Tours out of Ho Chi Minh City and across Vietnam
Cruises and boat journeys
Up the Mekong into Cambodia, by boat
Four nights on a small riverboat from the delta to the Cambodian capital, stopping at the towns along the way and crossing the border without leaving the water.
Overview
The border by boat
The Mekong is the old road between Saigon and Phnom Penh, and this is still the most satisfying way to make the journey. A small riverboat with a limited number of cabins carries you up through the delta, stopping at a town each day, and crosses into Cambodia at the river border post near Vinh Xuong on the Vietnamese side and Kaam Samnor on the Cambodian side. You finish at the waterfront in Phnom Penh, where the Tonle Sap meets the Mekong.
Life on the boat is slow in the best sense: long views from the deck, lectures or conversations with the onboard guide, and shore visits on smaller boats into the canals.
The first day, on the road from Saigon to the boat, is ours: our car, driver and guide. The riverboat belongs to an operator we trust and have booked many times.
- Length
- 5 days, 4 nights aboard
- Start
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Finish
- Phnom Penh
- Border
- On the river, Vinh Xuong to Kaam Samnor
- Visas
- Vietnam and Cambodia both needed
- Best months
- August to April
Nights
Where you sleep
Day by day
Day by day
Day 1
Saigon to the river
We collect you from your hotel in Ho Chi Minh City at 08:00 and drive about two hours to the upper delta, where you board the boat before lunch. The afternoon goes by on deck along the main channel, with a first stop by small boat at an orchard village near Cai Be.
Day 2
Sa Dec
Morning upriver to Sa Dec, a market town known for its flower nurseries and for the merchant house linked to a well-known French novel of colonial Indochina. You walk the market and the nurseries with the boat’s guide, and spend the afternoon cruising towards the Cambodian border.
Day 3
Chau Doc and Sam mountain
Sam mountain at sunset
Chau Doc sits at the junction of the Bassac and the canals to the Cambodian border, and its population mixes Vietnamese, Khmer, Cham and Chinese communities. A small boat takes you to the floating fish farms and a Cham village on stilts, and a car to Sam mountain for the view over the plain towards Cambodia at sunset.
Day 4
Across the border on the river
The first Cambodian villages from the deck
Early in the morning the boat moves to the border. The crew handles most of the paperwork, usually collecting passports and returning them stamped; you may need to step ashore briefly at each post. Then the river widens and the villages on the banks change — wooden houses on high stilts, pagodas with Khmer roofs. An afternoon stop at a riverside village, often one where silk is woven, and the boat moors below Phnom Penh for the night.
Day 5
Phnom Penh
Disembarkation after breakfast at the city waterfront. Your stay in Phnom Penh continues from here: we can arrange a guide, a hotel and the drive or flight on to Siem Reap, or your transfer to the airport.
Price
Price
| Travellers | Tier 1 — simple | Tier 2 — comfortable | Tier 3 — the good ones |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 travelling | from 1295 | from 1620 | from 2460 |
| 4 travelling | from 1060 | from 1325 | from 2020 |
| 6 travelling | from 960 | from 1200 | from 1820 |
The riverboat and its cabin category are almost the whole price. The top tier buys the largest cabins, often with a balcony, on a boat with fewer of them. Departures are on fixed dates set by the boat, and the same dates in the high season sell out months ahead. Nights in Phnom Penh or onward travel to Angkor are quoted separately.
Included
What is included
What the price includes
- Four nights in a private cabin, at your chosen tier
- All meals on board
- Our car, driver and guide from your Saigon hotel to the boat
- Shore visits and small-boat excursions on the programme
- Help with the border paperwork on board
- Private transfer from the waterfront in Phnom Penh to your hotel
What it does not include
- Vietnamese and Cambodian visas
- Drinks on board
- Tips for the crew
- Travel insurance
- Hotel nights in Phnom Penh
Practical
Visas, water levels and seasons
You need permission to leave Vietnam at this crossing and to enter Cambodia. For most nationalities that means a Vietnamese visa or e-visa that is valid for your whole stay, and a Cambodian e-visa arranged in advance or, where it is offered, a visa issued at the river crossing. Check that any e-visa you hold is valid for entry or exit through this gate. Rules change often, and we confirm the current position for your passport when you book.
The river is highest from about August to November, which is when the boat sits highest and the flooded plain is at its most striking. From about May to July heat and low water make it a less comfortable journey, and some boats take a break. The border crossing itself runs year-round.
Timings at the border posts vary. Allow an hour or more, and keep your passport and any printed visa to hand for the morning of day 4.
Not for everyone
Who this does not suit
If you want to see the delta properly, with nights ashore and villages reached by bicycle, a river cruise shows you less than our land trips do; it is about the journey more than the places. Travellers who like to move fast will find four nights for the distance a lot. And if you plan to travel between May and July, ask us first — heat and low water can change what the boat can do.
Common questions
Questions travellers ask most
Can we do this route in the other direction?
Yes, most boats sail both ways on alternate departures. Our eight-day trip from Siem Reap runs downstream to Saigon.
Is it safe to cross the border on the river?
Yes. It is an official international crossing used by passenger boats every week. The crew handles the process with the officials.
Can we extend to Angkor?
Yes. From Phnom Penh, Siem Reap is a short flight or about six hours by road; we can add two or three nights at the temples.
Related
Read next
Southern Vietnam
Mekong Delta
Canals, floating markets and orchards — done properly.
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Mekong Delta
Chau Doc
Fish farms, Sam Mountain and the boat to Cambodia.
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Cambodia
Phnom Penh
The capital: palace, museum, the genocide sites and the river.
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Cambodia
Cambodia
Angkor, Phnom Penh, and how they fit a Vietnam route.
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Example journey
Angkor to the delta by river
Angkor, then four nights downriver to Saigon.
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Tours
Tours
Day trips, regional routes and full-length itineraries.
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Start planning
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Or talk to us:+84 766 045 399