My wife and I just returned from 3 weeks in SE Asia. Part of the trip was the 7 day Pandaw Mekong River cruise that we did starting Feb. 11 downstream from Siem Reap to Saigon on the Orient Pandaw.
This cruise was one of the best travel experiences that we have ever had. Pandaw does an outstanding job. The state rooms are comfortable, plenty of room, A/C, and hot water. Food was excellent. The atmosphere is not stuffy or formal, quite the contrary, but everything is first class. We were the only Americans; all others were European except for the Brits who said they were not European. Total capacity of the boat is 60 people, we only had 21.
They do one or two shore excursions each day, and these were great. We visited villages, temples, museums, markets, an orphanage, etc., etc. We had an English speaking guide on each excursion and they (1 for Cambodia, 1 for Vietnam) were very good. We feel like this really put us in touch with the people and culture along the Mekong.
When you leave the boat for an excursion they give you a water bottle carrier with cold water. When you return someone hands you a cold hand towel, and they take your shoes for cleaning and return them to your room later. Everyone was very service oriented, helpful and friendly.
This wonderful package of course comes at a price. We paid $4,300 for 7 days total for two people. This was a somewhat discounted rate because we were on a brand new boat. In addition to all the normal things, the price included all tips and all local spirits and beer (Angkor and 333, yea!). This trip was a bit of a splurge for us, celebrating my wife鈥檚 recent retirement. We absolutely loved the cruise, so much so that we are trying to figure out a way to take their new Ganges cruise in India. Pandaw is at www.pandaw.com.
Obviously this is not a backpacker trip, and I suppose river cruises are not for everyone anyway, but this was perfect for us.
Jim
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