SPECIAL GROUP DEPARTURE

WITH LIMITED AVAILABILITY
23 June 2011 to 29 December 2011
14 days Price From £3695

Siem Reap - Angkor - Kampong Chhnang - Kampong Tralach - Oudong - Chong Koh - Phnom Penh - Tan Chau - Sa Dec - Cai Be - Ho Chi Minh City - Cu Chi Tunnels - Tay Ninh

Itinerary

Day 1 Depart UK:

Fly from your selected UK airport to Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Day 2 Arrive Siem Reap

Be met on your arrival in Siem Reap this morning and transfer to your hotel. Tonight is the welcome dinner.

Three night stay: Le Meridien Angkor

Included: Dinner

Day 3 Arrive Siem Reap, Cambodia

Head to Angkor Archaeological Park. Visit the last capital of the Khmer empire, Angkor Thom, where you’ll see the 13th century temple, Bayon, the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King. Tonight enjoy a Khmer meal and performance.

Included: Breakfast + Dinner

Day 4 Angkor, Dine Around Dinner

Travel to the temple of Then Banteay Srei, then visit Ta Prohm, famous for its intertwined trees. On your return to Siem Reap, visit a ‘grass roots’ orphanage then explore Angkor Wat, said to be the world’s largest single religious monument. Tonight dine at the FCC Angkor, Café Indochine or the Kanell Restaurant.

Included: Breakfast + Dinner

Day 5 Embark ship in Siem Reap

Choose from a visit to Wat Preah Phrom Rath Temple, a tuk-tuk ride to the Senteurs d’Angkor workshops or a tethered balloon ride. Later, board your ship for the start of your Mekong River cruise. Tonight enjoy a Welcome Dinner.

Seven Night Stay: the luxurious MS AmALotus or MS La Marguerite

Included: Breakfast + Lunch + Dinner

Day 6 Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Tralach, Oudong

A small boat excursion near Kampong Chhnang takes you past a number of floating villages into the wetlands that form the mouth of the Tonle Sap river. On return to your ship, cruise to Kampong Tralach. Here, disembark for an ox-cart ride past rice fields and a small village. Visit the town’s pagodas then travel by coach to Oudong, the royal capital of Cambodia from 1618 to 1866. Visit a Buddhist monastery then travel to Prek K’dam to re-board your ship before dinner.

Included: Breakfast + Lunch + Dinner

Day 7 Chong Koh, Phnom Penh

After breakfast this morning, disembark for a stroll around the silk-weaving village of Chong Koh, before your ship departs for Phnom Penh. Become oriented with this spectacular city on a walking tour to Wat Phnom, one of the city’s most important pagodas. Afterwards, return to the ship for dinner, followed by a special Khmer folk performance on board.

Included: Breakfast + Lunch + Dinner

Day 8 Phnom Penh

On a morning tour of Cambodia’s capital, visit the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda as well as the National Museum of Cambodia, home to the world’s largest collection of Khmer art. After lunch, head to the infamous Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, located on the site of the Khmer Rouge’s Security Prison 21 (S-21).

Included: Breakfast + Lunch + Dinner

Day 9 Tan Chau, Vietnam

Spend today cruising towards the Vietnamese border. In the afternoon, you may like to take in a fruit-carving demonstration by the ship’s chef while the border formalities are carried out. Later, arrive in the small Vietnamese town of Tan Chau. As your ship remains moored here overnight, you may opt to take a shuttle boat into this peaceful town for a walk.

Included: Breakfast + Lunch + Dinner

Day 10 Tan Chau, Sa Dec

After breakfast, transfer to a small boat, which will navigate through narrow channels to visit an evergreen island. Visit a floating fish farm and then go ashore for a tour of Tan Chau by rickshaw, visiting a rattan mat factory and a slipper-making workshop. In the afternoon, as your ship cruises downstream, perhaps attend a lecture on Vietnam. Arrive in Sa Dec during dinner.

Included: Breakfast + Lunch + Dinner

Day 11 Sa Dec, Cai Be

In the morning, board a local boat bound for Sa Dec, the city where the French writer Marguerite Duras met her Vietnamese lover, Huynh Thuy Le. Here, a tour takes you to Huynh Thuy Le’s old house as well as Thien Hau Pagoda and the Fujian Temple. Later, after lunch on board, a local boat will take you to the river-land town of Cai Be. Visit the floating markets then go ashore to see the French Gothic Cathedral. Tonight, enjoy a Farewell Dinner on board.

Included: Breakfast + Lunch + Dinner

Day 12 Disembark ship Ho Chi Minh City, Dine Around Dinner

Disembark your ship at My Tho Port and travel to Ho Chi Minh City. This afternoon, remaining guests will choose from a walking tour of the city and a cyclo ride, a visit to a ‘calligraphy house’ or a motorbike tour. This evening enjoy dinner at Restaurant Opera, the Temple Club or Li Bai.

Two Night Stay: Ho Chi Minh City, Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers

Included: Breakfast + Dinner

Day 13 Cu Chi Tunnels, Tay Ninh

This morning visit the Cu Chi Tunnels, an incredible tunnel network constructed by Vietnamese resistance fighters during the Vietnam War. Afterwards, drive through the Vietnamese countryside to the town of Tay Ninh. Here, enjoy lunch at Thu Thao restaurant then visit the Tay Ninh Holy See, a temple of the Cao Dai faith. Observe the noon service then return to Ho Chi Minh City. Enjoy a Farewell Dinner tonight.

Included: Breakfast + Lunch + Dinner

Day 14 Depart Ho Chi Minh City

After breakfast this morning, you will be transferred to the airport for your return flight to your selected airport in the UK.

Included: Breakfast