Expedition cruiser Roderick Eime revisits the Mekong aboard CroisiEurope’s RV Indochine II, one of the few river ships built to sail all the way into Saigon.
By Roderick Eime, ExpeditionCruising.com
The search for the source of the Mekong and the presumed river road to the riches of China obsessed the French colonial occupiers to the point of madness. And now they are back.
The 4,350-kilometer Mekong (or “Mother of Water”) is the dominant river of Southeast Asia, running like a great life-giving artery down the curved spine of what was once French Indochina. The rich and fertile lands bordering the river have been the objective of warring dynasties for centuries, and it’s only been in the last couple of decades that the entire region has experienced relative peace.
With the French long gone, communist, one-party Vietnam eventually settled into a productive market economy. Cambodia recovered from the catastrophic upheaval of the 1970s and is now attracting a bounty of tourists to this once-mysterious, war-torn part of the world.
Our eastward journey begins at Chong Khneas, near Siem Reap, gateway to the great temples of Angkor Wat, and continues across the massive Tonle Sap lake toward Phnom Penh. As difficult as it may seem, most will opt to see the harrowing Killing Fields and the S21 prison museum. It is a chilling experience, but those who go see it as a necessary education about the recent history of Cambodia, then known as Kampuchea.
Our stop in Phnom Penh is overnight, so there’s time to see the bustling city, now greatly transformed from the ghost town it was during the Pol Pot era. High-rise apartments and gleaming, Chinese-built towers now dominate the skyline, but pockets of heritage remain with the royal palace, the warren-like market and civic buildings such as the old post office.
Back aboard Indochine II, we continue south and cross the border, entering the Mekong Delta region at Chau Doc, a thriving market town with tiny alleyways lined with everything from meat and fish chopped on the spot to T-shirts and plastic pots. It’s a diverse ethnic mix here too, with Chinese, Cham and Khmer communities all living side by side and on the water.
At Sa Dec we go ashore again to visit the former house of Huynh Thuy Le, the man on whom Marguerite Duras based her book L’Amant (The Lover). It’s a glimpse of the last of the colonial influence in what was once French Indochina.
Only a few years ago, Cái Bè was a thriving traditional trading port where we would cruise in our local sampan among the many vendors bobbing up and down in the floating market. In the last decade, the number of shop boats has progressively dwindled to the point where the famous floating market is now nowhere to be seen. The broad brown water is almost empty, disturbed only by the occasional ferry, fishing boat and tourist launch.
Our final leg takes us into Saigon itself, a remarkable feat because most river vessels must stop at the port of My Tho and transfer passengers by coach. Indochine II is specifically built to the largest dimensions allowable for this transit. Dug by the French in 1877 and progressively upgraded over the years, this historic canal connects the Mekong and Vam Co rivers, allowing small merchant sampans to reach the heart of the city without making the perilous sea voyage.
A voyage along the Mekong is a must for serious cruisers and a vital addition to any world traveler’s brag-bag of wonders.
Fact File
The 65-meter, 60-passenger RV Indochine II was launched in 2017 and was designed for premium Mekong river cruising, with large, comfortable, air-conditioned cabins, each with a private balcony and en suite bathroom. There’s superior dining, enrichment lectures, delightful staff and a large rooftop sundeck to take in the rolling panorama of the Mekong.
