In March 2026 we spent just over two weeks travelling from the temples of Angkor down the Mekong to Saigon. Three nights in Siem Reap, seven nights on a small river ship, the Jayavarman, from Cambodia into Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, then five nights in Ho Chi Minh City to finish.
The river cruise is the heart of it, and it’s the reason this trip works at our age: you unpack once for a week, the ship carries you between places, and most days you step off it straight onto the riverbank.
Can we manage this?
The flight out. We were originally booked with Qatar Airways, but had to cancel and reschedule because of the conflict in Iraq. We ended up on Vietnam Airlines, which flies direct from Heathrow Terminal 4 to Ho Chi Minh City. Ours left at 11:00 and took 12 hours 10 minutes, landing at 06:10 the next morning. The following day we took a 1 hour 15 minute Cambodia Angkor Air flight to Siem Reap.
Flight home. Direct again, Ho Chi Minh City at 09:30, 13 hours 25 minutes, back at Heathrow at 16:55 the same day.
The heat. March is the hot, dry season. Typical daytime highs are around 35°C in Siem Reap and 33–34°C in Saigon and the Delta, and it’s humid. It was hot at Angkor, and we were advised to wear trousers, which you have to bear in mind: pack lightweight ones, and sturdy footwear. Our temple day was planned around the most important temples only, with a private car and guide, so there was always air-conditioning to go back to.
Walking at Angkor. One full day: Angkor Thom, the Bayon and Angkor Wat. The temples mean uneven stone, worn steps and long causeways in the sun. We both climbed the steep steps to the top of Angkor Wat, but you don’t have to.
Getting on and off the ship. Most days the Jayavarman pulls up to the bank and you walk ashore down a metal gangplank with handrails. It was all done very safely. Where the ship couldn’t moor up (at Phnom Penh, where it anchors mid-river, and on some other stretches of the river), smaller boats came alongside, picked us up from the ship and took us to the excursions. At Binh Thanh Island in Vietnam we went over by local boat and came back on the ship’s tender.
How hard the days are. Gentle. Typically an outing in the morning and another in the afternoon, by tuk-tuk, cyclo (a pedalled rickshaw) or island buggy rather than long walks, with the ship to retreat to in between. You can sit any of them out.
Papers. British passport holders currently need no visa for Vietnam for stays up to 45 days. Cambodia needs a visa (an e-visa, applied for in advance) and, if you fly in, a free e-Arrival card. Rules change, so check GOV.UK before booking.
The trip at a glance
| Dates | Where | Stay | Nights |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17–18 Mar | London to Ho Chi Minh City, then on to Siem Reap | Overnight flight | – |
| 18–21 Mar | Siem Reap, Cambodia | Jaya House River Park | 3 |
| 21–28 Mar | The Mekong, Cambodia into Vietnam | Heritage Line Jayavarman, Signature Suite | 7 |
| 28–30 Mar | Ho Chi Minh City | La Siesta Premium Saigon | 2 |
| 30 Mar–2 Apr | Ho Chi Minh City | Liberty Central Saigon Citypoint | 3 |
| 2 Apr | Home | Direct flight | – |
We booked the land arrangements and the cruise as one trip through Audley Travel. We arranged the international flights and the Saigon to Siem Reap flight ourselves.
Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor (3 nights)
We stayed at Jaya House River Park on a colleague’s recommendation. It was an outstanding hotel. On arrival we were met by the managing director, Christian de Boer, who talked us through everything the hotel had to offer. We’d booked a Deluxe room, and he upgraded us to a two-storey villa. It was absolutely amazing, one of the best rooms we have ever stayed in. The staff go above and beyond to make you feel welcome, and it truly set the tone for the whole trip.
A lot was included in the rate: breakfast, a 60-minute spa treatment each every day, laundry, the minibar, and a tuk-tuk on call from 7am to 10pm to take you into town.
On 19 March we had a full day at Angkor with a private driver and guide: Angkor Thom, the Bayon with its huge carved faces, and Angkor Wat. We asked our travel specialist to keep it to the most important temples rather than trying to see everything, and a one-day Angkor Pass was included (it costs US$37 if you buy your own, from Angkor Enterprise only).
The next evening we did the Taste Siem Reap food tour by tuk-tuk: a drink at a gallery, a starter, a tasting platter, and a French dessert in the Old Market area.
A week on the Mekong: the Jayavarman (7 nights)
The Jayavarman is a Heritage Line river ship with just 27 cabins. We had a Signature Suite, one of only two on board, on the upper deck. Every cabin has its own balcony facing the river, an en-suite bathroom and air-conditioning. All meals on board were included, along with afternoon tea and a cocktail hour, and there was tai chi on the sun deck each morning.
The cruise is called “The Lost Civilisation” and runs from Siem Reap to My Tho in Vietnam. You’re driven from your Siem Reap hotel to wherever the ship is boarding, which depends on the water level.
It was five-star travel. The service was very good and everything on board was well looked after. The food was lovely. Wine comes free with every meal, though there isn’t a huge choice of reds or whites.
Was the Signature Suite worth it? Personally, I don’t think it was worth the extra. The service is just as good whichever cabin you’re in, and we didn’t spend a lot of time in the room or on the balcony. A standard cabin, which still has its own balcony, would have done us fine.
Cambodia: villages, silk and pottery
- 22 March. Angkor Ban, a monastery and village; silk weavers at Prek Bangkong; and the old wooden family house of a local dignitary.
- 23 March. Kampong Laeang by tuk-tuk for its potters, a pre-Angkorian temple and views over the floodplain, and a cooking demonstration on board. In the afternoon there was a choice at Kampong Tralach of a 300-year-old temple or a school run by a charity. We went to the school, and it was lovely. The children asked us lots of questions to practise their English, and we all played games together that were part of their lessons. That night the ship moored in mid-river at Phnom Penh.
Phnom Penh
24 March was a full day in the capital: a cyclo ride, the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, lunch ashore, an arts academy keeping Apsara dance alive, the French Quarter and Wat Phnom. That evening the ship held a barbecue gala dinner with Apsara dancing.
Tuol Sleng (S-21)
The same morning we visited Tuol Sleng. It was a high school until the Khmer Rouge took power in 1975 and turned it into a prison they called S-21. Thousands of men, women and children were held, interrogated and tortured there before being sent to their deaths, and very few came out alive. The classrooms are still divided into cells. It is now the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.
It was really shocking to read and see what the prisoners went through, and profoundly disturbing. Even though the compound was busy with visitors, it was silent, which showed people trying to process what they were seeing.
The next morning, on board, we went to a talk by Sum Rithy, one of the few people to survive S-21. It brought back the same emotions as our visit: immense empathy, and admiration for human resilience.
Into Vietnam: the Mekong Delta
On 25 March the afternoon was free while the ship crossed the border into Vietnam, and it moored near Gieng Island. The Delta days were the busiest of the cruise, and full of people making things.
26 March, our favourite day. Gieng Island, sometimes called Mango Island. It was lovely to see local people working in their own environment, building boats and making incense, and we visited an incense factory. There were mangoes and tea too. Back on board there was a class making jackfruit-leaf cakes. In the afternoon we went to My An Hung village for its fruit gardens and a dragon dance.
27 March. Over to Binh Thanh Island by local boat to see mats being woven from water hyacinth, then the workshops at Cai Be for rice paper, rice wine and coconut candy, and a buggy ride round the fruit gardens of Tan Phong Island.
On 28 March we left the ship at My Tho and took the coach to Saigon.
Ho Chi Minh City (5 nights)
We hadn’t planned five nights here. The trip was meant to end on a beach, but when we had to rebook our flights, the new direct flights with Vietnam Airlines had much earlier times, so we dropped the beach and stayed in Saigon longer. That’s why we split the stay between two hotels in District 1, making our own way between them.
La Siesta Premium Saigon (2 nights, Deluxe room), a short walk from Ben Thanh Market, has a rooftop pool and bar looking over the city.
Then three nights at Liberty Central Saigon Citypoint, in an Executive room.
Of the two, we preferred La Siesta, for its location and its rooftop pool and bar.
The Cu Chi Tunnels
On the morning of 29 March we took a half-day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels, about an hour and a half’s drive north-west of the city, where Viet Cong fighters lived and fought underground during the Vietnam War. You see the hidden trapdoor entrances, workshops dug into the earth, and sandals made from old tyres. Some tunnel sections have been widened for visitors, but going down still means crouching in a hot, tight space, and you can choose not to.
I didn’t go down the tunnels. Alison tried, but it was very, very tight. It was a really good day all the same.
Eating in Saigon
That evening we were collected at 6pm for a street-food tour of the city on the back of a Vespa, with a rider each, food and drinks included. It had been recommended to us. Alison was very nervous to start with, but we had an absolutely fantastic evening trying all the different food and delicacies right across Saigon. Seeing how busy the roads were, packed with other scooters, was a real experience.
Our travel specialist’s tip for the best pho in the city was Pho Hoa Pasteur.
What it cost
Audley Travel charged us £9,000 for the two of us. That covered the hotels in Siem Reap and Saigon, the seven-night cruise in the Signature Suite, transfers and the private tours. We booked the international flights ourselves, separately.
Good to know
- Best time: we went in late March, in the dry season. It’s hot, but it rarely rains.
- Visas: check the GOV.UK pages for Vietnam and Cambodia, and only ever apply through official websites.
- Temples and palaces: cover shoulders and knees at Angkor and at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.
- Money: US dollars are used everywhere in Cambodia alongside the riel. Vietnam uses the dong.
- Health: see your GP or a travel clinic well before you go, and make sure your travel insurance covers any pre-existing conditions.
Our tips
Definitely stay at Jaya House in Siem Reap. And in Vietnam, the Vespa food tour is a must.
