Marvelous Mekong River Cruise: Cambodia

In this third of a multi-part series, Bethany explores the first part of her Fascinating Vietnam, Cambodia & the Mekong River cruise itinerary in Cambodia.

In February of 2020 I had the pleasure of sailing on my fourth Avalon Waterways river cruise. The Fascinating Vietnam, Cambodia & the Mekong River was my first river cruise outside of Europe. This time my adventures took me to Cambodia and Vietnam on the Mekong River. Of the five Avalon river cruises I have done (so far!), this is my favorite. Because there are so many wonderful stops along the way, this series is broken up into several parts. This third post highlights many of the stops in Cambodia.

Flying to Phnom Penh

After an amazing first few days in Siem Reap, our group checked out of the hotel and took a short flight to Phnom Penh. It was a double-lucky flight for me: the date was the 13th, and I was assigned seat 13A. And yes, 13 really is my lucky number!

For more details about my time in Siem Reap, click the button below to read part 2 in this series:

Embarkation Day

Once our plane landed in Phnom Penh, a bus picked us up and drove the short distance to our ship. Our Cruise Director, Sophea, and our local Cambodia guide, Chantha, had been with us since Siem Reap. But embarking on the ship allowed us to meet the rest of the phenomenal crew. The 24 crew members on the ship took extraordinary care of us throughout the cruise. We were spoiled rotten on this Mekong River cruise through Cambodia and Vietnam!

For more details about the Avalon Siem Reap ship, click the button below to read part 1 in this series:

Angkor Ban

We set sail late afternoon of embarkation day and sailed overnight to our first stop, Angkor Ban. I woke up to a gorgeous sunrise in Angkor Ban the next day. I also got my first peek at what most of the ports in Cambodia look like. There is really no true port or dock in the rural villages we visited. Instead the ship moors at the shoreline and there is a footpath that leads you up to the mainland. Luckily most of the able-bodied crew come out and help passengers on and off the ship! But this cruise is most certainly not accessible for anyone with mobility issues.

Unlike the European river cruises which offer a few different excursions to choose from each day, the Mekong River cruise is set up so the entire group goes on one excursion at a time. There are a small handful of optional excursions available as well, but the majority are included. All of the excursions offered are wonderful!

Another difference between this cruise and Avalon’s European cruises is that this one has dedicated local guides (one in Cambodia and another one in Vietnam). These local guides are onboard with us full time, as opposed to the guides in Europe which vary from port to port (and excursion to excursion). These local guides lead all of the excursions in their respective country. I loved having one dedicated guide for each country, because it provided an opportunity to really get to know him and to hear more detailed stories about the countries and the places we visited.

Exploring the Village

Our time in Angkor Ban started with a walking tour through the rural village. We saw lots of glimpses of everyday life along the way. Our local guide Chantha explained a bit about the history and the current state of the village, which is thriving. We passed by several houses, small convenience stores (which Chantha jokingly called “3-11s” or “5-11s” instead of “7-11s” because they are much smaller!), and many elaborately decorated shrines and temples. There were many gardens throughout the village growing a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Most of the buildings and houses are raised up on stilts to protect against flooding from the nearby river. It was fascinating to get a glimpse of “real life” in a small Cambodian village along the Mekong River.

In the Classroom

We also visited a local school during our tour through Angkor Ban. The students here are learning English so we each spent some time one-on-one with an individual student to help them practice reading and speaking English. Then a few people in our group stood at the front of the class to introduce themselves and to talk a little bit about where they live. The students then had the opportunity to ask us some questions. Our visit ended with the whole class wishing us a happy Valentine’s Day (it happened to be February 14!) and singing us a song. The entire experience was so much fun!

Oknha Tei

After our morning visit to Angkor Ban, it was back on the ship for a short but relaxing sail to Oknha Tei.

Buddhist Temple

The first stop in Oknha Tei was a short walk through the village to a Buddhist temple. After exploring the vibrant and colorful temple we received a traditional water blessing, given by local monks.

Silk Island

The last stop in Oknha Tei was to explore Silk Island. Here we learned all about silk making and silk weaving. After walking through the open-air facility and seeing different demonstrations we also had an opportunity for a bit of free time. There was a large shop there with many gorgeous silk items for sale, as well as refreshing drinks and snacks. Once our free time was up we all headed back to the ship for dinner and to sail to the next stop, Kampong Tralach.

Reunited!

While visiting the local villages and spending time with the school children were undeniably amazing experiences, the highlight of this day was getting my long lost luggage back! After what can only be described as a convoluted ordeal, the suitcase finally found its way to Cambodia after sitting in South Korea for a few days. How it got routed through South Korea, I’ll never fully understand!

However, it was eventually sent to Siem Reap (my original destination) and by the time it got there we had already flown to Phnom Penh and boarded the ship. So after a LOT (and I do mean a LOT) of coordination, Sophea and Chantha arranged to have it flown to Phnom Penh. Once it arrived there, however, we were a moving target on the ship. They finally arranged a small local tender as we were sailing through Phnom Penh (we couldn’t actually dock in Phnom Penh at that time since it wasn’t prearranged). The captain slowed the ship down, the tender picked Chantha up, he retrieved my suitcase onshore, and then he sped back in the tender to return my suitcase to me.

After surviving four full days in hot and humid Cambodia with just one change of clothes in my carry-on, I was ecstatic to be reunited with the clothes I had so carefully planned and packed! I did supplement a bit of my wardrobe in Siem Reap, but there are predominantly just small local markets there so there weren’t a ton of good choices. I will never forget the extraordinary effort that went into all of this and how Sophea and Chantha did it all without blinking an eye…yet another fabulous example of the stellar treatment passengers get on Avalon.

Dinner Onboard

Tonight was one of many fantastic dinners onboard the Avalon Siem Reap. Every meal onboard is served in the dining room. Breakfast and lunch are buffet-style and dinner is a four-course a la carte meal. Avalon does a wonderful job of offering both local specialties and more standard Western fare at each meal. I tried the local specialties as often as possible and I was never disappointed.

Kampong Tralach

Another supreme sunrise met me when I woke up in Kampong Tralach on Saturday, February 15. After a hearty breakfast onboard we headed out via “Cambodian Limos” to explore the village of Kampong Tralach.

Oxcart Ride

The “Cambodian Limos” are actually ox carts! Chantha explained to us that the carts are “10-wheel drive” – the four legs on each of the two oxen, plus the two wheels of the cart itself! It was a unique and fun way to see the village. This was one of many unusual transportation options throughout this entire cruise.

Farming Family Home Tour

Our fun tour by “Cambodian Limo” ended at the home of a local farming family. As with many other stops throughout this cruise, here we got an up close and personal glimpse into what it is like to live in a small Cambodian village. This family was exceptionally proud of their home and how much their large farm supplies to their community. We got the grand tour of the house as well as some of the surrounding farm land.

Konpong Louang

Once our visit with the farming family in Kampong Tralach was complete we took a short bus ride to the neighboring village of Konpong Louang. We did a walking tour through the village and stopped at one of the silversmith facilities here to learn about the process. There was also another shopping opportunity here as well!

Sailing to Phnom Penh

From Konpong Louang, we got back onboard the ship for a lunchtime sailing back to Phnom Penh. More information about all of the fantastic places I visited in Phnom Penh will be available in the next post in this series on my Mekong River cruise in Cambodia and Vietnam…stay tuned!

Conclusion

My first two full days on the ship visiting several small and charming Cambodian villages were simply wonderful. The ship itself is gorgeous, the crew on the ship are phenomenal, the meals served are delicious, and the group of passengers sailing together on this cruise are terrific. In fact, the Cruise Director and both Local Guides were amazed to learn that our group did not know each other before this cruise. We all got along very well and meshed from the very beginning, so they were all convinced we were one large group! I made many life-long friends on this cruise.

I very much enjoyed this start of the actual cruise portion of my Mekong River cruise through Cambodia and Vietnam. More fun continues…stay tuned for future posts in this series to learn more about my time in Phnom Penh, the Vietnam portion of the cruise, and the last few days in Saigon.

Links

Click the button below for further information on the 2023 Avalon Fascinating Vietnam, Cambodia & the Mekong River itinerary:

Click the buttons below for the other posts in this series:

Note: I fully funded this trip on my own and received no compensation or any other benefits from any service providers I used along the way. The opinions expressed here are my own and I am not being compensated by any service providers.