We spent 7 nights in February on Pandaw’s ‘RV Tonle’ boat cruising on the Mekong from My Tho, an hour from Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap. The boat is attractive and wood-clad throughout to replicate an ‘old world’ style of ship. The cabin accommodation was comfortable, though storage facilities were a little limited. Air conditioning was reliable and offered a welcome escape from the heat. Although sometimes described as a balcony, each cabin actually opens on to and is accessed by a shared walkway on which chairs are situated, not a private area. Service in the restaurant and everywhere on the ship was friendly and very helpful; it was lovely to return fromexcursions and be greeted by smiles, cold towels and cold fruit juice. Meals were generally of a good standard although breakfasts were a little lacklustre and we would have preferred quick buffet-style lunches at lunchtime, rather than having much lengthier, waiter-served meals. Everything was very well organised and ran smoothly from embarkation to the arrangements for the various excursions. Excursions were offered every day, usually one in the morning and one in the afternoon. These were generally excellent and most enjoyable; accompanied by guides, we were given some real insights into Vietnamese and Cambodian life. A highlight was spending some time with some lovely Cambodian school children who were keen to converse with us and impress us with their knowledge of English. In order to make our journeys interesting, we were transported for our excursions by a large variety of different vehicles - motorised sampans, canoes, carts drawn by scooters, horses and oxen, Cyclos and Tuk-Tuks - lots of fun!

In general, the cruise was an excellent and easy way to see lots of interesting things and places and we would thoroughly recommend it.

Good Afternoon John & Huong,

What can I say, except WOW!!!

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to experience Vietnam & Cambodia the Pandaw way. I was lucky enough to take away 6 of our partners for an amazing 13 days.

On arrival we were greeted by KAI at Ho Chi Minh City airport and transferred to the InterContinental Asiana Saigon Hotel, the hotel and facilities were lovely and of course a great breakfast to start the day. KAI was great, we had a full day sightseeing in Saigon and visited the Cuchi Tunnels.

Next morning onto the beautiful RV Mekong Pandaw, we were greeted by the wonderful staff, smiling, friendly and happy to see us all, this never changed once whilst on the ship. The staff were amazing, all 31 of them. Nothing was too much trouble, our cabins were lovely, very spacious, great air con and shower (this was very appreciated after our shore excursions).

Saroun our ships Purser was fantastic, very professional, always kept us updated with announcements and always had time to talk with all the guests. All the staff were fantastic, they knew everyone’s names, Pha our bartender remembered everyone’s drinks, and of course the shore excursions were interesting. Our guides were LEE in Vietnam and LONG in Cambodia, both were very informative, they also remembered all guests names.

Two of the highlights onboard were when we stopped at a village late one afternoon for Happy Hour with the locals, the ship pulled up onto the bank of the river and the staff got out and dug some steps into the riverbank so we could get off, the local Cambodian people were surprized to see us, Saroun said they had not visited this village before and we had canapés, drinks and danced with the locals on the riverbank at sunset, what an experience. The other highlight was on the last night ALL the staff came up to the sundeck and we were able to Thank them together and then we danced before dinner (Tommy has some great moves – he was like Jim Carey – hilarious), of course the whole cruise was a highlight, such a beautiful way to see both countries.

We then had to leave the beautiful RV Mekong Pandaw, this was sad, we all had tears in our eyes as we waved goodbye to our new friends, we had met such wonderful people, both staff and guests. Our journey to Siem Reap by coach was comfortable and then checking into the Victoria Angkor Resort & Spa, this hotel also had lovely facilities and breakfast. Our guide for Siem Reap, BUNN was waiting for us and we had the afternoon sightseeing and then the following day we visited Angkor Wat, this was beautiful and also more sightseeing that afternoon, we did have time to fit in a bit of shopping before dinner and a visit to the Phare Ponieu Selpak Circus, they are a very talented troupe and the venue was packed, great news they will be travelling to Paris to perform.

Our drivers for transfers and sightseeing were always waiting, they were friendly and we felt safe travelling, the Tour Guides were very informative and spoke English well.

Thank You again for this wonderful experience, all 7 of us had a fantastic time.

Kind Regards,
Linda Elliott

Our upstream cruise starting on the 19th Nov, only got better as we went along. My partner, Jeannie and I thoroughly enjoyed every day and evening.

The crew on board were terrific, always there to help and sometimes just before I needed help (I'm 84), nothing and I really mean that, nothing was too much trouble and of course a big smile to go along with it. The weather for the whole trip was perfect, how did you do that?

I hope I've wet the appetite of my friends to take one of your cruises.

Thanking you all