EXPLORATION
Embracing Southeast Asian culture with the newest ship from Avalon Waterways.
Pulling in to Siem Reap, we pass by markets, restaurants, and a church — establishments that would seem commonplace in any village. Except this one is floating. During the rainy season, Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, swells more than five times its size. Stilt homes sit like jungle gyms along the banks and barges painted in vibrant shades of mustard yellow and electric blue bob as peacefully as lotus flowers along the water’s surface.
Out of the 14 ships sailing on the Mekong River, which stretches from the Plateau of Tibet to the South China Sea south of Saigon, only vessels with 9 feet of draft can cruise through the lake. Avalon Waterways’ new Suite Ship, Avalon Saigon, is one of the few (the others take the lengthy six-hour road route). I hopped on the 18-suite ship, the sister to Avalon Siem Reap, in Ho Chi Minh City, which locals still refer to by its former name, Saigon. Vietnam’s largest metropolis is pulsating with energetic bars and trendy cafes, but a cocktail at the infamous Rex Hotel (site of press briefings dubbed “the Five O’ Clock Follies” by journalists during the Vietnam War) was the only taste of Saigon’s nightlife I needed; we were here for the river, not the rooftop bars.
Suite Life
Ninety percent of the population in the Mekong Delta lives off agriculture, carving the river into fish farms and floating factories for sampans, the flat-bottomed wooden boats that serve as a common mode of transportation — as well as a makeshift home for fishermen.
Avalon Saigon’s rounded bow is modeled after the traditional Irrawaddy Flotilla ships from Myanmar, which once transported rice on the delta. “We didn’t want to just build a mini version of an Avalon ship in Europe; we wanted it to fit this environment,” says Pam Hoffee, managing director of Avalon Waterways, as we approached the border to Cambodia. “Our goal was to have a modern design, but we also wanted to bring in influences from Vietnam and Cambodia.”
Local craftsmen in Vietnam’s Binh Duong province hand-carved oak panels that form a backdrop in the dining room. Look closely and you’ll see Vietnam’s national flower, the lotus, and Cambodian elephants — symbols from both countries woven into the woodwork on the walls. “It’s very warm,” says Vietnamese shipbuilder Cuong Truong. “The atmosphere feels like you’re at home.”
Part of what makes this ship feel like home is its size. The design is similar to Avalon’s European ships with the brand’s signature OpenAir Balconies and floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows that span the entire length of the suite. The difference here, however, is in the numbers. All suites measure an impressive 245 square feet (compared to 200 square feet on the European ships), with balconies stretching 14 feet wide. Retractable screens ensure your bedroom is bug-free at night, and sumptuous beds (Avalon’s custom-designed Comfort Collection Beds, complete with a pillow menu of course) look out at the river, making you forget there’s a flat-screen TV in the room. When you’re ready to relax after dinner, you can catch the nightly feature film like the Catherine Deneuve classic, Indochine.
The part that makes the ship seem more like a floating hotel than a stuffy barge? The fact that you can sport slippers everywhere from the spa (yes, even with just 36 passengers, there’s a dedicated spa suite) to the living room–like lounge area, where the bartender prepares sweet Vietnamese iced coffee better than most spots back in Saigon.
Street Food, Redefined
Strolling through the streets of Vietnam is like stumbling upon one smorgasbord after another. Even in the tiny villages we visited, we saw families huddled around stands selling roast corn or slices of freshly cut mango. If you’re not quite ready to brave the street food, you’ll you find a more refined version on board whipped up by the ship’s Cambodian Cam chef. Breakfast and lunch are both served buffet style, but lunch includes a locally inspired dish prepped at a live station (the Siem Reap lemongrass sour fish soup is top-notch). Dinner is a three-course thre affair — plus soup, which, in Southeast Asia, gets its own cou course — announced by the ring of a gong. On land in Ho Chi Minh City, gue guests can even learn some of the tricks to perfecting Vietnamese fare dur during the market tour and cooking class. And while most of the dining ove over the course of the 12-night trip takes place on the water, when we dise disembarked in Siem Reap, we were treated to a different view of the rive river. In the stylish shopping area of King’s Road, our group sat at a rest restaurant overlooking the Siem Reap River, where we lunched on lem lemongrass chicken, Khmer pork satay, and palm heart salad.
Temple Touring
Two miles before crossing into Cambodia, we heard the call to prayer from mosques along the bank while we were practicing tai chi on the observation deck. Our last port before the border was also one of the most remote in the Mekong: Chau Doc. A decade ago, this town didn’t even have taxis. Motorbikes still make up the majority of the transportation zipping along the street and through the marketplace. Squid and sea snails were floating in plastic bowls lining dusty market floors, and women wearing non (traditional conical hats) piled pickled vegetables, pork, pâté, and freshly plucked cilantro in crispy baguettes called banh mi, a street-food staple that nods to Vietnam’s French Colonial past — and costs less than $ 1.
After filling our noses with the scent of lemongrass-heavy broths and sizzling onions, we were whisked by sampan through the backwaters of the Mekong, past speedboat merchants and floating homes, to the markets dotting the base of Sam Mountain. Dragon fruit and durian sat in pretty piles on stands next to mounds of dried fish and flowers, offerings that can be brought to the nearby Temple of Lady Xu. Roast whole pigs are the most common offering you’ll see presented at the statue of the giant golden goddess, Xu, who locals believe guards Vietnam’s borders.
You may not have heard of Lady Xu, but you’ll surely recognize another temple in neighboring Cambodia: Angkor Wat. Siem Reap is home to about 50 Buddhist and Hindu temples dating back to the 9th century, but this is arguably the city’s most famous. Avalon devotes two days alone to Siem Reap, hopscotching to a few of the city’s other top treasures. ( Hint: Tomb Raider’s tree root–covered Ta Prohm is on the list.)
Local Look
“Our itineraries are built around the history of the place and bring people closer to the local culture,” Hoffee says, referring to Avalon Saigon’s excursions like the Killing Fields in Cambodia. “These are opportunities to bring some of the recent historical elements of the country to life, and then we use the guides to talk about more of the ancient history.”
In Vietnam, we rode motor carts around the island of Cu Lao Gieng, spending the morning visiting a family who handcrafts wooden sampans, the main source of income here besides mango farming. In Vinh Long, we toured a local family’s workshop, housed in a thatched-roof hut, watching as they rolled rice paper and traditional coconut candy. “The candy factory sounds like it may be a touristy thing, but it’s a local family’s company, and they don’t have a lot of tourists coming in,” Hoffee says. “Our key goal is to give people local experiences because you can do most of those historical things on any trip, but what you can’t arrange on your own are these interactions with locals.”