An Unforgettable Journey Aboard the RV Jayavarman Cruise

Arrive in Ho Chi Minh city, check in hotel, explore this city

• After arriving in Ho Chi Minh City, tourists will be welcomed and transferred to hotel (rooms are at your disposal from 14:00). After check-in, we will start our departure by a city tour of the former capital of French Indochina, once known as Saigon. The destination includes many historic landmarks such as: the Old Saigon post office - the building that was constructed in classic French colonial style; Notre Dame Cathedral - a famed age-long cathedral in Southern Vietnam; and the ethnic Chinese district of Cho Lon which still maintains its distinct Chinese flavor nowadays, especially Thien Hau Pagoda - dedicated to the Goddess of the sea. Enjoy dinner in a local restaurant and back to the hotel for rest.

Explore Cu Chi Tunnel, visit the Reunification Palace and War Remnants Museum

• 08.30 AM: After breakfast at hotel, your private guide will meet you at your hotel lobby. A one and half hour drive takes you to Cu Chi Tunnels where human knowledge has been enriched by experiencing an web-like tunnels system of more than 200km in length which used to be the shelters of guerrillas during the war against American troops. 
• After the lunch in the local restaurant, in the afternoon, you will have a city tour including the Reunification Hall, formerly known as the Presidential Palace. It was towards this modern building that Communist tanks rolled on the morning of April 30, 1975, as Saigon fell. This fascinating building is filled with history still fresh in the minds of many. The tour also includes the War Remnants Museum, the Old Post Office, Chinatown and Ben Thanh Market – the central market for the city and one of the liveliest areas.
• About 04.30 PM, the tour finshes and you will be dropped off at your hotel and then you are free to relax. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

Travel to My Tho, cruise along the Mekong, enjoy the sunset, hit Cai Be

• We gather before noontime at our welcome lounge in Saigon. Lean back with a drink as our staff welcomes you and collects your details for the boarding.
• We bid farewell to the hustle and bustle of Saigon and travel 70 kilometers south overland to My Tho to embark your luxury floating home for your coming journey along the Might Mekong.
• Upon boarding our crew warmly welcomes you and you check in to your prepared staterooms. The ship set sail and your fascinating journey of exploring the Mekong can begin. Lunch buffet is served in the restaurant while the vessel steadily glides upstream to reach the overnight spot. Make yourself familiar with all the ship facilities. Now it is time to  become one with one of the largest streams in Asia.
• The afternoon allows you pastime at your private balcony or join our tea time at the open air bar as the twilight  bathes the  land of Mekong Delta into a golden haze. 
• During the time you savor your dinner the ship reaches Cai Be. Cai Be is a charming small town, famous for its Cath - olic French church and manufacturing of traditional crafts and food products. The floating market of Cai Be is getting smaller every year, since trading on the water is shifting more and more into modern central markets.
• We drop anchor mid-stream and overnight near Cai Be.

Explore floating market, stunning landscapes along the Mekong, cruise to Tan Chau

• .Everyday, we offer to our guests an invigorating Tai Chi class on the sun deck. Set in your day like many local people do around Asia just as the sun begins its gentle glow.
• A sumptuous buffet breakfast is the perfect start in your first exploration day in the Mekong Delta.
• The morning tour takes you Cai Be. We can still see some boat to boat trading of local goods such as fruits and agricultural products. Our guide explains the particularities of this long lasting dealing culture. Each boat has a special marker to let buyers know what goods they are selling.
• Cai Be is a rustic town criss-crossed by and many water canals. We go on-shore to visit a workshop where we learn about and observe how rice paste, rice paper, rice cookies or rice wine is manufactured. Cai Be and its surrounding areas are covered by palm-trees and hence the region is also famous for the production of coconut candies. With our local boat we continue to cruise through the lush and green canel network and can observe farmers working in the fields.
• Back on board lunch is served and you have some time for yourself afterwards to either enjoy a true Vietnamese coffee at the bar or simply watch the life on the riverbanks floating by.
• In the afternoon, we reach the area of Sa Dec. We embark a traditional sampan and tour towards Binh Thanh Island. This island is one of the larger ones in the vast stream of the Mekong. Some communities have settled here and make their living by growing water hyazinths. We visit exclusively one of those untouched areas. By wandering through the village we get a deep understanding of the native life. But moreover we can follow the whole process of ratt making. You can even try yourself the weaving  which is still done manually. We will meet also an old local people who shares with us their story on this island and they are happy for any chit-chat with you.
• Back on board you may like to pamper yourself with a spa treatment or take a dip in our pool on the sun deck. Our expert guides offer a presentation on the “Life on the Mekong Delta” as the ship continues sailing to Tan Chau - the boarder town to Cambodia. We moor mid-stream near Tan Chau.
• Dinner is served and afterwards you can join our evening cinema session (offered every night) featuring selected classic movies.

Discover around Tan Chau, trip to the quay, visit floating villages, catfish farms, get to the border for Phnom Penh, enjoy the boat, reach to Phnom Penh

• Welcome to the fish sanctuary of Vietnam. Begin your day with a hearty breakfast at the dining hall or in the quiet sanctuary of your balcony.
• Brace yourself for an excursion around Tan Chau, a pleasant, slow-paced town near the Cambodian border with a sizeable Chinese, Kinh and Khmer community. Once arrived on-shore we hop on “xelois” to explore Tan Chau. A xeloi is a local vehicle which is still used as taxi in this region. We slowly move around the streets to see all the workshops, houses and domiciles. Get to feel the laid-back vibes of this place. We stop at the colorful local market near one of the ancient temples. This is the best time you can interact with the vendors of this friendly town to make your own bargain experience. We board our local boats and cruise along floating houses to finally reach a floating fish farm. This region is the source of fish production to be sold all over the world and we can see closely how fish farmings works.
• Back on board our “home” we sail towards the Vietnamese-Cambodian border. Get ready for a fascinating and leisurely cruise through the deep Cambodia countryside towards Phnom Penh.
• The whole afternoon is at your own arrangements. This is the cruise part when even the last passenger will turn into cruise mode and hopefully experience the therapeutical influence this mighty river radiates. It is time for massages, time for sun bed relaxations, time for private balcony kick-backs - forsooth the time to merge with the river.
• A culinary class if offered during the afternoon to sharpen your knowledge and skills on the local cuisine. Some may like to do a flying visit at the bridge - the captain always has a story to share about “his” river. “The Highway Blues” beckons as we float into a state of mild bliss and before you totally drift away join our afternoon high tea for some treats.
• Dinner is served before we arrive in the capital of Cambodia around 8 o’clock. The boat docks at the pier of Phnom Penh. You are free to go for your first exploration by yourself. Stroll along the river promenade and watch the locals chit-chating, selling odds and ends or have a drink in one of the numerous bars (kindly inform our crew once you are leaving the ship on your own). 

City tour around Phnom Penh, sight-seeing, visit Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, witness Khmer craft, visit Genocide museum and Killing Field, enjoy Cambodian culture with many activities on deck

• Welcome to Phnom Penh - the once called Paris of the East. Despite its rapid development, it has retained a lot of its rustic charm and elegance. It is an amazing town to bespeak centuries of incredible history and culture which can still be felt at many street corners.
• We start with a full sight-seeing tour right after breakfast. By bus we visit the Killing Fields at the outskirts of the city and after the centrally located prison “S21”. Both historic sites display the sad and cruel chapter of Khmer history when once the Khmer Rouge ruled the country with terror and supression. Those places have merely changed much since the horrific time back in the early seventies and so it can be heart wrenching. There is the alternative to explore the city during the morning by your own pace individually before re-joining the group.
• Lunch we take in a nice restaurant in town. Our exploration of Phnom Penh focuses afterwards on the fascinating cultural heritage of Phnom Penh. The golden edifice of the Royal Palace with its Silver Pagoda and the exceptional Khmer crafts at the National Museum are the afternoon highlights. The day trip ends with a “cyclo” ride back to the ship through the bustling streets of downtown Phnom Penh.
• Take some rest in your spacious cabin or join other fellow passengers at the bar for some refreshing drinks before our capturing evening activities start:
• It begins with a variety of cocktails served on the sun deck or at the open bar. We move to the lounge which is set up for a captivating lecture about Cambodian mordern history, held by a professor of the Royal University of Phnom Penh. Definitely among the highlights of this cruise to receive knowledge out of first hand as our lecturer had a private relation to the former King of Cambodia and many other high ranking politician.
• After the lecture a  feast of barbecue dinner on the sun deck commences. The dinner is accompanied by an Apsara dance performance. You have to witness the brilliance and richness of this dance along with the soothing sounds of traditional music.
• As the evening unwinds enjoy your supper with a good glass of wine and marvel at the skyline of Phnom Penh and the calming flow of the Tonle River.

Towards the small Angkor Ban village, famous for it ́s unspoiled community and beautiful, traditional house, travel by road to pre-Angkorian temple of Wat Hanchey, witness a blessing ceremony

• High Water: Phnom Penh - Kampong Cham (Mekong)
• We depart before the break of dawn from Phnom Penh towards the small Angkor Ban village up the Mekong River. Wake up to the gentle cruise motion and get ready for breakfast in the dining room.
• The Angkor Ban village is famous for it ́s unspoiled community and beautiful, traditional houses. It feels like being transported back a hundred years into an era unaffected by modernity. Villagers characterize an unbridled warmth.
• Back on board our staff is keen to show you the variety of traditional Khmer fashion. Lunch is served after this performance.
• We cruise further up the Mekong to visit a local school to understand more about the education of the young Cambodian generation (the project is funded by an NGO). Those children here are always excited to show their skills in music and art and will bath you in smiles upon your applause. We continue the travel by road to the enchanting pre-Angkorian temple of Wat Hanchey (7th century). This small complex sits on a hill top right on the shore with breath-taking views on the Mekong. Another temple on the way is the tiny, colorful mon-astery of Wat Nokor. Here we might get the chance to engage in a light banter with some of the monks living in the area.
• Relax back on board until dinner is served. The boat moors mid-river near Kampong Cham.
• Low Water: Phnom Penh - Kampong Chhnang (Tonle)
• Before the sun peeks over the horizon, the cruiser sets sail towards Kampong Tralach in the Tonle River – an amazingly narrow river. Gently gliding through leafy swaths of this jungle-like landscape we reach Kampong Tralach. Breakfast is served before we moor and get ready for our first Tonle discovery.
• We reach the shore by local boat and Cacophonous children waive enthusiastically while bringing their livestock for a bath in the meandering River. Live to see all this life - which is so much different than ours - by a local ox cart ride.
• Back on board our staff is keen to show you the variety of traditional Khmer fashion. Lunch is served after this performance.
• The ship cruises along the narrow and meandering Tonle River towards Kampong Chhnang, Cambodia’s “water world”, where everything is on sticks balanced on water rich soil. This is the most fascinating cruise part in Cambodia.
• Back on land in Kampong Chhnang we take  mini buses heading to a rural village nearby and go on a walking tour. Our guides introduce the village specialities Khmer style pottery and the making of palm sugar. Definitely you should bring home some. Before returning to the boat we explore the local floating villages and wetlands of the region.
• Relax back on board until dinner is served. The boat moors mid-river in the Tonle area.

Stop at the Island of Koh Oknha Tey, explore the island by Tuk tuk, learn how silk is processed from its source, provided by little silkworms, etc

• High Water: Kampong Cham (Mekong) - Kampong Chhnang (Tonle)
• We sail downstream the Mekong during breakfast time and stop at the Island of Koh Oknha Tey. This spot in the middle of the Mekong owns its fame for the manufacturing of high class silk products.
• By tuk tuk we explore the island with its workshops and learn how silk is processed from its source, provided by little silkworms, to a final top quality product made of original Cambodian silk.
• Before lunch our expert guides offer a presentation about “Geography of the Mekong and Tonle Sap”.
• After lunch a Monks’ blessing ceremony on board will deliver spirits and wishes for our health and prosperity for all.
• The cruiser continues its journey, passing the confluence of Mekong and Tonle River towards Kampong Tralach. Gliding through leafy swaths of this jungle-like landscape we reach Kampong Tralach. Cacophonous children waive enthusiastically while bringing their livestock for a bath in the meandering river. Live to see all this life - which is so much different than ours - by a local ox cart ride.
• The boat find its anchor spot later in the Tonle River near Kampong Chhnang allowing you to observe the interesting and close-by life on shore until dinner is served in the restaurant.
• Low Water: Tonle River - Kampong Cham (Mekong)
• In the early morning during breakfast we sail from the lower Tonle River towards the Mekong passing their confluence at Phnom Penh. We arrive at the Island of Koh Oknha Tey. This spot in the middle of the Mekong owns its fame for the manufacturing of high class silk products.
• By tuk tuk we explore the island with its workshops and learn how silk is processed from its source, provided by little silkworms, to a final top quality product made of original Cambodian silk.
• Before lunch our expert guides offer a presentation about “Geography of the Mekong and Tonle Sap”.After lunch a Monks’ blessing ceremony on board will deliver spirits and wishes for our health and prosperity for all.
• The ship sails towards the small Angkor Ban village up in the Mekong River. The Angkor Ban village is famous for it ́s unspoiled community and beautiful, traditional houses. It feels like being transported back a hundred years into an era unaffected by modernity. Villagers characterize an unbridled warmth.
• Afterwards it is time for some fun during party with cocktails and drinks on a flat riverbank. 
• We continue cruising for a while until dinner is served. The boat finds its overnight spot at the riverbank of Kampong Cham.

Sail to Kampong Chhnang, admire the scenery, explore the local floating villages and wetlands of the region, towards the Great Tonle Lake

• High Water: Kampong Chhnang - Tonle Lake
• Wake up early to witness this spectacular water-world in the break of down. Our moring Tai Chi class has the perfect backdrop today. Breakfast buffet is served in the restaurant.
• We are now at Kampong Chhnang, Cambodia’s “water world”, where everything is on sticks balanced on water rich soil. This is the most fascinating cruise part in Cambodia.
• We take a local boat to the shore. With mini buses we head to a rural village nearby and go on a walking tour. Our guides introduce the village specialities Khmer style pottery and the making of palm sugar. Definitely you should bring home some. Before returning to the boat we explore the local floating villages and wetlands of the region.
• Back on board lunch is served as your floating sanctuary cruises gently along the narrow and meandering Tonle, towards the Great Tonle Lake. The river opens up to a vast “sea” - known as the biggest fresh water lake in Asia. This lake can only be crossed during high water season (approx. from End-July to Mid-November). Let your soul float and your eyes wander while the boat makes its way towards Siem Reap.
• In the afternoon we serve a high tea at the bar and as the sun sets, our crew invites for a farewell event. Enjoy your dinner and some dance and music afterwards together with the crew.
• The boat moors mid-like near Siem Reap.
• Low Water: Kampong Cham (Mekong)
• After breakfast we are going by bus to visit the enchanting pre-Angkorian temple of Wat Hanchey (7th century). This small complex sits on a hill top right on the shore with breath-taking views on the Mekong. We return to the ship for lunch and some relaxation time.
• Another temple on the way is the tiny, colorful monastery of Wat Nokor. Here we might get the chance to engage in a light banter with some of the monks living in the area.
• In the afternoon we are doing another outing and drive to the the tiny, colorful monastery of Wat Nokor. Here we might get the chance to engage in a light banter with some of the monks living in the area. As it is low water season we will have the
• chance to see a bamboo bridge which connects the main land with an island. Local communities re-built the bridge every year when water levels drops. We continue our journey and visit a local school to understand more about the education of the young Cambodian generation (the project is funded by an NGO). Those children here are always excited to show their skills in music and art and will bath you in smiles upon your applause.
• As the sun sets, our crew invites for a farewell event. Enjoy your dinner and some dance and music afterwards together with the crew.
• The boat moors at the riverbank of Kampong Cham.

Free day in Ho Chi Minh city, Fly to Siem Reap, Enjoy dinner with Apsara Dance

• (The Great Lake) is the flowing heart of Cambodia, giving love and life to millions of people. It has more fishes than any other lake in the world and is home to an incredible variety of birds, including rare and endangered – feathered life.
• Our Heritage Line cruise comes to an end. We prepare to disembark the ship and take a local boat to the shore, passing a vast floating community.
• Around 09:00 o’clock, we arrive at the Siem Reap pier and bring you with a short transfer to the drop off point in the city center.
• We hope that you enjoyed this fascinating river same as our crew does every single time. Moreover we wish that you will take plenty of memories and friendships along with you that will linger with your stories of this amazing river - the Mighty Mekong.
• Low Water: Kampong Cham (Mekong) - Siem Reap

• Enjoy your last breakfast on board our floating sanctuary. We will disembark the ship after you have checked-out for a transfer by bus to the drop off point in Siem Reap.
• We depart around 08.30 o’clock (the transfers takes about 4,5 hours, snacks are provided during the trip). You arrive in Siem Reap in the early afternoon.
• We hope that you enjoyed this fascinating river same as our crew does every single time. Moreover we wish that you will take plenty of memories and friendships along with you that will linger with your stories of this amazing river - the Mighty Mekong.

Explore Rolous Group, visit Banteay Srey temple

• After breakfast, we transfer to visit the ancient Khmer civilization site of Hariharalaya which flourished in the late 9th and earlier 10th centuries. These are the earliest temples in the Angkor area and are referred to the Rolous temples group (Preah Koh, Bakong and Lolei temple)
• Afternoon, we continue to visit the smaller temple, but magnificent, Banteay Srei built in the 10th Century and dedicated to Shiva. The temple was the birthplace of Khmer classical style architecture and the bas-relief work is the best example of Khmer classical art remaining. The pink sandstone structure bears a series of striking and beautiful sculptures, lintels, pediments and friezes. Khmers say the temple must have been carved by women for the details are too fine for the hands of a man.
• On the way back, we stop to visit some activities of local people life such as making palm sugar, souvenirs made from palm trees and others activities…
• And then, visit to Banteay Samre and view sunset on Pre Rup temple before transfer back to hotel for overnight.

Explore the mysterious Royal City Angkor Thom. City & Bayon, visit the picturesque Ta Prohm, uncover visit the intricately carved Khmer ruins at Angkor Wat, etc

• Get up in early morning, ride Tuk-Tuk to visit sunrise in front of Angkor Wat temple and then come back to hotel for breakfast. After breakfast, continue with our car to visit the South Gate of Angkor Thom City and then exploring the mysterious Royal City Angkor Thom. City & Bayon it’s 54-tower temple is an awesome sight. At first glance it seems a shapeless mass of stone, but further scrutiny reveals a face, and then another and another until suddenly you are engulfed by the silent, heavy, enigmatic and silent gaze through half-closed eyes, staring out from a primitive and remote time. Further, visit to the surroundings of the complex including the Baphoun, Elephant Terraces, Leper King Terrace and Royal Enclosure area.
• Continue to visit the picturesque Ta Prohm that had nearly disappeared into the jungle and remains overgrown, an oddly haunting and exotic scene. The magnificent roots of a tree, pushing between the huge stone blocks of the temple in a sort of embrace, evoke feelings that you may remember forever. 
• Lunch at local restaurant.
• Late afternoon, we drive back to visit the intricately carved Khmer ruins at Angkor Wat – one of the world’s most impressive ruins. The temple still owns fine Apsara carvings in Angkorian era art.
• Tonight, you can spend your own time to discovery Night Market and Pub Street or enjoy massage.

Transfer to airport for your flight back home

Free time at your leisure until we pick you to the airport for your flight back home. With the sincere thanks for your travel with us. Hope that you have enjoyed your Vietnam & Cambodia trip and look forward to see you again!