Roy's Mekong River Cruise in Cambodia and Vietnam July 2015

Avalon River Cruise Mekong River

For my first ever river cruise, I had the pleasure of experiencing Southeast Asia again, which is one of my favorite spots in the World.  And there is no better way to do it then by a river cruise. I was booked on the Avalon Waterways Siem Reap from Siem Reap, Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.   I’ll have to admit it’s a long journey to get there, I traveled from Phoenix to San Diego, Tokyo, Ho Chi Minh City and then finally Siem Reap, but it was well worth it.

For 3 nights prior to getting on the ship, we stayed at the beautiful 5 Star Victoria Angor Resort and Spa. The hotel architecture is French colonial and it is a beautiful tropical oasis. The hotel is located in the city center of Siem Reap and is about 4 miles from the Angor temples.

Monday - After finally getting a good night’s rest, we got up early in the morning to visit the rain forest near the Temples of Angor Wat. Flight of the Gibbon is Cambodia’s only zip line canopy tour and is located inside Angkor Park, not far from the majestic temples, including Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. Gibbons are apes that live in tropical and subtropical rain forests from eastern Bangladesh and northeast India to southern China and Indonesia.  The zip lines were a blast and the scenery was unforgettable.

Tuesday  - We spent the entire today at Angor Wat which is a temple complex and is the largest religious monument in the world. It was originally founded as a Hindu temple for the Khmer Empire, gradually transforming into a Buddhist temple toward the end of the 12th century.  It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman in the early 12th century and was the capital of the Khmer Empire. Angor Wat is the country's prime attraction for visitors. The modern name, Angkor Wat, means "Temple City" or "City of Temples". Angkor, means "city" or "capital city" and Wat is the word for "temple grounds" in the Khmer language.

Wednesday - Our first stop was Ta Prohm or better known as Temple of the Trees.  Unlike most of the other temples, Ta Prohm has been left in much the same condition in which it was found.  These temples are spectacular with the trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings.

Our next visit was to the temple of Bantay Srei. This temple was very small and the buildings were tiny.  The carvings on all the walls were very intricate and beautiful.

In the afternoon we then visited Les Artisans D’Angor.  This is an educational workshop whose purpose is to create job opportunities for young people living in the rural areas. They are taught handicrafts using traditional Khmer craftsmanship which includes stone and wood carving, painting on statues and on silk, lacquering, and silver plating. They had a nice gift shop where you could load up on plenty of traditional Khmer souvenirs.

Thursday – This morning we checked out of the Victoria Angor Resort and we were off to start our wonderful cruise journey on the Avalon Siem Reap down the Mekong River.  Due to the time of year being the dry season in Cambodia, we were unable to board the ship near Siem Reap and had to fly to Phnom Penh to pick up the ship. The Tonle Sap is too dry during the summer months for large vessels to operate safely on it. But once we got on the ship we did proceed back upstream to the Tonle Sap lake but we stayed on the deeper southern part.

The Avalon Siem Reap is an all-suite ship that was just launched this year. So it is brand new and beautiful and is modeled in the colonial charm of Southeast Asia.  The ship has 18 suites for 36 maximum people and for our cruise we only had 12 guests.  It was like having my own private yacht!!  While the number of guests on the ship may be small the ship was purposely built as long and wide as other ships that carry twice as many guests so that spaces aren't cramped and crowded. The Siem Reap has a beautiful big panoramic open deck on the front of the boat that is perfect to view all the incredible scenery.

Friday – We started off an early morning with an excursion to Kampong Tralach where we rode in ox carts past the rice paddy fields and the beautiful Cambodian countryside.  We then went by bus to the silversmith village of Kamgpong Louang where we watched the local craftsman making all kinds of intricate silver objects for sale that included elephants, jewelry boxes, bracelets, rings and other jewelry pieces.

After lunch on the ship, we walked through the village of Prek Bang Kong where silk weaving is a long and honored tradition.  We spent the afternoon walking through the houses in the village and watched and learned about how silk is produced and made.  Our group purchased quite a few of the silk scarves that were handmade and woven on the premises.  Needless to say that the prices were excellent!

Saturday – Fourth of July - Today we have cruised down to Wat Hanchey which is a temple that is built on top of a big hill in the 8^th century.  From this perch overlooking the river, the surrounding scenery and the views of the Mekong were spectacular.  There were many local children that followed us around the temple compound and there were many statues of animals and fruit.  We also had a local monk and his apprentice let us view a traditional water blessing.  After the blessing we were allowed to ask the monk any questions that we had.

After another delicious lunch on the ship, we went out to explore the rural village of Angkor Ban.  We had previously been told that we were going to attend a local school here and get a chance to meet and talk with all the children. So we had all purchased school supplies from a store in Siem Reap, which included pens, writing tablets, dictionaries and other hopefully useful items.  The children were very happy to see us; we each set at one of their work tables and helped them with their English reading and writing. Several of them stood up in front of the class and answered questions from us in English.  This was all very inspiring and it certainly gives me hope for the future generations that will be here after I’m gone.

Sunday – Today we arrived in Phnom Penh which was once known as the “Pearl of Asia.”  Founded in 1434, the city has many beautiful and historical French colonial buildings.  The city lies on the banks of the Tonle Sap, Mekong and Bassac Rivers.  The population is a little less than 2.5 million people and it is the largest city in Cambodia. For our morning tour, we had our own personal cyclo guide us through the busy streets and we started off at the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda.  Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy and the King lives in the Royal Palace.  The Silver Pagoda sits next to the Royal Palace and it holds many of the national Buddhist treasures.  The Pagoda gets its name for the five tons of silver tiles that make up the floor.

We then continued by our Cyclo to the National Museum which holds the biggest collection of Khmer art in the world. There are thousands of pieces of bronzes, ceramics and sculptures and some are dated back to prehistoric times.

After lunch we went to the Central Market and checked out all the bargains that are offered by the thousands of vendors.  There are four wings to this gigantic market that is Art Deco with a large yellow dome that has stalls that sell most anything you can imagine.

Monday – Today started with a somber visit to the memorial at Choeung Ek or better known as the “Killing Fields.”  We had watched the academy award winning movie the night before on the ship so we were better prepared for what followed.  The Khmer Rouge and their leader Pol Pot executed millions of former political prisoners and most of the educated people of Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The site is a former orchard and a Buddhist stupa was built as a memorial for all those people that died. Human bones still are visible everywhere you walk and the stupa is built out of acrylic glass and contains over 5,000 human skulls.

After this we then went to the Tuol Sleng Gonocide Museum which is a former high school that was used as a security prison and where the political prisoners were interrogated and tortured. Some of the victims were doctors, teachers, students, government officials, soldiers, engineers and academics. Pol Pot executed anyone that he thought might be a threat against his rule or anyone who might try and overthrow him. Even the prisoners families were brought here to be interrogated and were later executed at Choeung Ek or the “Killing Fields.” In 1979 Vietnam invaded Cambodia and defeated the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot fled to the jungle where he lived and operated near the border with Thailand. He died in 1998 while he was under house arrest. It’s estimated that under his four year rule that 25% of the total population of Cambodia died due to his policies.

Tuesday – Early this morning we arrived at the border crossing into Vietnam.  After the immigration and customs officials were happy we landed at Chau Doc. In the afternoon, we boarded our own private sampan and cruised the backwaters of the Mekong and some of its canals. The scenery was beautiful as we passed many small fishing boats, rice fields and a few traditional villages on the banks of the river.  We also visited Sam Mountain which is a sacred place for Buddhist and the mountain itself has many temples and pagodas built on the side. There is a military outpost at the top and due to the excellent views and location on the Cambodia border was vital during the Vietnam War and also the war with the Khmer Rouge. We also passed through the Chau Doc Floating Market where many locals are selling their wares on their boats in the middle of the river.  We also went to a local fish farm which was basically a floating house on the river with cages or pens underneath to raise and feed the fish.  I’m not exactly sure how many fish were under there but it must have been tens of thousands and this was relatively a small farm. For those of you that shop in Costco and Walmart I’m sure you’ve seen the tilapia and catfish that are imported from Vietnam.

Wednesday – Now we are in Sa Dec and this morning we boarded another sampan and visited a local brick factory to see how the clay bricks are made and the giant kilns that are used to dry the bricks which are fueled from the rice husks.  There are quite a few of the brick factories in this area and the operations are very efficient and the river is the perfect route to bring in the needed supplies and then ship out the finished product.

We then went into the town of Sa Dec and visited the house of Huynh Thuy Le who was the lover of French novelist Marguerite Duras and whom she wrote her novel and later to be film The Lover about. We walked through the busy street market where the locals buy and sell fish, meat, vegetables and produce.

After lunch we were off to Cai Be on our sampan.  As there are in all the towns and villages, there was another bustling local and floating market here. We visited a local establishment to see how rice paper, rice wine, and traditional candy are made.  This was another interesting stop and they all amazed me at how industrious and hardworking they are.  Also in Cai Be they have a beautiful French Gothic Cathedral that we visited.

During the night on Wednesday we cruised through a canal that was like a crowded U. S. freeway at rush hour.  Boats going to and from Saigon(Ho Chi Minh City) were backed up for miles. I’m glad I wasn’t driving the ship since we were rammed by another vessel at about 2 in the morning. No harm no foul!!

So when we woke up on Thursday morning we were in Saigon and it was time to disembark our beautiful ship and spend 3 nights in the wonderful Intercontinental Asiana Saigon.

I was surprised at the size of Saigon and we had overnighted here for a few hours on our inbound trip but we didn’t get a chance to see the city.  Saigon has a population of over 12 million people and has over 6 million people riding scooters and motorcycles. Saigon was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1976.

In Saigon, we stayed at the beautiful InterContinental Asiana Saigon.  The rooms were very nice with plenty of space and the bathrooms were very elegant with a large tub and shower.

On Friday, we started of our day by driving about an hour outside of Saigon to the Cu Chi District which contains the famous Cu Chi tunnels.  The maze of tunnels was an unbelievable network that underlies a lot of the country.  We were told that there were over 30,000 Viet Cong living in these tunnels at any given time in the Cu Chi area during the Vietnam War.  The Viet Cong based most of their operations here and underground tunnels were the location of many of the major military operations. They had communication centers, living quarters, food kitchens and hospitals.

The Cu Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the war.  The Americans knew how valuable these tunnels were and dropped thousands of tons of bombs and napalm on the area.  Back then the landscape looked like something on the moon from all the bombs and napalm. The Americans were reluctant to send any troops into the tunnels because they were all booby trapped with explosives or punji spikes. Back then the landscape looked like something on the moon.  The Viet Cong remained in the tunnels during the daytime and only came out at night to attack or get food.

For the more adventurous people in our group, we got to go down into one of the sections of the tunnels that are open to the public. We only traveled about 25 yards so it wasn’t too bad. They had dug out these portions of tunnels to make them bigger for people like me to get through. But it was still pretty claustrophobic.  All of the miles of original tunnels have been closed off or filled in because there were still thousands of booby traps. I’m glad to say that all the greenery and jungles have now grown back over the tunnels and it is a very beautiful area.

Friday night we had our farewell dinner at the Ly Club Saigon which is named for the 11th century Ly Dynasty.  This was a beautiful restaurant and we had our on private room.

On Saturday as most of our group left, we toured around Saigon for the entire day with some friends we had met from Australia that were on the cruise.

Saturday night we had a nice dinner and went to the beautiful Saigon Opera House for the musical called the AO Show.  The show is a Vietnamese production that uses giant woven baskets that turn into crabs, flamingos and other beautiful art forms.  It tells the story of the Vietnamese people from the beginning as an agrarian culture all the way through time to the busy metropolitan lifestyle that they lead now. The show is beautifully choreographed with many optical illusions and the dancers and musicians were spectacular.

So this ends my wonderful trip to Cambodia and Vietnam and it was one of the best trips of my life.  I would highly recommend it to anyone.  Please feel free to contact me if I can provide you with any information and help you plan your next trip there.

Happy travels,

Roy