We had such a good time on our last Gate 1 tour that we decided to book another! This time, we signed up for a tour of Vietnam and Cambodia that included a 7-day Mekong River cruise. We have been to all of the cities on the tour previously, and have even done a shorter Mekong River cruise, but the itinerary sounded interesting, and it’s located in our “neck of the woods” so to speak. Just a quick flight to Vietnam and we would be good to go!
Our first stop was Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City); this would be our fourth time visiting there. Click here to read about our city tour: Saigon: City Tour
Though we have been to HCMC multiple times, we had not visited the Cu Chi Tunnels. It was an optional excursion, and I am so glad we opted in! It was a fascinating glimpse into a 150-mile long series of tunnels that up to 10,000 Viet Cong lived in during the Vietnam War (known as the American War in Vietnam). Click here to learn about the tunnels: Cu Chi Tunnels
Next up was embarking on our river cruise, on Christmas day no less! We had a bit of a drive to get to the embarkation point. On our 5-hour ride from Saigon to the boat (ship?), our tour guide, Yang, told us about the transition from the difficult communist years to the present capitalist economy. Yes, Vietnam’s government is still communist but only 5% of the population is communist; the remainder are apolitical. There were some very rough years from 1975 until 1991, especially for the south Vietnamese who had previously been business owners and predominantly white-collar workers. Under the first president of the reunified Vietnam, everything was stripped away from them. Many were sent to reeducation camps, theoretically for two weeks, but lasting anywhere from a year to 17 years. Overnight, everyone became farmers. They only produced half of the needs of the rice (a staple of the diet) of the people. Russia sent wheat flour which was used to produce noodles. Rice and noodles were mixed and became a staple of their diet. Each person received a voucher to get only 0.9 kg of meat per month. Starvation was common. The rice that was given was bug-ridden and rotten. It was not the rice being currently produced, but rice that had been stored for long periods of time. Many from the south fled to other countries that would accept them as refugees (the boat people). Only 60% of those that fled the country survived the journey.
In 1991, the new president of the country decided that the communal farms were not working. He started to allow factories to be owned by people rather than by the government. Productivity and the happiness of the populace increased dramatically. Within a year or two, enough rice was being produced to feed the entire country; no more wheat from Russia. Now, rice is the 2nd largest export of the country. Even though the country is nominally communist at this time, he says that people are happy and confident of their economic future.
We made a quick stop for lunch – pho and fresh fruit. We arrived a little early for check-in for the cruise so had a little bit of time in the city of Can Tho to walk around. They had interesting ways of pushing their food carts!
We boarded the boat and had some time to explore before dinner. It was all decked out for Christmas (we boarded on Christmas day). The rest of the day was spent eating, drinking, and relaxing. We also experienced a local musical/dance performance. We were provided with an afternoon cocktail before dinner on a daily basis. Wine, beer, and soft drinks were also provided at lunch and dinner. They were very generous with the complimentary beverages.
Each day, we had a morning and an afternoon excursion. Click on the links below to read about them:
Silver Village and Oudong Meditation Center
Kampong Cham and the road to Siem Reap
There was also a tour of a fish farm offered; we opted to skip that one.
Several evenings, we had entertainment. I am posting a few videos of the singing and dancing:
We disembarked the boat on New Year’s Day and had a long bus ride to Siem Reap. The only negative of the entire tour was our lunch that day – poor food and poor service. Enough said! We arrived in Siem Reap late in the afternoon and had a free evening to explore the town. Our hotel was the lovely Sokha Angkor Resort which was about ¾ mile from Pub Street.
Our final full day was spent exploring a few of the temples in the Angkor Wat area – Angkor Thom and Ta Phrom temples in the morning, and Angkor Wat in the afternoon. I took many, many photos! Click here to take a look and read about the temples: Angkor Wat
Many on the trip were continuing on to Hanoi, but we had decided not to when we booked the tour. It turned out to be an excellent decision as only two days were supposed to be spent there. However, the schedule had the group arriving in Hanoi at 10:30 pm, so they would only have one day in Hanoi before heading back to the US and Canada. Personally, I would have been disappointed with the limited time in that city.
I would recommend this tour to others, especially if you have not toured in the area previously. The boat was lovely and the service onboard exceptional. Though we were not first time visitors, we still enjoyed seeing the sights and learning new things along the way.
travelswithheather 