Advertisement
Published: March 27th 2014
Edit Blog Post
I must confess that neither Vietnam nor Cambodia was ever on my wish list of places to visit, but when Ama Waterways offered this itinerary some of the Friends of Dave VIP Club expressed interest to go and I decided to create a group and see what happens. I am so happy that I did... no, I am thrilled, because it was one of the most eye opening and personally enriching trips I have ever taken.
Over the next few blog posts I will do my best to share the wonder of this trip and to assist you in preparing. I will be offering this itinerary again February 2, 2015 and again in 2017 (in 2016 I am leading a group to Myanmar) so I hope that these posts will help you prepare.
First and foremost, you must arrange your entry visas. For Vietnam this MUST be done beforehand and if you are doing the full Ama program you also must have a multiple re-entry visa. For Cambodia, it is possible to purchase the visa in the airport, but you must remember to bring 2 passport photos and it costs $25. Since it was easy for me to get
the Cambodian visa in Berlin, I got mine ahead of time, but if this is too time consuming with sending your passport, etc. you can skip that and do it when you arrive in Siem Reap (your Ama cruise manager will assist you!)
There was a lot of discussion in our group about vaccinations and Malaria meds. Of course, you must have all your normal shots up to date and you should read the official health information, but the areas the Ama takes you on this trip are not areas of risk. Malaria has been eradicated in most areas of Vietnam and the major population centers in Cambodia, but you will have to decide for yourself if the side effects of the Malaria meds are worth the possible infection. I did not take any meds and was fine, but I was sure to use insect spray in Angkor and on the trip to see the Viet Cong stronghold. That was enough for us.
The Ama Waterways full program that we did started in Hanoi (staying at the gorgeous Sofitel Hanoi Hotel), went on to Siem Reap for the Angkor Watt & Angkor Thom experience, boarded the ship near
Tonle Sap Lake (the water was too low for us to embark on the lake itself so Ama created a special tour and took us to meet the ship), cruised the Mekong and ended in Saigon.
Everyone in our group arrived one day before the official program began and I find that to be the smartest choice and I would recommend that. It is possible to book an extra night at the Sofitel through Ama or to do it on your own, but if you do book it on your own, be sure to let the hotel know you are an Ama guest so you can stay in the same room.
Some people also stayed in Saigon an extra night or two and there was plenty to see and do.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.436s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 10; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0308s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb