An Ageless Adventure Through The Mekong – 9 Days

Drive out of Saigon to Cu Chi, an underground maze of passages used by the Viet Cong for shelter from air raids during what the Vietnamese call the American War. Crawl through a short section to get a sense of what life was like for the soldiers below ground.

Continue to Tay Ninh and the Cao Dai Temple, a large and colourful compound of dragons and painted pillars, to watch the midday prayer service. Caodaism was founded in the 1920s and blends elements of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Christianity and Islam in a message of peace. Have lunch in Tay Ninh.

Drive back to Saigon, arriving in the late afternoon.

After breakfast, drive to Cai Be, arriving in the late morning, and board your private boat for Cai Be Floating Market, passing a striking riverside cathedral on the way. Stop at small family workshops to see how rice paste, rice crackers and coconut candy are made, and how longan fruit is dried.

Lunch is served along the way.

Sail along the Mekong’s many branches and creeks, stopping at orchards and traditional houses of wood and palm leaves. Then cross the Tien Giang River, one of the two great arms of the Mekong, by motorboat to explore the islands and countryside on the far side. Your driver is waiting there for the drive of about 45 minutes to Can Tho, the largest city in the delta, with its lively waterfront and colourful back streets.

The rest of the day is at leisure.

Leave your hotel early by motorboat for Cai Rang Floating Market, where traders from across the region gather to sell fresh fruit, local delicacies and handmade goods from their boats.

Visit small workshops where families make coconut candy and rice paper by hand.

Drive on to Chau Doc, a river town close to the Cambodian border.

Climb Sam Mountain at sunset for wide views over the rice fields and canals. If time allows, visit the Temple of Lady Xu, a much-revered shrine at the foot of the mountain, and the tomb of Thoai Ngoc Hau, the mandarin who dug the canals that opened up this region.

After breakfast, check out and board a speedboat for the journey up the Mekong to Phnom Penh. The trip takes about four and a half hours, including border formalities. Your guide meets you at the dock in Phnom Penh and takes you to your hotel.

Despite its turbulent past, Phnom Penh has an undeniable charm, with wide tree-lined boulevards and faded colonial mansions. After lunch at a restaurant in the centre, take an unhurried tour to the Russian Market and try out your bargaining skills among its stalls of silk, silver and souvenirs.

With your guide, visit the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a former school that became the S-21 prison under the Khmer Rouge.

Continue to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek outside the city. Both are deeply moving places that help you understand what Cambodia lived through in the late 1970s and how far it has come since.

After breakfast, fly to Siem Reap, where your driver meets you on arrival.

Begin at the Angkor National Museum, a modern museum that uses multimedia displays to bring the golden age of the Khmer Empire to life. A guided visit gives you the background to make the most of the temples tomorrow.

Drive out to Phnom Krom, a hilltop temple above the Tonle Sap, and watch the sun set over the surrounding countryside.

After an early breakfast, enter Angkor Thom through its South Gate, crowned with four serenely smiling faces, then visit the Bayon, the Elephant Terrace and the Terrace of the Leper King. Leave through the North Gate for Preah Khan, the Temple of the Sacred Sword, one of the largest temples at Angkor, built by King Jayavarman VII in the 12th century.

Lunch is traditional Khmer food.

Visit Ta Prohm, where giant fig trees wrap their roots around the stones, then finish at Angkor Wat, the largest temple of all and the finest example of Khmer art and architecture. It was built as a Hindu temple and later dedicated to the Buddha.

Enjoy the rest of your time at leisure for last-minute shopping or sightseeing.

Transfer to Siem Reap International Airport for your flight home.