Cambodia & the Mekong Delta

You will stay in the President Solitaire hotel or similar in Bangkok, Steung Sangke Hotel or similar in Battambang, Allson Angkor or similar in Siem Reap, the Sunway Hotel or similar in Phnom Penh, the Victoria Hotel or similar in Can Tho and the Park Royal Saigon or similar in Saigon. All rooms feature private facilities and air-conditioning. Hotel facilities include a restaurant and bar.

Hotels will be confirmed in your final documents.

Day 1: UK/Bangkok

Depart on your scheduled flight to Bangkok via Kuala Lumpur.

Day 2: Bangkok via Kuala Lumpur

Arrival in Bangkok. Transfer to your hotel for a two-night stay. Rest of the day is free to relax.

Meals: Dinner

Day 3: Bangkok

Included this morning is a sightseeing tour of Bangkok visiting the famous temples of the Golden Buddha and the Reclining Buddha.

For those revisiting Bangkok, alternative optional sightseeing can be arranged. Afternoon at leisure.

Meals: Breakfast / lunch / dinner

Day 4: Battambang

Morning drive from Bangkok through the lush Thai countryside of rice paddies and fruit orchards to the border with Cambodia at Aranyaprathet.

The border post is fascinating, with a constant stream of handcarts, lorries and people laden with goods crossing the 200 yard ‘no man’s land’ between the two countries. Once inside Cambodia and its border town of Poipet, you will continue to Sisophon. The contrast between Thailand and Cambodia is quite dramatic, and the drive to Sisophon and then to Battambang passes through many roadside villages and settlements. Mid-afternoon arrival in Battambang for an overnight stay in Cambodia’s second city. It is a bustling riverside community, with French colonial buildings, a lively market and remarkable temples. A short sightseeing tour on arrival will include a drive through local villages to the Khmer temple at Ek Phnom.

Meals: Breakfast / lunch / dinner

Day 5: Siem Reap

Today features a remarkable journey by our specially chartered boat along the Sangker River and through the wetlands of north-west Cambodia to Tonle Sap Lake and then Siem Reap. The riverside communities adjust their way of life, and even the location of their homes, according to the water levels in the different seasons. A harsh but self-sufficient living is made from farming and fishing. Your journey is a continuous panorama of stilt houses, giant fishing nets, riverside life and fields of crops. Stops include a floating village and a hilltop temple. You will then emerge into the vast expanse of Tonle Sap Lake, the heart of Cambodia, and cross to the floating village of Chong Kneas near the eastern shoreline, before disembarking and driving the short distance to Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat, for a three night stay.

Meals: Breakfast / lunch / dinner

Days 6 - 7: Siem Reap

Full sightseeing programme of the Angkor Complex. You will see Angkor Wat itself, plus many of the surrounding temples and monuments, including Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, the Temple of Bayon and much more. We also include a special dinner accompanied by a display of Khmer Classical Dance.

Meals: Breakfast / lunch / dinner

Day 8: Phnom Penh

Morning departure for the drive to Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia. The route passes through absorbing countryside and the towns of Kampong, Thom and Skuon, famous for the ‘fried spiders’ offered for sale by local farmers. Afternoon arrival in Phnom Penh for a two-night stay.

Meals: Breakfast / lunch / dinner

Day 9: Phnom Penh

Once considered the loveliest of the French-built cities in Indochina, Phnom Penh, situated on the River Mekong, is recovering rapidly from its turbulent past. Full sightseeing will include the magnificent Royal Palace, with its Silver Pagoda of 5000 silver floor tiles and priceless Buddhist treasures, the History Museum, the waterfront, the Russian Market and the Wat Phnom. Dinner will be at the fabled Foreign Correspondents’ Club by the river.

Meals: Breakfast / lunch / dinner

Day 10: Can Tho

Your exploration of the mighty River Mekong begins today. One of the world’s greatest rivers, the Mekong descends for 3,000 miles from the Tibetan Plateau to the South China Sea, and is constantly busy with sampans, barges and houseboats in its lower reaches. You will travel by special fast cruise boat downstream from Phnom Penh, with stops at the Cambodian and Vietnamese border stations, to Chau Doc in Vietnam. Continue by road deep into the Mekong Delta. You will drive through traditional villages, settlements and farmland, with a fascinating backdrop of homesteads on stilts, river fishing nets and rickety ‘monkey’ bridges. Late afternoon arrival at Can Tho for an overnight stay at the delightful and romantic Victoria Hotel, situated on the banks of the Mekong.

Meals: Breakfast / lunch / dinner

Day 11: Saigon

Morning boat trip to the extraordinary floating market at Cai Rang. In contrast to such markets elsewhere, those on the River Mekong are much larger, and are conducted on much wider stretches of water.

Depart by public ferry to Vinh Long, followed by a cruise by small boat through every shade of green along narrow inlets and canals to a lunch stop at a farmer’s house. Visits will be made to local workshops along the way. Very little has changed over the centuries in this part of Vietnam, and everything and everybody travels by boat. Finally, you recross the Mekong to Cai Be, and drive to Ho Chi Minh City, better known as Saigon, for a two night stay.

Meals: Breakfast / lunch / dinner

Day 12: Saigon

Morning included city tour visiting the Presidential Palace and the War Museum. You will also pass Notre Dame Cathedral.

This afternoon you drive to the Cu Chi Tunnels, an amazing series of underground passages. These were first constructed in the late 1940s by the peasant army fighting the French but were later extended by the Viet Cong rebels.

Meals: Breakfast / lunch / dinner

Day 13: Saigon/UK

Transfer to the airport for your return flight to the UK via Kuala Lumpur.

Meals: Breakfast

Day 14: UK

Arrival in the UK.