Culinary Delight & Mekong River Cruise

Upon your arrival at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, you’ll be picked up to your hotel in the city centre. Enjoy your time at leisure before a short guided walk along Dong Khoi street, formerly known as Rue Catinat during the French colonial days and Tu Do in the 1960s, this street was reborn during Doi Moi as the centre of Saigon’s commercial and shopping district. Local boutiques compete with international brands, and restaurants litter the street set in beautifully restored French colonial buildings.

The dinner is hosted at Ly Club with Western-Vietnamese innovative menu is crafted by Executive Chef Dessi De Vries who combines the techniques of classical French cooking with unique local spices and tropical ingredients.

Meals: Dinner
Accommodation: Hotel
Transportation: Private vehicle

This morning devote to a cooking class where you will team with a chef to source ingredients at a nearby market before you learn to cook classic dishes such as summer rice rolls, rice noodle soups and many more. Finally you savour your own culinary creation

The afternoon is your own, later with time at the Deck, a stylish bungalow that floats on the banks of the Saigon River and hosts legendary cocktail hours. Then proceed to pretty, retro Cuc Gach Quan for some countryside food such as silky homemade tofu sautéed with lemongrass and chiles, or thit kho to (clay-pot-stewed pork belly). Alternatively, savor the city’s superb street-food culture at the open-air Quan An Ngon restaurant, where curbside chefs whip up Vietnamese soul food like bun cha–vermicelli with grilled pork balls and herbs–and che suong sa hot luu, a refreshing local drink of coconut milk, tapioca pearls, water chestnuts, and jelly worms.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Hotel
Transportation: Private vehicle

Bid farewell to the hustle and bustle of Saigon as you travel 70 kilometers south overland to My Tho to embark a boutique ship. You will be served a refreshing welcome drink as the ship steadily glides along the Mekong. You will bathe in the fading sunset on the balcony followed by a briefing at the lounge. Later, a welcome dinner awaits you. When approaching Cai Be, the ship drops anchor to moor midstream where the river is several kilometers wide.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Overnight Cruises
Transportation: Private vehicle, Boat

The day – in fact everyday – starts with an invigorating tai-chi lesson on the sundeck, just as the sun begins its gentle glow. Coffee and tea awaits the early bird. The day’s tour starts with a visit to Cai Be’s colorful floating market on board a traditional sampan (a flat bottomed traditional Vietnamese wooden boat). During the languid ride, discover breathtaking landscapes along the river and quaff the rustic life on the Mekong Delta. The cruise will halt intermittently to allow us to observe how rice paste, rice cookies and coconut candies are made, along with the Longan fruit drying process.

After touring the canals, you head to an ancient house surrounded by fruit orchards before heading to the ship for lunch. In the afternoon you cruise to Sa Dec. Upon arrival, embark a traditional sampan* to tour Binh Thanh Island and its man-made canals. Here, every villager is involved in the process of growing and processing water hyacinths into natural fibre floor mats and rattan baskets. You then board the Ship for a tranquil evening cruise towards Chau Doc. The Ship will moor midstream overnight.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Overnight Cruises
Transportation: Boat

Welcome to the fish sanctuary of Vietnam. Begin your day with a hearty breakfast at the Indochine Dining Hall or in the quiet sanctuary of your balcony. Brace yourself for a short excursion in Chau Doc, a pleasant town near the Cambodian border with sizeable Chinese, Kinh and Khmer communities. We will also visit the colorful local market near an ancient temple. This is followed by a trip to the quay, where we will be feted to a boat excursion to the floating villages and rustic catfish farms. We will certainly enjoy watching schools of basa fish being fed by hand followed by a shore excursion to the local Cham Muslim community village. Then, it is back to the ship for a mouth-watering lunch. By mid-afternoon, the cruise liner will make its way to the border for Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. It is an opportune time to relax on-board, sharpen your culinary skills with our hands-on cooking classes or tour the ship with our impeccable Cruise Director. Or, better yet, do all three. “The Highway Blues” beckon as we float into a state of mild bliss caused by the hypnotic murmur of the ship’s engine. After hours of cruising, we will feel the rush of entering into a new country and to embrace new adventures..

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Overnight Cruises
Transportation: Boat

Off we go early in the morning to witness a truly indescribable scene while approaching Phnom Penh’s river promenade. After breakfast, it is time to disembark the cruise and transfer to the hotel at 10:00 AM.

In the afternoon, explore the central Phnom Penh by cyclo including colonial buildings as well as modern, post-independence architecture. Meant to be a brief historical introduction to the city, the tour includes a selection of well-known buildings as well as some less obvious examples, ie of religious architecture. You explore the district around the old Post Office, then go to the area south-east of the Central Market.

Traveling by cyclo (a Cambodian pedal-powered rickshaw) is a special way of experiencing the streets and buildings of the city. We will enter some buildings and see others from the cyclo, as well as exploring on foot. We start at 15:00 am and return to hotel by 18.00 by exploring such as Independence Monument, Central Market, Post office and Wat Phnom and surround those area where collection of French colonial and man-made designing of Khmer then ride along the river street where you’ll see these city

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel
Transportation: Private vehicle, Boat, Cyclo / Richshaw

This morning visit National Museum, home to the world’s best and probably the largest collections of Khmer art. You will then visit the Royal Palace and the attached Silver Pagoda, a symbol for Cambodia. The rest of the morning will be free for shopping at the Russian market.

Your time is at leisure till being transferred to the airport for your departure flight.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation:
Transportation: Private vehicle