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The Jahan

A River Journey through Indochina

14-day river cruise holiday from £4,790 pp incl. flights

Summary

Short description

A luxury Mekong cruise through rural Vietnam and Cambodia, paired with private tours in Saigon and Angkor Wat

Highlights

  • Sail to floating markets, monasteries and stilted villages
  • Cruise in boutique luxury, with fully inclusive indulgences
  • Explore with excursions included throughout, from cooking classes to tuk-tuk rides
  • Take in Phnom Penh’s golden palaces
  • Enjoy luxury stays, and tours of Saigon and Angkor Wat

In Brief

  • 2 Nights Ho Chi Minh City
  • 1 Night My Tho
  • 1 Night Cai Be
  • 1 Night Tan Chau
  • 1 Night Phnom Penh
  • 1 Night Kampong Chhnang
  • 1 Night Angkor Ban
  • 1 Night Wat Hanchey
  • 2 Nights Siem Reap

About

Recommended for:
History & culture | River cruise

Sailing on a boutique river ship, you’ll enjoy everything from a private balcony and spa treatments to presentations and gourmet full-board dining. As you wind among floating villages and majestic rural scenery, you’ll also explore with a full spread of included excursions, meeting monks in island monasteries, taking rickshaws among Phnom Penh’s grand temples and riding tender boats through palm-fringed waterways to discover remote artisan villages and Viet Cong tunnels. Either side, you’ll also be treated to luxury stays and private tours of Siem Reap’s Angkor Wat and Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City.

Day by day itinerary

Day 1
Depart UK

After enjoying complimentary airport lounge access, board your overnight flight to Vietnam.

Days 2-3
Ho Chi Minh City

You’ll be met, on arrival, by a private driver, who’ll see you to your spa hotel in the city centre. Then, after an included dinner at a handpicked restaurant, you’ll begin your series of included tours the next day. Heading out early on a speedboat, you’ll beat the crowds, sweeping past rural scenery to take in the Cu Chi Tunnels – a subterranean network built by the Viet Cong. Then, after an included riverside lunch, you’ll enjoy a city tour, showcasing everything from the grand Beaux-Arts Independence Palace and Saigon’s spread of French-colonial architecture to the views from the 48th-floor Saigon Skydeck.

Stay: Intercontinental Asiana, Ho Chi Minh City (Deluxe)

Meals: B

Day 4
My Tho

Today, a private transfer will see you aboard your luxury river ship, settling into one of just 26 plush cabins after a welcome drink. Each features a private balcony and white-wood furnishing. There’s also the sun-deck Jacuzzi, spa treatments and steam room to relax with, along with a gym and lounge cinema. The full-board fine dining is equally impressive, featuring high teas and meals washed down with complimentary wines and beers. All along, you’ll watch as river life plays out, sailing past verdant rice paddies and remote villages.

Stay: The Jahan, a Heritage Line Collection (Deluxe)

Meals: B L D

Day 5
Cai Be & Sa Dec

Each morning, you’ll have the option of joining a complimentary Tai Chi class on the sun-deck. Then, as the ship sails into the Mekong Delta, you’ll arrive at Cai Be to explore its famous floating market. You’ll also go ashore to visit the town’s artisan workshops before taking a local boat along the surrounding green, palm-fringed canal-ways. This afternoon, you’ll continue towards Sa Dec, once again boarding a traditional local boat, this time to explore Binh Thanh – an island given over to water hyacinths and a remote village that specialises in mat weaving. After trying your hand, reboard the ship for a presentation on “Life on the Mekong Delta”.

Stay: The Jahan, a Heritage Line Collection (Deluxe)

Meals: B L D

Day 6
Tan Chau & Border Crossing

You’ll arrive at Tan Chau today, a slow-paced town that bears Chinese, Vietnamese and Cambodian Khmer influence, playing out over workshops and homes. You’ll take it in with a ride on a xeloi – a local vehicle still used as taxis. Stopping at historic temples and colourful markets, you’ll have the chance to practice your bargaining skills before a local boat cruise sees you to a floating fish farm. Then, hopping over the border, you’ll sail into the Cambodian countryside. While you might want to relax with the captain on the bridge or with your private balcony, be sure to also enjoy today’s cooking class, alongside the usual afternoon tea. It’s served before you arrive into Phnom Penh, where you might want to enjoy a drink in one of its riverside bars.

Stay: The Jahan, a Heritage Line Collection (Deluxe)

Meals: B L D

Day 7
Phonm Penh

Among its bustle, Art-Deco architecture and historic temples, the Cambodian capital still remembers its tragic past. You’ll visit the Killing Fields and the high-school-turned prison “S21” – a pair of haunting sites that memorialise the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge in moving exhibitions. Then, after a fine-dining lunch in town, you’ll continue to the magnificent Royal Palace and its Silver Pagoda. These 19th-century jewels are also paired with the exceptional Khmer crafts at the National Museum before a cyclo rickshaw ride sees you back to the ship. Here, you’ll be treated to a barbecue dinner, dance performance and a lecture on modern Cambodia history, delivered by a professor of the Royal University of Phnom Penh.

Stay: The Jahan, a Heritage Line Collection (Deluxe)

Meals: B L D

Day 8
Angkor Ban or Kampong Chhnang

High water (Sep–Nov): Your first stop today will be the Angkor Ban village. It’s a delight of traditional houses and gives a glimpse into rural Cambodia life, seeming unchanged for a century. Then, after a display of traditional Khmer fashion back on board, you’ll visit a local school and Wat Hanchey – a 7th-century pre-Angkorian temple with gorgeous river views. The nearby colourful monastery also offers the chance to meet the resident monks.

Low water (Nov–Aug): Gliding through the jungle-like landscape, you’ll arrive at Kampong Tralach on the narrow Tonle River. Here, you’ll take in the local life on an ox-cart ride, stopping off at a school supported by your cruise. Then, after a display of traditional Khmer fashion, you’ll sail onto Kampong Chhnang, where stilted houses balance on water-rich soil. You’ll even visit a local pottery village that’s also home to palm-sugar workshops.

Stay: The Jahan, a Heritage Line Collection (Deluxe)

Meals: B L D

Day 9
Koh Oknha Tey or Angkor Ban

High water: Pausing at the island of Koh Oknha Tey, you’ll be brought on a tu tuk to explore its workshops and high-quality silk manufacturers. Back on board, a presentation on the “Geography of the Mekong and Tonle Sap” is followed by a monk’s blessing before a trip through jungle-like scenery brings you to a school supported by your cruise – its village showcased on your ox-cart ride.

Low water: This is the same as the high-water itinerary today, save that the school visit is swapped for a cocktail party on the riverbank and a trip to Angkor Ban village. This remote settlement is full of charm, barely having changed over the past 100 years.

Stay: The Jahan, a Heritage Line Collection (Deluxe)

Meals: B L D

Day 10
Kampong Chhnang or Wat Hanchey

High water: Arriving into Kampong Chhnang, you’ll explore its stilted villages by local boat, followed by a trip to a Khmer pottery workshop. You’ll then arrive into the great Tonle Sap – the biggest freshwater lake in Asia. It’s a spectacular event, made that bit more special for a farewell dinner and music, enjoyed with the ship moored mid-lake.

Low water: Today starts with a visit to the pre-Angkorian temple of Wat Hanchey, a 7th-century jewel with hill-top views over the Mekong. After meeting with the monks of the colourful monastery of Wat Nokor, you’ll admire their bamboo bridge, built anew each year at low water. It all culminates with a school visit and music back onboard.

Stay: The Jahan, a Heritage Line Collection (Deluxe)

Meals: B L D

Days 11-12
Siem Reap and the Temples of Angkor

While in high water, you’ll be brought on a tender through a vast floating community to Siem Reap, the low water seasons means a scenic overland transfer through the Cambodian countryside. Either way, you’ll arrive at your upscale spa hotel, set among the wide boulevards of the French Quarter, just moments from the famous temples. And, you’ll explore straightaway with a private sunset tour of Angkor Wat. The next day, you’ll go into more detail, with your private guide taking you to some of the complex’s lesser-visited jewels, including tree-covered Ta Prohm and Bayon – famed for its smiling faces. You’ll also enjoy an included dinner at one Siem Reap’s finest restaurants each evening, paired with a cultural dance show at the Angkor Village Theatre on the last night.

Stay: Shinta Mani Angkor, Siem Reap (Superior)

Meals: B D

Days 13-14
Depart for UK

After breakfast, transfer to Siem Reap airport for your onward flight, arriving into the UK the next day

NB This tour also operates in reverse starting in Siem Reap and finishing in Saigon.

Meals: B

Map

Pricing

Any element of this itinerary can be adjusted to suit your needs. Just contact us to find out more.

Accommodation rating: Superior Deluxe

14-day river cruise holiday
from £4,790 pp incl. flights

Deluxe

Low Season

from £4,790 pp. incl. flights

High Season

from £6,935 pp. incl. flights

  • Complimentary UK airport lounge access
  • Return flights between London, Saigon & Siem Reap
  • Private transfers throughout
  • 4 nights accommodation in a mix of 4.5* (Superior) & 5* (Deluxe) hotels on a mix of B&B and half-board
  • 7 nights on board the 5* (Deluxe) Jahan Cruise in a Deluxe cabin, inclusive of all meals and touring
  • Small group tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels by speedboat
  • Privately guided tour of the Angkor temple complex


Terms & Conditions

Prices are per person based on two people sharing a twin/double room; prices are subject to availability and possible change; normal booking conditions apply.

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