Touch down in Ho Chi Minh City, where warm tropical air and a skyline of glass towers and ochre shophouses signal your arrival in Vietnam’s most dynamic metropolis. After clearing immigration and collecting luggage, meet your representative in the arrivals hall for a smooth private/shared transfer to your centrally located hotel. As scooters weave past boulevards of tamarind and banyan, the city’s rhythm—espresso-drip cafés, sizzling woks, temple bells— sets the pace for your first day in Saigon.

Check in, freshen up, and ease into the afternoon at leisure. Wander to a nearby café for an iced cà phê sữa đá, browse boutiques on Dong Khoi, or take a gentle walk to the Saigon River promenade as sunset burnishes the water. If energy allows, sample classic street eats—bánh mì, gỏi cuốn, smoky skewers—before turning in early to sync with local time.

Overnight: Ho Chi Minh City hotel

Like a phoenix, Ho Chi Minh City (the city once called Saigon) soars from its history—steel-and-glass towers backdropped by alleyway shrines, riverside stilt-houses and scooter-swept boulevards. Your guided introduction threads past signature landmarks: the Notre Dame Cathedral with its twin red-brick spires, the Central Post Office—a grand French-colonial confection of vaulted ironwork and tiled maps—and the modernist lines of the Reunification Palace, built over the former colonial seat of government and etched forever into Vietnam’s 20th-century story.

Cross the city toward Cholon, the old Chinese quarter, where incense curls through roof-tiles and traders call across lanes stacked with tea, herbs and lacquerware. Step inside the richly adorned Ba Thien Hau Pagoda, dedicated to Mazu, guardian of seafarers; coils of prayer incense spin slowly above a courtyard of stone guardians while devotees leave offerings for safe passage and good fortune.

By afternoon, make your way to the waterfront to board the elegant RV Indochine, your home on the river for the next eight nights. Step onto polished teak decks, settle into your cabin, and wander up to the lounge as the city’s skyline glows to gold. A welcome cocktail is served at sunset—glasses lifted, crew introduced, and tomorrow’s river rhythm outlined—while Saigon hums softly beyond the quay.

Overnight: On board RV Indochine • Meals: Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast, travel into the countryside to the legendary Cu Chi Tunnels—a maze of subterranean passages excavated during the conflict often called the Vietnam War. Beneath rubber groves and red earth lie narrow crawlways, hidden trapdoors, and field hospitals that once sheltered guerrilla units. Your guide explains ingenious ventilation shafts, camouflaged entrances, and life below ground; surface exhibits reveal workshops for sandals, munitions, and kitchen smoke dispersal. Those who wish can step into a widened section to experience the tunnels’ scale firsthand.

Return to the city for the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History, where timelines unfold from the Bronze Age Đông Sơn drums and Cham statuary to imperial Nguyễn dynastic artefacts. Gilded Buddhas, ceramics, and court costumes chart the cultural tapestry of Vietnam through millennia, setting today’s metropolis in deep historical context.

In the late afternoon, rejoin your river cruiser. Lines slip and Saigon’s skyline fades as you begin the voyage along the slender Chao Gao Canal toward the Mekong Delta. From the sun deck, watch river traffic—sand barges, fishing skiffs, houseboats—glide past nipa palms and waterside hamlets, while dusk paints the water bronze.

Overnight: On board cruiser • Meals: B, L, D

Awake to the soft churn of propellers and sunrise over the Mekong Delta. Your cruiser glides into My Tho, a river town laced with coconut groves and stilted hamlets. Long-tail boats nudge alongside as you step ashore for a day of hands-on discovery—where the river is both pantry and pathway.

Begin at a family-run bee farm, where hives hum beneath fruit trees. Sip fragrant honey tea with a squeeze of calamansi, sample tropical fruit—dragon fruit, pomelo, jackfruit in season—and learn how beekeepers coax liquid gold from waxy combs. It’s a gentle window into delta livelihoods shaped by tide and blossom.

Continue to a small brick & pottery kiln, where river clay is hand-moulded, sun-dried and fired in bulbous ovens stoked with coconut husk. The craft is earthy and ingenious—bricks ferry out on barges that return stacked with sand and shells, the delta’s circular economy in motion.

Round out the day at a cottage industry devoted to all things rice: watch kernels puff in hot black sand, sheets of silky rice paper steam on woven mats, and fragrant rice wine drip-distil in glass coils. Tastings are encouraged—light, crunchy, and unmistakably Mekong.

Overnight: On board cruiser • Meals: B, L, D

Wake to river light and lotus ponds as you dock at Sa Đéc, a languid Mekong town of narrow lanes, flower nurseries and ochre shopfronts. Step ashore to the riverside Huỳnh Thủy Lê Ancient House—a jewel of Sino–French architecture built in carved wood and patterned tiles, its façade wearing shutters and stucco like a turn-of-the-century Parisian dream. Inside, rosewood screens, mother-of-pearl inlay and ancestral portraits set the scene for a storied romance.

It was here that businessman Huỳnh Thủy Lê and the young French writer Marguerite Duras crossed paths—an affair later immortalised in her novel The Lover. Your guide threads fact and literature through the rooms: lacquer altars, a cool inner courtyard, the salon where East met West in a collision of desire and decorum. On the quay, river life carries on—barges stacked with clay jars, school
kids bicycling past bougainvillea.

Enjoy time at leisure to wander Sa Đéc’s compact center: browse spice stalls and rice-noodle workshops, step into a Chinese assembly hall perfumed with incense, or linger over an iced coffee beneath frangipani shade. Photographers love the textures here— peeling paint, tiled thresholds, bright conical bouquets bound for market.

Rejoin the ship for lunch as lines are cast and the bow turns upriver. The channel widens, palms thin to reed beds, and the afternoon unfolds in slow panoramas as you sail toward the Cambodian border. Sunset sets the Delta aglow; dinner is served to the rhythm of the current.

Overnight: On board cruiser • Meals: B, L, D

Dawn lifts over Châu Đốc, a border town stitched to the water by stilt-houses, netted floating fish farms and slow barges pushing past pocket-sized islets. Long-tail boats thread the channels to meet you at the gangway; river breezes carry the scent of pandan and woodsmoke as you glide toward sacred Sam Mountain.

Your first stop is the bustling Bà Chúa Xứ Temple—the Lady of the Realm. Pilgrims stream in with marigolds, fruit and incense, while drums and temple bells punctuate a low murmur of prayers. Within, lacquered altars, coils of incense and embroidered banners create a vivid tableau of southern Vietnamese devotion. Step back to watch ritual offerings and the steady choreography of keepers tending candles and flowers.

Nearby, the nineteenth-century Tây An Pagoda rises behind dragon-guarded steps. Its eclectic architecture—curved tiled roofs, bright guardian statues, tranquil courtyards—frames a serene Buddhist sanctuary visited by monks and pilgrims alike. Wander shaded walkways, listen to the soft clack of wooden fish gongs, and trace the painted stories that line the halls.

Return to the ship for lunch as anchors come up and the bow points upriver. Channels widen, palms thin to reed beds, and the Mekong turns a deeper bronze as you cruise toward Cambodia. Late afternoon brings sky-long reflections and riverbank life—fishermen casting, children waving from ferries—before dinner is served on board.

Overnight: On board cruiser • Meals: B, L, D

Step ashore in Phnom Penh, a riverside capital where saffron robes, French boulevards and bustling markets share the waterfront. Your morning begins inside the walled precincts of the Royal Palace, ceremonial heart of the nation and residence of Cambodia’s king. Golden spires and glazed tiles shimmer above frangipani-shaded courtyards, while galleries display royal regalia and courtly lacquerware.

Adjacent lies the famed Silver Pagoda, so named for its floor of gleaming silver tiles. Here, sacred Buddhas—emerald, crystal and gold—are framed by murals of the Reamker (Khmer Ramayana). Your guide threads mythology and monarchy together as you circle stupas and prayer flags in the soft river breeze.

Continue to the National Museum of Cambodia, an elegant terracotta pavilion housing the world’s finest collection of Khmer sculpture. From pre-Angkorian bronzes to serene Angkor-era sandstone masterpieces, the galleries chart a millennia-long arc of artistry and faith—lingas, lintels and devas carved with breathtaking precision.

After lunch in the city, an optional but important visit confronts Cambodia’s recent past at the former Tuol Svay Prey School (S-21), now the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Classrooms-turned-cells, photographic archives and survivors’ testimonies speak quietly but powerfully of the Khmer Rouge years. The stop is humbling—your guide will pace it with care and time for reflection.

Round out the afternoon at a local market—colour-washed domes and art-deco aisles at Central Market (Phsar Thmei), or the handicraft warren of Russian Market (Phsar Tuol Tom Poung). Sample tropical fruit, price silk scarves, and watch daily Phnom Penh life whirl by in a palette of lacquer and lotus.

Rejoin the ship by late afternoon. As dusk pours gold into the confluence, take your seat for an onboard Apsara dance theatre—graceful hand mudras, silk costumes and pin-sharp pinpeat rhythms bringing classical Khmer performance to life beneath the stars. Dinner follows, the river sliding silently past.

Overnight: On board cruiser • Meals: B, L, D

Wake to river light and the soft thrum of engines as your cruiser moors beside Koh Chen, a riverside hamlet famed for silver and copper repoussé. Narrow lanes thread between stilt-houses where artisans tap delicate lotus and apsara motifs into bowls, betel boxes and ceremonial trays. Watch the rhythm of handcrafted metalwork—chalked designs, wooden mallets, and burnished sheen— while your guide explains how village commissions still supply pagodas and royal ceremonies. There’s time to browse tasteful pieces (no pressure to buy), greet craftspeople, and glimpse everyday life: rice drying on mats, fishing nets slung to cure, palm-sugar kettles steaming in the shade.

Late morning, continue upriver toward Kampong Tralach, landing near emerald paddies. A small country road—perpendicular to the river—leads through rice fields and past water buffalo wallows to the serene Vihara at Wat Kampong Tralach Leu. Set slightly apart from the village bustle, the sanctuary’s colonnaded porch and time-softened murals portray the Jataka tales and scenes of rural devotion. Incense curls in the warm air; gold leaf flickers on guardian statues; elders spin prayer beads beneath frangipani trees. The setting is as photogenic as it is peaceful, framed by palms and the slow pulse of the floodplain.

Return to the ship as afternoon sunlight gilds the paddies. From the sundeck, watch ox-carts amble home and herons lift from irrigation canals while the Mekong resumes its timeless course. This evening, share impressions over dinner—hammered silver gleam, mural blues, and the hush of a countryside vihara— a quietly beautiful chapter of your Cambodia river journey.

Overnight: On board cruiser • Meals: B, L, D

Step ashore at Kampong Chhnang, a lively river port where produce boats unload crates of bananas and rice, and bicycles weave past stalls stacked with palm sugar, dried fish, and bright enamel bowls. The town’s name—“Port of Pottery”—speaks to its soul. Nearby Golden Mountain supplies fine clay, and families have shaped it into hand-thrown ceramics for centuries: water jars, cooking pots, incense burners. Watch deft hands coil and smooth, paddle and polish; simple foot wheels creak while vessels take form, then dry in neat rows under the sun. Your guide traces how this intangible heritage sustains village economies and temple life.

Back on board, the ship turns north onto the Tonlé Sap River, following the seasonal pulse toward vast Tonlé Sap Lake—Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Watercolour horizons open wide; stilt-houses rise on spindly legs; floating hamlets drift with wind and current. Fishermen tend bamboo pens; children paddle to floating schools; herons and kingfishers stitch the sky with quick, bright flights. As golden hour deepens, the lake becomes a mirror—sky, cloud and water blended into one serene plane.

Tonight, raise a glass at a sunset cocktail before a festive Gala Dinner on board. Between courses, the lake glows cobalt and copper; distant lanterns blink on in floating neighbourhoods—an unforgettable tableau to close a day steeped in Mekong–Tonlé Sap life and craft.

Overnight: On board cruiser • Meals: B, L, D

Your river journey eases to a close as you glide into contemporary Siem Reap, gateway to the ancient wonder of Angkor. After a relaxed disembarkation, transfer to your hotel for a three-night stay. The afternoon turns the page back over a millennium as you set out for the Roluos Group, the earliest capital of the Khmer Empire.

Begin at Preah Ko (“Sacred Bull”), where sandstone lintels curl with floral scrolls and guardian dvarapalas stand silent watch. Move on to Bakong, a majestic temple-mountain in sandstone and laterite—the prototype of Angkor’s soaring pyramids—with five stepped tiers ringed by libraries and carvings. Conclude at tranquil Lolei, its brick towers rising from the former baray (reservoir), their doorframes etched with elegant inscriptions and devata figures. Among rust-red brick, pale laterite and green rice fields, the origins of Angkor’s architectural grammar are laid out in timeless clarity.

Later, visit the Satcha Handicraft Centre to meet artisans preserving Cambodia’s intangible heritage: silk weaving, stone & wood carving, lacquer, silverwork and more. Watch patterns bloom on looms, chisels skim sandalwood, and lacquer deepen to a mirror sheen—an inspiring counterpoint to the ancient art that surrounds Siem Reap.

As twilight falls, settle in for an Apsara dance theatre with dinner. Silk costumes shimmer; hands trace celestial gestures; pin-drop rhythms rise from xylophones and drums. The stories of Ramayana and Khmer myth take shape on stage—a living, luminous bridge between classical court performance and present-day Cambodia.

Overnight: Siem Reap • Meals: B, D

Begin at the monumental South Gate of Angkor Thom, where a procession of gods and demons tug the Naga serpent along the causeway. Towering gates crowned with serene, four-faced Bayon-style towers usher you into the last great capital of the Khmer Empire, a walled city once alive with palaces, terraces and gilded shrines.

At the heart of Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple rises like a stone mountain, its maze of galleries, bas-reliefs and steep stairways culminating in more than two hundred enigmatic smiling faces. Trace battle scenes, market vignettes and river festivals carved in sandstone—an open-air chronicle of Khmer daily life and royal power.

Continue to the Royal Enclosure and Phimeanakas, a pyramid temple once clad in gold, where legends speak of nightly visits from a celestial naga. Nearby, the broad parade ground of the Terrace of the Elephants displays trunked processions in low relief; imagine triumphal entries, military reviews and royal ceremonies unfolding across the esplanade beneath whispering sugar palms.

Trade imperial grandeur for jungle romance at Ta Prohm, the famed “tree-temple” where silk-cotton and strangler fig roots lace over galleries and doorways. Left in a carefully curated state of ruination, it captures Angkor’s rediscovery: lintels split by roots, butter-lamp scents drifting from hidden sanctuaries, birdsong echoing in mossy cloisters. It’s the Angkor of dreams—nature and architecture entwined in dramatic repose.

Overnight: Siem Reap • Suggested pace: Angkor Thom circuit in the morning; Ta Prohm in the softer late-afternoon light for atmospheric photography.

Begin in the rosy sandstone wilds of Banteay Srei, the “Citadel of Women,” famed for exquisite bas-reliefs carved as fine as filigree. Delicate lintels depict the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata; apsaras arch across pediments; warm dawn light ignites the carvings to a copper glow. This jewel-box sanctuary shows the Khmer artisans at their most lyrical—miniature in scale, monumental in artistry.

Continue to Banteay Samré, a serene, seldom-crowded temple with cruciform terraces and naga-balustraded causeways. Here, the quiet cloisters and restored galleries reveal classic Angkor Wat–style proportions without the bustle—perfect for tracing lintel narratives and photographing long, shadowed corridors framed by laterite and sandstone.

Save the showpiece for last: the vast precinct of Angkor Wat, one of the world’s largest religious monuments and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Cross the moat on the grand causeway and enter a city of stone: lotus-bud towers, kilometres of bas-reliefs, celestial apsaras dancing on every pillar. Walk the galleries of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk; climb toward the quincunx towers; pause as saffron-robed monks drift across sun-lit courts. In the late afternoon the temple turns honey-gold, reflecting in lily-tipped pools—iconic Angkor at its most photogenic.

Overnight: Siem Reap • Suggested pace: Banteay Srei at sunrise, Banteay Samré mid-morning, Angkor Wat in the softer afternoon light for leisurely exploration and photography.

After a final breakfast in Siem Reap, take a quiet moment to breathe in the scent of frangipani and the soft rustle of temple palms—echoes of Angkor lingering like a benediction. Your driver meets you at the hotel for a smooth, private transfer to Siem Reap International Airport. Watch the countryside slip past: stilted homes over lotus ponds, saffron robes at roadside shrines, bicycles gliding through morning light.

At the terminal, your journey comes full circle. Souvenirs wrapped, memory cards full, you carry home the glow of Khmer artistry, the hush of jungle cloisters, and the wide-water horizons of the Mekong–Tonlé Sap. Farewell, Cambodia—until the next chapter.

Transfer: Hotel → Siem Reap Airport (private) • Flight: International departure