Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. With an estimated 90.5 million inhabitants as of 2014, it is the world’s 13th-most-populous country, and the eighth-most-populous Asian country. The name Vietnam translates as “Southern Viet” (synonymous with the much older term Nam Viet); it was first officially adopted in 1802 by Emperor Gia Long, and was adopted again in 1945 with the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh. The country is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east. Its capital city has been Hanoi since the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976.
This was not going to be as physically active as many of my past trips but I have always been curious of the region and seeing Angkor Wat was on my list of place to see (see 2013 Cambodia for Angkor Wat). This trip started in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and ended at Siem Reap (Angkor Wat), Cambodia. We had a day to explore Ho Chi Minh City before getting on our boat for a week up the Mekong River, and then two and half days for Angkor Wat at the end. Everything was done on our own for this trip but the boat did have daily organized activities so we only had to arrange the front and back end activities.
Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon)
Waiting to get a visa at the the airport is a bit of a hassle but it only took 30-45 minutes, so be prepared. After that everything went smoothly. The driver picked us up a the airport in a nice Mercedes van and took us straight to the hotel, no detours. We explored the city ourselves for the day and the next morning our Cu-Chi Tunnel and city day tour went off without a hitch. A good guide and driver that were able to tailor the day to our interests. They even were able to get us tickets to the water puppet show that evening and they drove us to the show at no extra charge (we tipped well). 🙂
Mekong River Day 1
At our hotel in Ho Chi Minh we met with some of the other passengers on our trip and were loaded on a bus for a 90 minute ride to where we would board our ship, The Jahan, for an 8 day trip up the Mekong River to Siem Reap. I cannot say enough about the service on board The Jahan. Shortly after boarding they collected our passports and visa photographs as they would handle the Cambodia visa processing for us.
Mekong River Day 2
A couple of excursions each day to visit local markets or points of interest.
Mekong River Day 3
We visited a number of food markets today and each time I asked I was told that I should not eat anything as it was all cleaned with local water, not “tourist water”. 🙁
Logistics
For this trip we organized it ourselves. We had been looking at an organized tour and found it a little pricey but with some internet research we found that Best Price Vietnam offered the same itinerary for much less and included airport transfers and one night at the Marriott Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City. The deal they offered allowed us to upgrade to the Signature Suite on The Jahan and still come out ahead. They would even handle the Vietnam pre-entry visa application.
I was a little concerned about using Best Price Vietnam as the price appeared to good to believe but everything worked out exactly as they offered and we even purchased our “Cu Chi Tunnel – HCM City Full Day” trip from them. We were expecting to be part of a big bus tour, but it ended up being a private tour with a good guide and driver. They even helped us get tickets for the water puppet show that evening.
The service on The Jahan was great, we had upgraded to a suite that included a butler, free daily laundry, 2 hours of massage; a private dinner and the mini bar restocked everyday. The room was huge compared to what I had experienced on other ships and kept spotlessly clean. The food, service and treatment we received on the boat far exceeded what I was expecting.
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