Scenic Spirit Mekong Cruise Cambodia to Vietnam

We had a private transfer with a Scenic guide to Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor which was a wonderful colonial style hotel where we spend 2 nights. The room was beautiful and spacious. The service was first class and the breakfast was wonderful with a wide selection including champagne! We travelled by tuk tuk in the evening to the centre to look at the night market and eat dinner. There was a wide selection of restaurants and the prices were very reasonable and they local people were very friendly.

On the second day we hired a tuk tuk to take us to Ankgor Wat temple. This was a wonderful experience but it was very hot, 38c. Our tuk tuk driver took us to buy the tickets and waited for us while we visited the temple and charged us just 20$US. Our entrance fee was $37US per person.

After breakfast our Scenic guides too us on a 4 hour coach transfer to Kampong Cham, stopping for lunch on the way, to join the beautiful Scenic Spirit, an all suite river cruiser which carries 68 guests and has 50 crew. It is very luxurious and the staff were superb. The service was absolutely excellent and nothing was too much trouble. The balcony suites with infinite balconies were very spacious with a separate lounge area, walk in wardrobe and a spacious bathroom with luxury bath products. The free mini bar was re-stocked daily and there was a butler service.

This is an all inclusive product and includes all food, drink, tours and gratuities. There was a spa and a gym and the treatments were extremely reasonable. I had a back and neck massage for $30US.

We sailed from Kampong Cham to Wat Hanchey. The second day we went to the temple at Wat Hanchey to meet novice monks. After a superb buffet lunch we chose a local folklore excursion to a temple and to learn about local history. The Cambodian people are lovely and very welcoming. We sailed to Angkor Ban and visited Silk Island then cast off towards Phnom Penh. Some local students came onboard and gave a cultural dance performance.

The next day we did a tour to the Killing Fields and S-21 Prison from Phnom Penh. This was an extremely moving tour and it is something I think everyone should see if they visit this area. The prison was also very moving. We met two of the only survivors of this prison who were chatting via an interpreter to visitors and selling their books. A very sobering experience.

In the afternoon we visited a Silversmith village and the highlight of the evening was a tuk tuk tour of Phnom Penh to see the city lights and visit a rum distillery.

The next morning we visited the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh and in the afternoon there was a galley tour, which was very interesting. The head chef, Oka, was from Bali and he was an excellent chef. The choice on the buffet breakfast was very extensive, as was the buffet lunch which was themed. There was both local and international cuisine available. The evening meal was waiter service and again the choice was excellent and the food delicious.

In the afternoon we crossed the border from Cambodia to Vietnam arriving at Tan Chau. We had some traditional Vietnamese dancers onboard in the evening.

The following day we chose a tour to Evergreen Island. We boarded a Sampan from the boat and went to a local town to ride on a traditional Xe Loi (rickshaw) which seated just one person. It was quite an experience travelling in the busy traffic with motor cycles nipping in and out! We than visited a local temple before taking another sampan through local backwaters to Evergreen Island where we had coffee with a local Vietnamese farming family. I wonderful experience.

The last day of our 7 night Mekong cruise was spent travelling by sampan again on the Delta to see an ancient 19th century house and visit a local factory where they made sweets, rice paper and local wines. The evenings on board were spent in the bar lounge or up by the pool bar and were very relaxing about our busy days ashore. We had a pool party one evening which was very enjoyable.

We disembarked the ship for a 2 hour coach drive to Ho Chi Minh where we spent 2 nights in the centre at the 5* Caravelle Hotel which was opposite the Opera House with lots of designer shops in the area. This hotel was well appointed and the rooms were lovely but we did not think the service and breakfast was as good as Raffles but it was a typical city hotel and very busy.

The traffic was extremely busy in the city with thousands of motor cycles and you took your life in your hands crossing the busy roads! We visited the local market and also took a hop on hop off bus tour of the city. We found it difficult to find many good places to eat but they hotel had a few eating venues and we enjoyed a good lunch in the hotel. We were going to visit the tunnels from the Vietnam war era but they were 45 kilometres out of the city and it would take up most of a day so we decided to give this a miss.

We flew home from Ho Chi Minh via Singapore and back to Manchester. We had a 4 hour layover in Singapore but the Singapore Airlines Business Class lounge was very comfortable to spend the time. Again we had a wonderful flight home and a chauffeur was waiting at the airport to take us home.

An excellent experience. I would recommend it to people who love sightseeing and experiencing local culture in a luxurious environment. You need to be reasonably fit to be able to embark and disembark the boat and also climb steps. There was a wide choice of excursions so you could choose a less energetic one.

The age profile was 50+ and the majority of clients onboard were from Australia with about 10 from the UK and a few from the USA. The guests were very friendly and the staff were extremely friendly and the service exceptional. The chef gave me some of his recipes that I liked. The manager, Tivae, did a superb job and was always there at the door to wish us a good tour and welcome us back. I would definitely travel with Scenic again.