River Cruising on the Mekong

This was a 15 night trip that included stays pre and post cruise Hotel Stays in Vietnam & Cambodia I do mostly ocean cruises so this was going to very different for me especially as I hadn't visited these destinations before and it was low season Two weeks before I travelled there was the worst typhoon that had hit Hanoi for 20 years so I had a feeling it might be wet!

Itinerary : Ho Chi Mihn City 2 nights - Mekong Jewel 7 nights - SIem Reap 3 nights - Hanoi 2 nights

We started in Ho chi Mihn in the Southwest of Vietnam staying at the Park Hyatt Hotel - it was close to the market and opera house There was the gumball 3000 rally taking place yards from the hotel the cars were lining up and all the drivers, sponsors and organisers were staying in the hotel so probably added an element of chaos when we left the hotel as it was busier than normal . It was really hot and humid plus so much traffic ( millions of motor bikes) we opted to sit around the pool to recover from our journey and get our head around the 'dong' currency ( 25000 to £1) we met our tour leader that evening for the welcome meal and the rest of the group .

Lee was very punctual we were 5 minutes late finishing our G&T's and he had left without us but we were never late again !

There wasnt many of us as the cruise ship only has 32 cabins so were split into 3 groups - the group comprised of Americans, British & Australian aged between late 30's to mid 70's We arrived 24 hours late - long story ( a series of technical issues/flight delays) so we missed the tour of Ho Chi Mihn and the welcome meeting So only slept one night at the hotel - before heading out to the ship which was docked 2 hours away at My Tho

Before we boarded we did do the Cu Chi tunnels tour

The Mekong Jewel is a beautiful ship we were in a lead in cabin which was sufficient for us on deck 1 - there was floor to ceiling windows and a huge king sized bed and a decent sized bathroom with shower . There is a TV in the cabin that had BBC news . Below deck 1 was spa , small gym , launderette with washers /dryers that you could use free of charge The pool area on deck was lovely and inviting with thick mattresses - though we didnt use a lot as we did get a bit of rain especially late afternoon when we were back from excursions They had a nice bar next to the pool which was nice to relax and watch the world go by

In the restaurant the tables were set for 6 or 8 mostly with a couple for 2 - they were not set tables but the same people tended to sit together in the same place The breakfast & lunch was buffet with main dining al a carte with a couple of options always beautifully presented with good quality wine served with the meal it was all inclusive and there were plenty of cocktails /spirits and wine flowing plus plenty of water in the cabins Free wifi sometimes not a great reception but generally ok

Crewe really friendly - they cleaned your shoes when you got back on board in Vietnam and gave you flip flops in return The guides came with the boat and also 3 sampan boats in Vietnam which I thought was great as we were in and out of places very quickly and ready to move on to the next place so no time was wasted .Also not 'lots of boats' at each place generally only us until we got to Cambodia then we saw other boats

Entertainment was low key we had a few local dancers and musicians but to be honest most people went to bed early as we had early starts on the excursions

We did 2 excursions a day from the boat a day in the morning and also in the afternoon . I will go into more detail on another blog as there is just too much to write about!