A Vietnamese Mekong Alternative - Song Xahn Sampan

[vada_9]

With the easier format of posting photos, I thought I would give this a try. 

We had seen the Song Xahn Sampans on our first Mekong Cruise (8 years ago) and I decided then if we ever returned this was something I wanted to do. In May this year we returned to do the Pandaw Red River cruise, plus some land touring and we ended our Vietnam stay on the Sampans. These are private "houseboats" taking 2  - 4 people and offer a few different itineraries in the Mekong Delta. There were the 2 of us on a 4 berth houseboat, with a staff of 4, Captain, + 2 assistants that were the cook, housekeeper, deckhand + a guide.  Meals are included either on board or ashore, there is a small fridge to purchase drinks or you can bring some aboard. Days are spent cruising and visiting various locations for walks on shore - we visited markets, brick factory, coconut candy and walked amongst farmland (things we had down on our initial visit). Our guide was most surprised that we had returned after 8 years  to do this cruise/stay.

 

 

 

[jpalbny]

What an intimate and cool trip that must have been! Hope to hear more about it!

[TLCOhio]

Appreciate your posting and J.P.'s follow-up. As detailed below on my live/blog, earlier this year, we did seven days sailing on the Mekong River with Avalon.  Our ship was a little bigger, transporting 33 of us in a ship with 18 cabins.  For us, the key was that they had a nice range of different stops, tours, visits, etc., to experience the people and sights along this historic river.  Lots of unique history, culture, sights, etc., to enjoy in Southeast Asia. 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio.

 

SE Asia/Mekong River, Etc.!  Completed a Jan. 21-Feb. 20, 2018, first adventure through Southeast Asia with stops in Hong Kong and Bangkok, before traveling all over Vietnam and Cambodia.  This includes seven days sailing on the Mekong River. Now at 37,312 views.  Lots of fun, interesting pictures!! See more at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2591474

[TLCOhio]

Here below are a few visuals as a sample for what we enjoyed along the Mekong River earlier this year.  Many more pictures on the full, live/blog.  Keep up the great sharing of your pictures.  Love to see more and bring back fun memories from being in Southeast Asia.  

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 213,665 views for this posting.

 

Here are just a few visuals samples from what we saw and did while sailing along the Mekong River in Vietnam and Cambodia. Many, many more photos and details on the full live/blog connected via the above link:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these pictures larger/better!)

 

 

 

We saw many temples, palaces, markets and samples of daily life/work, including at this below spectacular Royal structure in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.:

 

 



 

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Edited October 18, 2018 by TLCOhio

[vada_9]

Thanks JP and Terri, I have followed along on many of the live reports you both have written. As I said, we had previously done the 8 day cruise back in 2010 and saw the Sampans during our excursion around Sa Dec. The Sampans offer 1 and 2 night cruises from Sa Dec to other towns in the Delta region. The boats are now owned and operated by the Victoria Hotel group (had different owners back in 2010). We had arranged a private driver to take us from Ho Chi Minh and meet up at the mooring. We  had the same driver return us to the Airport at the end of the cruise. We met up with the guide on a road and had to walk to the river. There are options to bike ride , but we chose to walk around the area. Lunch at Le Longalier (we had eaten here in 2010) then cruised visiting various local businesses and markets. We visited the house of "The Lover" in Sa Dec.  It was interesting to note that our guide mentioned that the company worked with 5 or 6 different brickworks or candy makers so that all could share in the tourist dollar. We ended in Can Tho. I have included a few more photos.

[TLCOhio]

16 hours ago, vada_9 said:

Thanks JP and Terri, I have followed along on many of the live reports you both have written. As I said, we had previously done the 8 day cruise back in 2010 and saw the Sampans during our excursion around Sa Dec. The Sampans offer 1 and 2 night cruises from Sa Dec to other towns in the Delta region. The boats are now owned and operated by the Victoria Hotel group (had different owners back in 2010).

 

Appreciate these great visuals and your nice follow-ups. Nice pix's!!  Brings back great memories.  Wonderful sharing!!

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 231,427 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923