Museum, displaying artifacts from around the country. At the city’s heart is the massive, art deco Central Market. Located on the border between Cambodia and Vietnam, the prosperous city of Chau Doc has developed around fish and fish farming. Floating farms invade the waters. Visit to the Tay An Pagoda and the Ba Chua Xu Temple. Lunch. Once we are back on board, well begin to cruise toward Sa Dec. Well spend the night on board. |
| 10th10 | DecDec | 202424 | Sa Déc, Vietnam | | |
| 11th11 | DecDec | 202424 | Sa Déc, Vietnam | | |
| Visit the former house of Huynh Thuy Le, the man who Marguerite Duras based her book The Lover on. Free time in Sa Dec. Lunch on board and cruise to Vinh Long. Arriving in Cai Be. Well 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*. Well return on board our ship and begin to cruise. Well have dinner and spend the night on board. |
| 11th11 | DecDec | 202424 | Cái Bè, Vietnam | | |
| 12th12 | DecDec | 202424 | Cái Bè, Vietnam | | |
| 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. Lunch will be served on board. We'll then set out to cross the very narrow Chao Gao Canal, heading for Ho Chi Minh City. We'll have dinner and remain in port overnight in the downtown area. |
| 12th12 | DecDec | 202424 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | | |
| Romantically referred to by the French as the Pearl of the Orient, Ho Chi Minh City today is a super-charged city of sensory overload. Motorbikes zoom day and night along the wide boulevards, through the narrow back alleys and past vendors pushing handcarts hawking goods of all descriptions. Still called Saigon by most residents, this is Vietnam's largest city and the engine driving the country's current economic resurgence, but despite its frenetic pace, it's a friendlier place than Hanoi and locals will tell you the food—simple, tasty, and incorporating many fresh herbs—is infinitely better than in the capital.This is a city full of surprises. The madness of the city's traffic—witness the oddball things that are transported on the back of motorcycles—is countered by tranquil pagodas, peaceful parks, quirky coffee shops, and whole neighborhoods hidden down tiny alleyways, although some of these quiet spots can be difficult to track down. Life in Ho Chi Minh City is lived in public: on the back of motorcycles, on the sidewalks, and in the parks. Even when its residents are at home, they're still on display. With many living rooms opening onto the street, grandmothers napping, babies being rocked, and food being prepared, are all in full view of passersby.Icons of the past endure in the midst of the city’s headlong rush into capitalism. The Hotel Continental, immortalized in Graham Greene's The Quiet American, continues to stand on the corner of old Indochina's most famous thoroughfare, the rue Catinat, known to American G.I.s during the Vietnam War as Tu Do (Freedom) Street and renamed Dong Khoi (Uprising) Street by the Communists. The city still has its ornate opera house and its old French city hall, the Hôtel de Ville. The broad colonial boulevards leading to the Saigon River and the gracious stucco villas are other remnants of the French colonial presence. Grisly reminders of the more recent past can be seen at the city's war-related museums. Residents, however, prefer to look forward rather than back and are often perplexed by tourists' fascination with a war that ended 40 years ago.The Chinese influence on the country is still very much in evidence in the Cholon district, the city's Chinatown, but the modern office towers and international hotels that mark the skyline symbolize Vietnam's fixation on the future. |
| 13th13 | DecDec | 202424 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | | |
| Romantically referred to by the French as the Pearl of the Orient, Ho Chi Minh City today is a super-charged city of sensory overload. Motorbikes zoom day and night along the wide boulevards, through the narrow back alleys and past vendors pushing handcarts hawking goods of all descriptions. Still called Saigon by most residents, this is Vietnam's largest city and the engine driving the country's current economic resurgence, but despite its frenetic pace, it's a friendlier place than Hanoi and locals will tell you the food—simple, tasty, and incorporating many fresh herbs—is infinitely better than in the capital.This is a city full of surprises. The madness of the city's traffic—witness the oddball things that are transported on the back of motorcycles—is countered by tranquil pagodas, peaceful parks, quirky coffee shops, and whole neighborhoods hidden down tiny alleyways, although some of these quiet spots can be difficult to track down. Life in Ho Chi Minh City is lived in public: on the back of motorcycles, on the sidewalks, and in the parks. Even when its residents are at home, they're still on display. With many living rooms opening onto the street, grandmothers napping, babies being rocked, and food being prepared, are all in full view of passersby.Icons of the past endure in the midst of the city’s headlong rush into capitalism. The Hotel Continental, immortalized in Graham Greene's The Quiet American, continues to stand on the corner of old Indochina's most famous thoroughfare, the rue Catinat, known to American G.I.s during the Vietnam War as Tu Do (Freedom) Street and renamed Dong Khoi (Uprising) Street by the Communists. The city still has its ornate opera house and its old French city hall, the Hôtel de Ville. The broad colonial boulevards leading to the Saigon River and the gracious stucco villas are other remnants of the French colonial presence. Grisly reminders of the more recent past can be seen at the city's war-related museums. Residents, however, prefer to look forward rather than back and are often perplexed by tourists' fascination with a war that ended 40 years ago.The Chinese influence on the country is still very much in evidence in the Cholon district, the city's Chinatown, but the modern office towers and international hotels that mark the skyline symbolize Vietnam's fixation on the future. 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 the Saigon Central Post Office, and visit the Museum of Vietnamese History. Lunch will be served on board. In the afternoon, we'll leave by coach for the Cu Chi tunnels, an immense network of underground tunnels that were used by Viet Cong soldiers as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches. After our excursion, we'll return on board our ship. Tonight we'll have our farewell cocktail and dinner. We'll remain in port overnight. |
| 14th14 | DecDec | 202424 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, disembark the RV Indochine II | | |
| Romantically referred to by the French as the Pearl of the Orient, Ho Chi Minh City today is a super-charged city of sensory overload. Motorbikes zoom day and night along the wide boulevards, through the narrow back alleys and past vendors pushing handcarts hawking goods of all descriptions. Still called Saigon by most residents, this is Vietnam's largest city and the engine driving the country's current economic resurgence, but despite its frenetic pace, it's a friendlier place than Hanoi and locals will tell you the food—simple, tasty, and incorporating many fresh herbs—is infinitely better than in the capital.This is a city full of surprises. The madness of the city's traffic—witness the oddball things that are transported on the back of motorcycles—is countered by tranquil pagodas, peaceful parks, quirky coffee shops, and whole neighborhoods hidden down tiny alleyways, although some of these quiet spots can be difficult to track down. Life in Ho Chi Minh City is lived in public: on the back of motorcycles, on the sidewalks, and in the parks. Even when its residents are at home, they're still on display. With many living rooms opening onto the street, grandmothers napping, babies being rocked, and food being prepared, are all in full view of passersby.Icons of the past endure in the midst of the city’s headlong rush into capitalism. The Hotel Continental, immortalized in Graham Greene's The Quiet American, continues to stand on the corner of old Indochina's most famous thoroughfare, the rue Catinat, known to American G.I.s during the Vietnam War as Tu Do (Freedom) Street and renamed Dong Khoi (Uprising) Street by the Communists. The city still has its ornate opera house and its old French city hall, the Hôtel de Ville. The broad colonial boulevards leading to the Saigon River and the gracious stucco villas are other remnants of the French colonial presence. Grisly reminders of the more recent past can be seen at the city's war-related museums. Residents, however, prefer to look forward rather than back and are often perplexed by tourists' fascination with a war that ended 40 years ago.The Chinese influence on the country is still very much in evidence in the Cholon district, the city's Chinatown, but the modern office towers and international hotels that mark the skyline symbolize Vietnam's fixation on the future. Disembarking. Well spend the morning visiting Cholon, the Chinese-influenced section of the city, including its hectic market. After lunch in town, well bid you farewell at approximately 2:00 p.m. Please do not book your flight before 5:00 p.m. |
