viking.com | 30
W I N T E R I S S U E 2 6
"We go by air-conditioned
coach, on foot, by
sampan, on cyclos and
tuktuks, pushed by
pedal power or pulled by
motorcycles."
communities, means you come away with
more than just an iPhone full of photos.
Experts come aboard in the evenings to
give guest lectures; we want to learn more
about this place. As one dedicated guest—
who had done multiple cruises with Viking in
different parts of the world—said, "I always
get off smarter than when I got on."
One of my favourite excursions was to
the French colonial river port of Sa Đéc in
Vietnam, where we wandered through the
narrow market streets, crammed with
stallholders and goods for sale—exotic fruit
like the rambutan and dragon fruit, flowers,
fish, meat and livestock, both dead and
alive. Here you can buy everything from
snails, snakes and turtles to live ducklings,
chickens, fish dried with salt, garlic and
chili, crocodile and hunks of meat hanging
on hooks.
Much like the Cambodians, the Vietnamese
display friendly politeness to Western tourists
inspecting their everyday life. They know
we're not going to buy a live duckling, dried
eel or crocodile meat, but they tolerate
us anyway.
If there was one attraction on everyone's
bucket list on our Viking tour, it was
Cambodia's ancient Hindu-Buddhist temple
complex of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. Photos
in travel ads don't quite do Angkor Wat
justice. Its scale, its history and its age make it
quite breathtaking. Some of our group were
so taken with it they arranged private
transport early the next morning to watch
the sun rise.
The shore excursions give us a taste of
Cambodian and Vietnamese life—a village
where the locals beat silver and bronze into
statues, bowls, ornaments and jewellery,
another where they pop rice and make sticky
slabs of peanut-infused sweets. We go by
air-conditioned coach, on foot, by sampan, on
cyclos and tuktuks, pushed by pedal power or
pulled by motorcycles.
Back on the luxurious Viking Saigon, the
countryside, towns and cities slide by in an
exotic mix of river traffic, fish farms, rice
factories, rows of shanty houses, remnants of
colonial architecture, golden temples and
statues. There is never any shortage of
something to see.
This article includes excerpts from the
following pieces by Jane Phare originally
published in the NZ Herald:
There's no better way to see Cambodia and
Vietnam than from the mighty Mekong
Read the full article online.
Cambodia's 'Tomb Raider' temple more
fascinating than Angkor Wat
Read the full article online.
GETTING THERE: The 15-day
Magnificent Mekong journey
takes guests from Hanoi to Ho Chi
Minh City, or in reverse.
G ul f
of
To n k in
S o u t h
C h in a
S ea
G ul f
of
T h aila n d
CAMBODIA
THAILAND
VIETNAM
Bangkok
Hanoi
Ha Long Bay
Phnom Penh
Tân Châu
Sa Ðéc
M• Tho
Ho Chi Minh City
(Saigon)
Cái Bè
Siem Reap
Angkor Wat
MEKONG
MEKONG
TONLE SAP LAKE
Kampong Cham
–
C r ui s e
•
–
•
A ir
•• •• •• •• •• •• •• ••
M o to r C o ach
••
O ve r night
VIEW
VOYAGE
Clockwise, from top:
Markets in Vietnam;
Angkor Wat, Siem
Reap; floating markets,
Mekong River
