RV Mekong Pandaw Cruise 4 days 3 nights: Saigon – Phnom Penh

Transfer from Saigon to the river port for boarding. After lunch, we will travel by sampans through the mangroves and bamboo forests to the orchards of Ben Tre. This is a bird-rich area that we will explore using local transport before being transferred to a local rowing boat. We will travel slowly through bamboo-covered canals before arriving at a village specializing in the production of local products. In the evening, you will be greeted by a Vietnamese dance troupe on the deck.

Ben Tre

The cruise offers a real insight into life along this vast waterway. After lunch, a short coach ride through the lush countryside to the green oasis of Gao Giong, a 1,000-acre eucalyptus forest and listed nature reserve. Here, a diverse selection of waterfowl and egrets congregate in the tens of thousands on the Dong Thap Muoi or “plain of reeds”. Rowing boats cross the canals to take us to see the main nesting areas, where photo opportunities abound.

Dong Thap Muoi

We dock at the picturesque border town of Chau Doc where we visit floating markets and fish farms by sampan. We stop in a Chham village and observe the life of Vietnamese Muslims before taking minivans for a short ride to Sam Mountain, home to Phuoc Dien Tu or Hang Pagoda. Then, we will hike up the 400 steps to the top to visit the pagoda. Upon returning to the boat, we sail through a network of canals before dropping anchor at the border between Vietnam and Cambodia to go through immigration formalities.

Hang Pagoda

After breakfast, disembark your Pandaw expedition in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.