Aqua Mekong: A River Journey Between Saigon and Angkor

The Mekong enters Cambodia from Laos, passes Phnom Penh and divides into the nine mouths of its delta in southern Vietnam. For three hundred kilometres between the delta and the Cambodian capital, and up the Tonle Sap river towards Angkor, it is broad and navigable. This is the stretch covered by river cruises, and Aqua Mekong is the most luxurious ship on it.

The ship

Aqua Mekong belongs to Aqua Expeditions, the company founded by Francesco Galli Zugaro, which began on the Peruvian Amazon. The ship was launched in 2014. It carries forty guests in twenty suites on two decks, with a crew of forty. Each suite has a wall of glass facing the river, and some have balconies. There is a plunge pool on the top deck, a spa, a gym, a small cinema and an open lounge.

The ship carries its own fleet of aluminium launches, which make the excursions possible. They take guests into creeks and villages that a large boat cannot reach. Fares include all meals, most drinks and every excursion.

The voyage

Cruises last three, four or seven nights, between My Tho, near Ho Chi Minh City, and Phnom Penh or Siem Reap. They run in both directions. The seven-night voyage combines the two shorter ones.

The delta. The Vietnamese section passes orchards, brick kilns, floating markets and towns where every house has a boat. Guests go ashore by launch and bicycle to see rice paper and coconut candy being made, and visit a Cao Dai temple.

The border and Phnom Penh. The ship clears the frontier on the river and ties up in the centre of the Cambodian capital, close to the Royal Palace and the national museum.

The Tonle Sap. Above Phnom Penh the route follows the Tonle Sap river to the great lake of the same name, the largest in Southeast Asia and a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Villages float on it, with schools, shops and temples on pontoons, and the flooded forest at its edge holds colonies of storks, pelicans and ibis. There are stops at silk-weaving and silversmith villages and at monasteries, where monks give a blessing.

Activities include kayaking, paddleboarding, cycling through rice fields and walks with the ship’s naturalist guides.

The seasons

The river changes greatly through the year, and so does the voyage.

From the middle of August to November the water is high. The Tonle Sap river reverses its flow, the lake swells to several times its dry-season size, and the ship can cross it to reach the landing for Siem Reap. The landscape is green and the bird life is at its best.

From December to the middle of August the water is low. The lake is too shallow for the ship. The voyage ends at Phnom Penh, or at a point on the Tonle Sap river, and guests are flown to Siem Reap at no extra charge. The skies are clear, and from December to February the temperature is at its most comfortable.

Planning

Travelling upstream, from Vietnam to Cambodia, saves Angkor for the end. Our guide to three days among the temples covers what to do on arrival. Travelling downstream ends in Ho Chi Minh City, with its hotels and restaurants. A stay in Phnom Penh before or after is easily arranged at Rosewood Phnom Penh.

Those who want the delta without a cruise can stay at Azerai Can Tho, on an island in the river. The same company’s ocean vessel is described in our account of Aqua Blu in eastern Indonesia.