Mekong verses Irrawaddy

I am trying to decide between these options. How different are they?

Is it a lot of the same in terms of the countryside and the views or is there a lot of contrasts ? Is doing both repetitive?

I can't even figure what criteria to use to compare.

Any guidance at all would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Jackie

Vantage has a new trip that does both.:

https://www.vantagetravel.com/ourjourneys/deluxe-small-ship-cruises/asia-small-ship-cruise/bxixx/2017/what-included/journey-highlights

Maybe you can look at the itinerary and decide which you find more appealing, or maybe you want to do both :).

We have done both. The Mekong with Avalon, a fantastic trip. Saw a lot of everyday life along the river and Cambodia was gut wrenching in parts and lovely in others. We did the Irriwaddy with Grand Circle. It was also a great trip. Many, many temples and shrines and some of the gentlest people that we have eve encountered. We did this as a back to back with time in Bangkok in between. Great trip. Pat

We've done both with AMAWATERWAYS. .. while we enjoyed both trips Myanmar won our vote as favourite. Smaller ship in Myanmar meant less people on board. We really liked 14 nights on board the boat as opposed to packing up a few times to change hotels.

The people were so welcoming and very curious about us. In a couple places the vendors were persistent but for the most part were no different than other countries. The stupas at Bagan were the high lite for us. Amazing.

Vietnam and Cambodia river cruise was great too but I know Myanmar has been our most favorite trip out of 30+ trips.

We did Cambodia and Vietnam plus a Mekong cruise with Viking a few years ago and are going on a 9 night Irrawaddy cruise plus some land travel in Burma with Vantage in January. While I'm assuming life along the rivers are similar, the country and their history are different. Our expectation is Burma will be a better experience (culturally-wise) since they are still relatively young at tourism.

I love culture and natural beauty! Last year I was in Bhutan and Thailand for three weeks and if I only see a few main temples for the rest of my life, that I should enough. I understand that most people don't feel that way.

I wonder if there are ever options offered?

I do like the idea of a less developed country as I will be in the comfort of my boat!

We have done both. 7 nights on the Mekong as part of a Vietnam & Cambodia trip with APT in 2014. Then 14 nights on the Irrawaddy with APT in March of this year.

The Irrawaddy easily wins, though I think the two are sufficiently different to make both trips worth doing.

The people of Burma/Myanmar are delightful and so friendly. (The locals prefer the name Burma because the change of name to Myanmar was imposed on them by the military, so Burma was the name we constantly heard used.)

Vietnam would not rank as one of our favourite places; we enjoyed Cambodia more. Angkor Wat was amazing and we found the architecture in Phnom Penh great too. The actual time on the Mekong was okay, but not particularly special in comparison to other trips we have done.

The architecture in Burma is truly remarkable - so many pagodas covered in gold leaf. And Bagan is just amazing. Such an interesting place. I would like to go back.

If you are able, do both, but my first choice would definitely be Burma. Partly because the country will change as tourism becomes a bigger industry.

We did them separately with Vantage (they did not offer the combined when we did them).

Irrawaddy wins ...a great part of that is we had an exceptional gentleman as our guide, teacher and even mentor for most of the journey.

The Mekong/Cambodia was great too just not exceptional.

Ankor Wat was spectacular and just throwing this out ....I thought Machu Picchu was MORE!!!!

At the time we did each trip the ships that Vantage used were GREAT....interior hallways and delightful public spaces.

My hope is that you can enjoy them ALL!