From the Mekong Delta to Siem Reap (port-to-port cruise)

7 nights from £2,513pp departing Monday 9th Dec 2024

From the heights of the Himalayas to the southern coasts of the South China Sea, winding over 2,700 miles, the Mekong is much more than just irrigation for Indochinaeverywhere it flows, it fascinates men and shapes their lives. Come take an expedition on this grand and plentiful water snake, from Ho Chi Minh City, still largely influenced by the French colonial days, to Phnom Penh, Tonle Sap Lake and Siem Reap, following the footsteps of Henri Mouhot. Our meditative trip takes you along the Mekong River on board a ship combining charm and colonial-style comfort.

Itinerary

Map

					Arrive	Depart
	9th09	DecDec	202424	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, embark on the Lan Diep	11:00	11:00
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. Meet at the Liberty Central Riverside Hotel restaurant between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Lunch at the hotel. In the afternoon, we will tour the city: Reunification palace, Notre Dame cathedral and Central Post office. We'll visit Cholon, the Chinese-influenced section of the city, including its hectic market and Ba Thien Hau Pagoda dedicated to the sea goddess Mazu. After comfortably settling into your cabins, we'll introduce our crew at a welcome cocktail, have dinner and spend the night on board downtown.
	10th10	DecDec	202424	Châu Đốc, Vietnam
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. Lunch will be served on board. Visit the Museum of Vietnamese History. We'll then set out to cross the very narrow Chao Gao Canal. Night on board.
	10th10	DecDec	202424	Chợ Gạo, Vietnam
	11th11	DecDec	202424	Chợ Gạo, Vietnam
We continue our cruise to My Tho along the magnificent Chao Gao Canal. Visit of a bee farm and enjoy some honey tea and exotic fruit. Lunch on board. 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*. Night on board.
	11th11	DecDec	202424	Cái Bè, Vietnam
	11th11	DecDec	202424	Sa Déc, Vietnam
	12th12	DecDec	202424	Sa Déc, Vietnam
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 our ship and have lunch. Sailing towards Cambodia. Night on board.
	12th12	DecDec	202424	Châu Đốc, Vietnam
	13th13	DecDec	202424	Châu Đốc, Vietnam
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. Arrival in the evening in Phnom Penh. Dinner on board. We'll remain in port overnight.
	13th13	DecDec	202424	Phnom Penh, Cambodia
	14th14	DecDec	202424	Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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. As we get back on board, we will enjoy an Apsara dance show. Dinner and overnight on board, in the port of Phnom Penh. Free evening.
	15th15	DecDec	202424	Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Visit of Koh Chen, a small village where craftspeople specialize in silver and copper work. Lunch on board.Visit of the beautiful Vihara at the Wat Kampong Tralach Leu pagoda. To access the pagoda we need to cross the village of Kampong Tralach in 'tuk-tuk', moving along a small road that runs perpendicular to the river in the middle of magnificent rice fields. Our ship will remain anchored overnight.
	15th15	DecDec	202424	Kampong Chhnang, Cambodia
	16th16	DecDec	202424	Kampong Chhnang, Cambodia
Visit of Kampong Chhnang, one of the largest fishing ports on Tonle Sap Lake. Here they also have many fish farms. The region is best known for its fine traditional pottery which is a major source of revenue for the entire country. Tasting of some local products. Lunch on board. We'll then continue our cruise on Tonle Sap Lake, the largest freshwater lake in southeast Asia which forms the heart of the hydraulic system of the Mekong. Cocktail and gala dinner tonight. Our ship will remain anchored overnight.
	16th16	DecDec	202424	Tonlé Sap, Cambodia
	17th17	DecDec	202424	Tonlé Sap, Cambodia, disembark the Lan Diep
Disembarkation and transfer to the hotel Lotus Blanc(1) (ships: RV Indochine I and RV Lan Diep) and the hotel Sofitel Angkor(1) (ship : RV Indochine II). End of our services around 12:00 p.m.Please do not book your flight before 3:00 p.m.

Lan Diep

Launch Year

2007

Capacity

Cabins

Accessible

The images shown are for illustration purposes only and may not be an exact representation of what you find on the ship.

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Holiday Summary

	7 nights cruising on the Mekong
	All meals included
	Drinks included with meals & at the bar
	Gala dinner & evening welcome cocktail
	Free Wi-Fi in lounge & bar
	Headsets included for excursions
	Travel Assistance & Repatriation Insurance
	Port Taxes and Fees
	ABTA and ATOL Protection*

Oceanview staterooms from		£2,513pp
GLS_PP	Main Deck (2 Adjustable Twin Beds)	£2,513pp
GLS_PS	Upper Deck (2 Adjustable Twin Beds)	£2,703pp
2PL_FAM	Twin Room (with 1 Spare Bed)	£2,513pp

	Oceanview
	(All prices are £GBP per person)
Thu 28th Mar 202428 Mar 24	2,614
Wed 4th Sep 202404 Sep 24	2,241
Fri 20th Sep 202420 Sep 24	2,241
Sun 6th Oct 202406 Oct 24	2,241
Tue 22nd Oct 202422 Oct 24	2,241
Thu 7th Nov 202407 Nov 24	2,513
Wed 25th Dec 202425 Dec 24	2,688