| | | | | Arrive | Depart |
| 5th05 | SepSep | 202121 | 2 nights accommodation before your cruise, staying in Ho Chi Minh City | | |
| 7th07 | SepSep | 202121 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, embark on the Scenic Spirit | | |
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. Discover Vietnam's modern history through a visit to the Reunification Palace and War Museum. Later, travel by coach to My Tho to board the luxurious Scenic Spirit. |
| 8th08 | SepSep | 202121 | Sa Déc, Vietnam | | |
Freechoice: Board a sampan to visit Cai Be, local cottage industries and a traditional Vietnamese house. Alternatively, savour morning tea at the colonial French home, Le Longanier or stay on board for a special activity. Back on board make use of the ship's luxury and take the time to sip on included cocktails by the pool or enjoy some solitude on your private balcony. Later, immerse yourself in the historic town of Sa Dec and interact with the sellers in the lively market. Also visit the home of Mr Huynh Thuy Le who inspired Marguerite Duras' novel L'Amant. |
| 9th09 | SepSep | 202121 | Tân Châu, Vietnam | | |
Freechoice: Stay in Tan Chau to visit Evergreen Island and enjoy a ride in a Xe Loi to a silk dye factory. In Chau Doc visit Vinh Te Canal and a family-operated fish farm, followed by Tây An Temple at Sam Mountain or visit Tra Su Bird Sanctuary. The afternoon is at leisure to take advantage of the facilities of the most luxurious ship on the Mekong. Enjoy a themed dinner to say farewell to Vietnam. |
| 10th10 | SepSep | 202121 | Phnom Penh, Cambodia | | |
Arrive early this morning into the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. Freechoice: Journey to the Killing Fields and tour Tuol Sleng, the former school that was converted to the main prison of the Khmer Rouge, or take a guided tour of the local food market before joining a hands-on Khmer cooking demonstration. Alternatively, explore Phnom Penh's colonial buildings by tuk tuk and visit the Central Market before stopping for lunch at a local NGO restaurant teaching street kids hospitality skills. This afternoon time is yours for shopping or exploring on your own. Enrich Later this evening revel in our Phnom Penh by City Lights tour, giving you an insight to the nightlife of the capital before stopping at a distillery for an exclusive tour and tasting behind closed doors. |
| 11th11 | SepSep | 202121 | Phnom Penh, Cambodia | | |
Journey to the ancient capital of Oudong to visit the impressive pagoda and monastery. This afternoon marvel at the Royal Palace, featuring the famous Silver Pagoda, on your included visit to this must-see attraction. Sundowners Enjoy a cocktail reception on the Sun Deck against the backdrop of Phnom Penh's lights as the ship sails from the capital at sunset. |
| 12th12 | SepSep | 202121 | Angkor Ban, Cambodia | | |
At Koh Dach Island, learn all about the art of silk weaving. Further upstream in Angkor Ban, explore its historical rural wooden houses, which survived the Khmer Rouge and visit a local teacher who teaches English to the local school children. |
| 13th13 | SepSep | 202121 | Kampong Cham, Cambodia | | |
Meet the novice monks at Wat Hanchey, an ancient hilltop pagoda and monastery. Walk (or drive) to the top and soak in some of the best elevated views of the cruise. Enrich Receive a blessing from a monk and learn how to pray in a Buddhist pagoda before partaking in a ceremony, which contributes to the daily meal of the resident monks. Return downstream to Kampong Cham, the quaint but largest city in the north and home to most of Cambodia's Muslim population. Freechoice: Learn the history of the area with a visit to Phnom Pros (Man Hill) and then Wat Nokor, an 11th-century temple that has a modern pagoda built within. Alternatively, explore the traditional village of Koh Pen or visit a rubber plantation factory and betel nut village. |
| 14th14 | SepSep | 202121 | Siem Reap, Cambodia, disembark the Scenic Spirit | | |
Discover the rural side of Cambodia on your drive to Siem Reap, with stops at the Khmer bridge at Kampong Kdei, Kampong Thom and a stone cutters village along the way. Upon arrival in Siem Reap, check in to your hotel for your stylish three night Special Stay. Enrich Take your Premium Reserved seat at the colourful Cambodian Circus, Phare. Phare transforms the lives of Cambodian youth, where its artists use theatre, music, dance and circus arts to tell uniquely Cambodian stories. |
| 14th14 | SepSep | 202121 | 3 nights accommodation following your cruise, staying in Siem Reap | | |
| 17th17 | SepSep | 202121 | Check out of accommodation | | |