From the Temples of Angkor to the Mekong Delta & Hanoi and Halong Bay

Your program will begin according to your time of arrival. If your flight arrives between 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., your program will be: Lunch will be served at the hotel. The afternoon is free to do as you please. Then, visit the “Angkor Night Market”.

This morning, tour Ta Prohm and Angkor Thom. Stroll through the grounds of the former Royal Palace, and discover the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King. Have lunch in the city before visiting the Senteurs d'Angkor(closed on Sundays), a local business with a diverse collection of silk and carvings, as well as a superb range of traditional beauty products and spices, all made locally. End the day with Phare, the Cambodian circus, and spend the night at the hotel.

Visit the Angkor Wat temple: the epitome of Khmer architectural art and the most famous and imposing of all the monuments in Angkor (visitors must cover their shoulders and wear long pants or a long skirt). Lunch will be served at the hotel. After, you’ll be transferred to your ship. Our crew will welcome you and help you get comfortably settled into your cabins. Have dinner and formally meet our crew. Our ship will remain anchored overnight.

Discover of the small village of Koh Chen, where craftspeople specialize in silver and copper work. Lunch on board then you'll set out to visit the beautiful Vihara at the Wat Kampong Tralach Leu pagoda. To access the pagoda, you need to cross the village of Kampong Tralach, moving along a small road that runs perpendicular to the river in the middle of magnificent rice fields. The ship remains anchored overnight.

Kampong Chhnang is one of the largest fishing ports on the Tonle Sap. Fish farming is abundant here. The region is also known for its traditional pottery combining ancient knowledge with modern techniques—Chhnang itself means "pot." You'll also enjoy a tasting of regional products before returning on board. Lunch and cruising to Phnom Penh. Once you arrive, enjoy a brief tour of the area by "tuk-tuk," the easiest way to get around the city. You’ll return to the ship and enjoy a performance of classical Khmer dancing and music. The ship remains overnight in Phnom Penh.

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, former detention, torture, and execution center run by the Khmer Rouge during the civil war. Afterward, enjoy some free time at the market. Return on board for dinner in the evening and start sailing towards Vietnam.

Chau Doc sits among a giant patchwork of rice fields along the Mekong River. Pay a visit to the Ba Chua Xu Temple and the Tay An Pagoda. Enjoy lunch on board and begin to cruise to Sa Dec. Our ship will remain anchored overnight.
 

Visit the former house of Huynh Thuy Le, the man on who Marguerite Duras based her book The Lover. After our excursion, enjoy some free time in Sa Dec. Return on board for lunch and cruise to Vinh Long. Set out in smaller boats and travel through canals and orchards. Discover a brick and pottery factory, a fruit-tree nursery, puffed rice, rice-paper wrappers, and rice alcohol.* Return on board our ship and begin to cruise. Our ship will remain anchored overnight.
 

Visit a bee farm and enjoy some honey tea and exotic fruit. You'll then take a ride in small sampans along the canal lined with mangrove palms and have a glimpse of villagers going about their daily lives. Enjoy lunch on board and then set out to cross the very narrow canal, heading for Ho Chi Minh City and spending the night on the ship, which will remain moored in central Ho Chi Minh City.
 

Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, is the most populous city in Vietnam. Enjoy a tour of the city to see the Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Saigon Central Post Office. After, join us for a visit to the Museum of Vietnamese History. Lunch will be served on board. Leave by coach for the Cu Chi tunnels, an immense network of underground tunnels that were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War. After our excursion, Return to the ship. Tonight, have our farewell cocktail and dinner and spend the night at the port.

Enjoy breakfast on board this morning. After you disembark from the ship, head to Cholon, the Chinese-influenced section of the city. enjoy lunch in town, and you’ll be transferred to the airport and board a flight to Hanoi. Dinner in a restaurant. You’ll check into a 4-star hotel.

Spend the day on a guided tour of the capital, visiting the outside of the historic Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum on Ba Dinh Square, Ho Chi Minh's humble stilt house behind the mausoleum, and the unique One Pillar Pagoda Buddhist temple. Visit the Temple of Literature, built in 1070 and dedicated to Confucius. After lunch in town, take a pedi-cab ride. Tour the local "Embassy Row" with its French colonial-style architecture. This evening,  watch a traditional water puppetry show and have dinner in the city before spending the night at the hotel.

Leave early in the morning for Halong Bay (approx. 3.5 hours travel time). You’ll be welcomed aboard, enjoy a cocktail, have lunch on board, and begin our cruise to discover the thousands of various limestone islands dotting the emerald-colored bay. Enjoy dinner on board this evening. Our ship will remain anchored overnight.  

Rise early with us this morning and participate in a Tai Chi class on deck. Continue our cruise through the bay, discovering more of its extraordinary scenery and visiting one of the largest caves. Brunch will be served before you disembark at 11:00 a.m. and begin your trip back to Hanoi. Before arriving, stop off at the Dinh Bang communal hall. You’ll enjoy a light dinner, PHO soup tasting before being transferred to the airport. bid farewell at the airport at approximately 6:00 p.m. Please do not book your flight before 8:00 p.m.