SAIGONANDPHNOMPENH

Passengers can embark the ship after 12:30. Rest of day at leisure. Overnight in Phnom Penh city port with its lively bars, restaurants and night life.

We up anchor early morning and cruise downstream along the Mekong River to the Vietnam border with Vietnam for immigration formalities. We go alongside at the picturesque border town of Chau Doc where we visit the floating fish farms by sampan. We make a stop at a Chham Village and observe the lives of Vietnamese Muslims before taking minivans for a short drive to Sam Mountain, location of Phuoc Dien Tu or the Hang Pagoda. We climb the 400 steps to the top to visit the pagoda.

Sailing through the delta offers a real insight into life along this vast waterway. After lunch, a short coach journey through the lush countryside to Gao Giong ‘green oasis’, a 1,000-acre eucalyptus forest and listed wildlife sanctuary. Here a diverse selection of water birds and egrets gather in their tens of thousands across the Duong Tharp Muoi or ‘Plain of Reeds’. Rowboats traverse the canals to take us to view the principal nesting areas where photo opportunities abound.

Morning sail across the heart of the delta. After lunch, we journey by sampans through mangroves and bamboo forests to the fruit orchards of Ben Tre. This is an area rich in birdlife which we will explore via local transport before transferring to a local rowboat. We will journey slowly through the bamboo covered canals before arriving at a village specialising in making local products. In the evening you will be entertained by a Vietnamese dance troupe on deck.

Morning disembarkation and travel by coach from My Tho to Saigon.