RV Mekong Pandaw Cruise - Vietnam and Cambodia

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RV Pandaw VIETNAM & CAMBODIA

The Mekong River
The two Pandaws ply one of the greatest river’s in Asia offering a crucial link between Saigon in Vietnam and Angkor in Cambodia – two of the most important destinations in the region that have only recently opened up.
The Mekong flows from South-West China through all the mainland South East Asian countries - China, Burma, Laos, Cambodia; Thailand and Vietnam. It connects not just countries and commerce, but also diverse cultures and history. A river journey on the Mekong through Vietnam and Cambodia can offer greater insights and experiences than any other way of exploring two very different countries. The RV Mekong offers a way of traveling in great comfort to places unreachable by motor car.

By ‘expedition ship’ it is possible to truly explore the vast but little know region between the ancient Khmer city of Angkor and the elegant former French colonial city of Saigon, now called Ho Chi Min City, with its poignant memories of the Vietnam War. From its marshy source in the highlands of Tibet, the Mekong flows down through China’s Yunnan province in deep gorges and over rapids. Leaving Yunnan, the Mekong forms the Myanmar-Laos border, and then curves E and S through NW Laos before marking part of the Laos-Thailand border.

From Laos the river descends onto the Cambodian plain, where it receives water from Tonle Sap during the dry season by way of the Tonle River. During the rainy season the floodwaters of the Mekong reverse the direction of the Tonle Sap River and flow into Tonle Sap, a lake that is a natural reservoir. and over 150km in length and rich in fishing grounds. The Mekong finally flows into the South China Sea through many distributaries in the vast Mekong Delta. The Delta, which covers an area of 194,250 sq km, is criss-crossed by many channels and canals and one of the greatest rice-growing areas of Asia. It is a densely populated region with Saigon located just to the east of the Delta.

This is a fascinating area to explore with whole towns floating on rafts and rich in river life and activity. Lush tropical plantations and gardens extend off endless channels. There are in fact over 5,000 km of waterways in the Mekong Delta. The area was the scene of heavy fighting in the Vietnam War. The Mekong River is navigable for large vessels for 350km upstream and Phnom Penh is a designated international port. North of the Cambodian border, the Mekong is navigable in short sections as far as the Khone Falls, a series of rapids 9.7 km long. Here the Mekong drops 22m. The RV Mekong with her ultra shallow draft is designed to navigate as far north on the Mekong as Kracheh and can navigate the shallow Tonle River and Lake for 10 months of the year as far as Siem Reap, the port for Angkor.

The RV Mekong is crewed by a mixture of Cambodian and Vietnamese under the direction of a professional European hotel Manager. The cuisine is be a choice of Asian or European. As with the Pandaws the service is of a high degree of client care. There are permanent English language guides on board and other language guides can be arranged and accommodated on request.

Click here for details of the RV Mekong Pandaw tour