Phu My Port-Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Cruise from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh — 8 Days

Saigon, Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City rewards curious travellers with a vivid collision of old Saigon and modern Vietnam. French-colonial landmarks, busy markets and motorbike-filled streets make the centre a study in contrasts. The War Remnants Museum offers a sobering account of the conflict, while local cafés invite a slower pause. For a deeper look at Vietnam’s wartime history, the Cu Chi tunnels make a memorable excursion beyond the city.

Vinh Long, Vietnam

Cái Bè sits beside the Tiền River, where ferries, cargo boats and sampans share the waterway. Take a small boat through narrow canals to see fruit orchards and villages shaped by life on the Mekong. The town’s landmark Catholic church offers a striking pause on shore. At dawn, the once-famous floating market is quieter than its reputation suggests, but river trade remains part of daily life.

• River Cruising (River Cruising)

Chau Doc, Vietnam

Châu Đốc sits on the Hậu River, where Vietnam’s Mekong Delta meets Cambodia. Fishing boats and floating fish farms animate the waterways. Markets reveal Vietnamese, Khmer and Cham influences. Nearby, Sam Mountain offers wide delta views, historic pagodas and the revered Lady Chúa Xứ Temple. For a change of pace, glide through Trà Sư Cajuput Forest’s shaded canals.

• River Cruising (River Cruising)

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Phnom Penh rewards a day spent looking beyond its riverfront. Cambodia’s capital pairs the Royal Palace’s gilded roofs and the Silver Pagoda’s silver-tiled floor with the broad Mekong. At Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields, the Khmer Rouge years become painfully tangible. Leave time for the Central Market, where art deco architecture shelters stalls selling silver, silk, and local produce.

Angkor Ban, Cambodia

Angkor Ban is one of the Mekong’s rare villages where traditional wooden homes still shape daily life. Raised on stilts, many houses date back generations, their weathered boards offering a glimpse of rural Cambodia beyond the cities. Visit the Buddhist monastery and meet residents whose routines follow the river and rice fields. Here, the Mekong is not a backdrop; it is the village’s working road and enduring source of connection.

• Wat Hanchey Temple (Ask Travel Agent)

Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia

Tonle Sap is Cambodia’s great inland sea. Each monsoon, rising Mekong waters reverse the Tonle Sap River’s flow, swelling the lake many times beyond its dry-season size. From the water, stilt houses and floating communities reveal how generations have adapted to its shifting shoreline. The flooded forests shelter abundant fish and important populations of waterbirds. Visits usually depart from Siem Reap, with conditions changing sharply between wet and dry seasons.

Kampong Tralach, Cambodia

Kampong Tralach reveals a quieter Cambodia, where river life and rice fields shape the day. Travel by ox cart through the countryside to Wat Kampong Tralach Leu, a historic pagoda with painted walls. Nearby, Kampong Chhnang is known for its pottery and communities on the Tonle Sap. Come ashore for a close look at rural life, far from the capital’s bustle.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Phnom Penh rewards a day spent looking beyond its riverfront. Cambodia’s capital pairs the Royal Palace’s gilded roofs and the Silver Pagoda’s silver-tiled floor with the broad Mekong. At Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields, the Khmer Rouge years become painfully tangible. Leave time for the Central Market, where art deco architecture shelters stalls selling silver, silk, and local produce.