Saigon - Siem Reap 10-day cruise with Toum Tiou

04:38' PM - Thursday, 27/05/2010

Saigon - Siem Reap 10-day cruise with Toum Tiou

Overview

Duration: 10 days

Highlights: Further exploration of local life and floating markets along the biggest and longest river in Southeast Asia - The Mekong, Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia's temples and pagodas, etc.

Introduction: Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Saigon are the key destinations that we use to offer you trips into lands of disconcerting beauty, with an incomparable historical heritage and legendary traditions. See the Toum Tiou Cruiser

Itinerary

Day 1: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) - My Tho

07:45 Toum Tiou is open for embarking.
08:00 Clearance of departure formalities. Security briefing.
08:30 Departure for My Tho. Lunch and leisure on board during navigation.
17:30 Arrival at My Tho – Toum Tiou drops anchor on river in the proximity of Thoi Son Island. Local musician band embarks to play traditional music for 45 minutes.
19:00 Welcome drink and info meeting about cruise, crew introduction. Welcome dinner. Overnight onboard.

Day 2: My Tho - Cai Be

07:00 Breakfast
08:00 Local boats come alongside Toum Tiou to pick up passengers and transfer to the mainland. Departure for Vinh Trang Pagoda by car - Short panoramic tour of My Tho town on the way. Continuing for Dong Tam Snake Farm and My Tho Market on the banks of a northern arm of the Mekong, My Tho, which translates as "fragrant herb", where tourists come to discover the beauty of the delta. It's a quiet, prosperous city of about 100,000 inhabitants, famous for its many fruit orchards, gardens and the huge rice fields that surround it. The climate is warm and pleasant year round. The surrounding countryside is home to one of the most luxuriant gardens of Vietnam, with its coconut palms, banana and mango trees.
10:45 Return at the pier- Passengers cruise on the river to Thoi Son Island by local boat to visit the island, explore local people’s daily life and enjoy locally seasonal fruits.
12:30 Return to the Toum Tiou by local boat.
13:00 Re-embarking, the Toum Tiou leaves My Tho for Cai Be. Lunch and leisure on board.
18:00 Toum Tiou at anchor on river on the proximity near Cai Be.
19:30 Dinner and overnight on board.

Day 3: Cai Be - Vinh Long - Sa Dec

07:00 Breakfast. Local boats are coming alongside Toum Tiou, picks up passengers and cruises around Cai Be Floating Market. Continuing for Vinh Long - a brick and pottery factory, the Binh Hoa Phuoc Islet Nursery of Fruit Trees as well a typical house and a show room of traditional farming tools. Vinh Long, which translates as "Majestic Dragon", is right in the middle of the delta, between two arms of the Mekong. The soil of Vinh Long is enriched by silt deposits, making it ideal for growing mandarins and other citrus fruits. Life is organized around the water. Houses on stilts, hawkers in boats, hundreds of small craft crisscross in all directions. The hospitality of the locals makes it a tourist destination par excellence.
12:30 Return on the Toum Tiou, departure for Sa Dec. Lunch on board during the navigation. Arrive at Sa Dec - Short panoramic tour of Sa Dec and transfer to Trung Vuong primary school. Continuing to Kien An Cung Pagoda. Stroll around Sa Dec Market along Sa Dec River bank. This small city of 30,000 inhabitants is fascinating in its unspoiled authenticity and undisturbed by tourists. It provides a glimpse of the delta where a few colonial houses still remain, including the "Chinese man's house" (from Duras' novel "The Lover", also made into a movie).
17:00 Return to the boat with stopover at a nursery of flower and bonsai trees. Famous for its horticulture (it has many varieties of fabulously exotic flowers) Sa Dec was known as the "Garden of Cochin Chine" during colonial times. Passengers re-embark, Toum Tiou leaves Sa Dec port and drop anchor few miles away. Dinner and overnight on the river.

Day 4: Sa Dec - Chau Doc

06:30 Early departure for Chau Doc. Breakfast during navigation. Leisure and relax onboard.
13:30 Arrival after lunch at Victoria Hotel Chau Doc jetty. Located to the north at the beginning of Mekong's famous delta, Chau Doc straddles both banks of the Mekong which fans out to the dimensions of a river mouth here. Floating fish farms have sprung up everywhere. Bamboo fish drying racks are set up a meter above the water's surface. The bourgeoning downtown area features some charmingly rustic colonial buildings, squeezed in by the marketplace - the colorful, vibrant heart of the city. As always, these busy parts of town, despite their sometimes strong odors, offer wonderful photo opportunities...
14:30 Departure for fish raising rafts and Cham minority village by local boat.
Return to the Victoria hotel for a walk to Chau Doc market. Visit of Sam Mountain which peaks at 237 meters. Its well-known Buddhist sanctuaries offer an unobstructed view over the mosaic of glistening rice paddies below. To the left is Cambodia, and the flow of the Mekong on the horizon breaks into an infinity of silver ribbons. Visit on the way of the Lady Chua Xu temple and Tay An Pagoda.
18:30 Return to the boat after sunset. Dinner at the Victoria Hotel’s restaurant. Overnight onboard at the jetty of the hotel; you are free to enjoy the hotel facilities (swimming pool, sauna, bar) or stroll in Chau Doc

Day 5: Chau Doc - Koh Dek Chau

07:00 Toum Tiou leaves for Vinh Xuong (Vietnamese border). Breakfast
09:30 One hour lecture on Vietnam Today. Arrive at Vinh Xuong check-point – Formalities clearance for RV Toum Tiou to cross the border.
13:30 Toum Tiou leaves Vinh Xuong check point for Cambodia. Lunch during the navigation. Arrive at Kaam Samnaar check-point – Formalities clearance for crossing the border.
15:30 Toum Tiou leaves Kaam Samnaar check point for Koh Dek Chau Island. Arrive at Koh Dek Chau island, a short break along the way, it allows to get a fascinating, close-up look at daily life in Cambodia. On the fringes of civilization, the 600 people who live on Koh Dek Chau will receive your visit with some surprise. School children will escort you along your way. You will go through the village that occupies the full length of the island, walking along a trail shaded by date palms.
17:30 Toum Tiou leaves for Phnom Penh and drops anchor few miles away. Dinner and overnight on board

Day 6: Koh Dek Chau - Phnom Penh

07:00 Breakfast. Depart Toum Tiou for Phnom Penh. Lunch during the navigation. Arrive at Phnom Penh, formalities clearance.
14:30 Departure for the “KILLING FIELDS” – return to the boat around 18:30. Dinner on board. Local group performs on board “APSARA” show. Overnight onboard.

Day 7: Phnom Penh

07:00 Breakfast. Half day city sightseeing tour including the Royal Palace and the National Museum. Return to the ship and have lunch on board..
14:00 Balance of the day free exploration on own. Suggestions can be made up on the interest of passengers. FCC, Russian market, other boutiques (antiques), etc.
19:30 Diner and overnight on board.

Day 8: Phnom Penh - Koh Chen/ Oudong - Kampong Tralach

08:00 Departure of the Toum Tiou for Koh Chen (Chinese Island). Breakfast during navigation. Arrive to Koh Chen, small village of whose inhabitants specialize in silver and copper smiting. They make ornamental items, including delicately engraved tropical fruits, used in traditional ceremonies at the pagoda or for marriages. The distant hills of Cambodia's old capital, Oudong, and its royal stupas can be seen a few kilometers away from the ferry. At the top of the hill, the ruins of Anthareu temple. Passengers re-embark the Toum Tiou. Lunch on board on the way to Kampong Tralach
15:30 Arrival at Kampong Tralach to visit its wonderful Vihara belonging to Wat Kampong Tralach Leu pagoda. To get to it, we cross Kampong Tralach Krom village along a small road perpendicular to the river, crossing some gorgeous stretches of emerald rice paddy as we leave the river behind.
The Vihara dates back to early last century. It was probably built on an older site, as indicated by the laterite foundations, and is home to some outstanding mural paintings. These, however, are starting to suffer from weathering. They remain one of the last survivors of cultural destruction that continues unabated due to widespread indifference. Standing by itself in the middle of rice fields, it is a modest pagoda that receives very few visitors. Its isolation may well be its undoing, as was the case for Wat Tani Pagoda in the province of Kampot.
17:30 Passengers re-embark. The Toum Tiou drops anchor few miles away.Diner and overnight on board.

Day 9: Kampong Chhnang - Kampong Luong

07:00 Departure of the Toum Tiou early in the morning. Sail to Kampong Chhnang. Breakfast during navigation.
09:00 Arrival to Kampong Chhnang. Located some 56 miles from Phnom Penh, the town of Kampong Chhnang is one of the largest fishing ports on the Tonle Sap. Fish farming is also widely practiced in the area. The area is famous for its pottery ware, unchanged in style for centuries, which is produced in sufficient quantities to supply the entire country. And not to be overlooked are the products of the Thnot tree (sugar palm – a real national symbol) that abounds in the area: a mellow tasting, caramel-colored sugar sold in large cakes and palm wine.
11:30 Passengers re-embark the Toum Tiou. Lunch on board on the way to Kampong Luong. Arrive at Kampong Luong. Local boats are coming along the Toum Tiou and picking passengers for the visit. Almost totally overlooked by tourists because of its remoteness and difficult access, the village is completely self-sufficient. A floating school, factories to make ice for fish preservation, church, pagoda, service stations, pigsty, stores, boat or television repair shops, video club, karaoke bar, police station... everything is on the water. All trades are represented and everybody from children to grandparents goes by boat through the network of canals that cross this little town.
18:00 Passengers re-embark. The Toum Tiou stays overnight under the protection of the flooded forest. Farewell cocktail (1 glass of local liquor or juice) with Master of Ship & Cruise Manager. Captain’s farewell dinner (Enriched menu + 1 glass of wine). Overnight on board

Day 10: Kampong Luong - Siem Reap

07:00 Departure of the Toum Tiou early in the morning. Time to pack and relax a half a day by crossing the Tonle Sap Lake.
13:00 Passengers disembark, local tour agent pick up passengers and transfer to hotel after a last lunch onboard.

Tour price: Please contact us to have the best price: info@opentour.vn

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