Siem Reap - Saigon - Mekong Princess

After breakfast this morning, local cyclo drivers meet you for an exciting city tour of Phnom Penh. You begin your ride along the riverfront to the Royal Palace, where a leisurely walk takes you through the grounds, with opportunities to visit the Throne Hall and Moonlight Pavilion. Upon crossing into the second section of the complex, you walk amongst enormous stupas and spirit houses, on the way to the famous Silver Pagoda, home of Cambodia’s Emerald Buddha and Maitreya Buddha, encrusted with more than 9,000 diamonds. 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 morning 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. After a return cyclo ride to the ship, you may wish to take some time to have lunch at a local restaurant, walk along the quay, or visit some of Phnom Penh’s famous markets and lovely boutiques.

This afternoon, private motor-coach 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.

Before dinner, children from a local orphanage entertain guests with a cultural performance including Apsara, Cambodia’s national dance, as well as several traditional folk dances.

This morning, the MV Mekong Princess will process through immigration and customs, cross the border into Vietnam, and continue downstream to Hong Ngu. 

Your sampans take you to 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, you will 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 one western visitor prior to the arrival of the Mekong Princess, and are especially friendly and welcoming. Before returning to the sampans, guests will visit the local temple dedicated to a unique religion founded in this area of Vietnam, Hòa Hảo.

This morning, your sampan returns to take you into Gieng Island. After a short walk around visiting to a local sampan village, where hundreds of sampans are produced daily by local families, we will take a canal drive to explore the untouched floating area with duck farms, monkey bridges, and tropical orchards along the riverside. We will try one of most popular local transportation named “xe loi” (motor trishaw) driving through this island to visit a Catholic Church, which was built as old as the Notre Dame Cathedral in Saigon in the 1870s.  

In the afternoon, your sampan takes you 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 different 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 cart to another village. We stop by at the conical hat-making and mat weaving families, have memorable time chatting with local family members and learning how to create products though hands-on experience.  Enjoy your walk in the peaceful village with rice fields, fruit trees...in between visiting 2 local families. Then, we say goodbye and go back to the ship by boat.

Your sampans return early this morning before breakfast for a cruise through the fascinating Cai Rang floating market near Can Tho. The sampan 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, you will have many opportunities for amazing photographs, while enjoying the Vietnamese “anti-aging drink,” fresh coconut water. After the market visit, a stop is made at a local factory to see the amazing process of making instant noodles. After one final pass through the market, you return to the ship for breakfast.

This afternoon, the ship sails through an area of the Mekong Delta barely touched by tourism to see Phuoc Hau historic pagoda and a local handicraft village and families

Today, sampans take you through a channel lined with mangroves to visit a local coconut candy maker. After watching the candy-making process and walking through the family’s orchard, a horse cart will take you on a 15-minute ride to a pier where you board small, local boats (two guests per boat) for a trip through the narrow creeks lined with Nipah palm before returning to the ship.

This evening, we enjoy a Vietnamese Farewell Dinner as the ship sails into the heart of Ho Chi Minh City.