Ho Chi Minh to Cambodia

Our guide will collect you from Ho Chi Minh City’s airport and take you directly to your hotel. Once you are checked in, you are free to discover the delights of Vietnam’s fast-emerging metropolis and the many roots that keep it grounded in Vietnamese tradition and culture.

Leaving Ho Chi Minh City at 08:00, we arrive at the Cu Chu Tunnels after heading 2 hours northwest past farmland and jungle. We will see a short introduction video explaining the layout of all 250km of this underground web, which essentially acted as a secretive city during the American War, housing hospitals, living quarters, meeting rooms and vast stockpiles of weapons. 

We will take a tour of the outside of the tunnels, trying our best to spot entrance points and some of the brutal booby traps that showcase the lengths to which the Viet Cong went to defend their homeland. We head inside the underground maze to look at the horrific conditions endured by the Viet Cong, returning to the surface afterwards to find evidence of fighting via the burned-out American tank and the craters of 500lb bombs that were dropped by B-52 bombers.

We eat lunch at a nearby restaurant and head back to Ho Chi Minh City. We begin our city tour in the west side, at Giac Lam Pagoda, a beautifully tiered building standing as the city’s oldest pagoda since 1744. We then head to Cho Lon, Ho Chi Minh City’s ancient Chinatown, where we see some of the significant advancements of Chinese culture in the city through Thien Hau Pagoda, a beautifully ornate devotion to the Chinese sea goddess, Mazu.

We finish the day at Ben Thanh Market in the centre of the city, where we will help you to find great deals and food before we leave you to enjoy the evening.

Today, we will depart from your hotel at 07:00 and head 100km southwest to the riverside of the Mekong at Cai Be, where we will enjoy the uniqueness of its floating market. Boarding a local sampan boat, we glide across the smooth waterways, looking out for great produce, clothing, electronics and many more; there are no limits to the merchandise at Cai Be.

After this, we head onto Tan Phong Island for cycling or walking along the local paths leading to abundant orchards, humble churches, ornate pagodas and beautiful traditional houses. We can stop along the way to see examples of traditional cooking and crafts, specifically the creation of netted rice paper for spring rolls, the thatching of cottage roofs out of coconut leaves and the drying of water-hyacinth to make several products such as shoes, belts, bags, etc.

We head back out onto the water to discover some of the verdant estuaries of the Mekong River, where narrow channels of water are lined with lush nipa palm, creating the scene of an unadulterated tropical paradise. We return to the Mekong afterwards and travel to An Binh Island, where we will visit the gorgeous abode of the Ut Trinh Homestay for lunch. This ancient house has an attached orchard and many relaxing areas to drink tea and listen to traditional Vietnamese music.

On An Binh Island, we visit a village to discover some of the delicious trades that have established themselves here, namely coconut candy, rice popcorn and rice paper. The locals here are also experts in pottery and we can watch them creating beautiful works before we take the cruise to Vinh Long City and the transfer to Can Tho City. We will check into the new hotel here and relax for the rest of the day.

Take your time to discover the various culinary and touristic delights of Vietnam’s fourth-largest city.

We rise early to visit one of the most active floating markets in the country at Cai Rang, where we can start our morning with some of the delicious local fruit sold from atop the water. We cruise in the shadows of swaying coconut trees along watery alleyways, tasting more fruit directly from the orchards and meeting the welcoming locals of the region.

We return to land and head to Chau Doc, a small town on the border with Cambodia. We arrive in the afternoon for lunch and check into our hotel for one night. Feel free to check out the majesty of San Mountain, a place of pilgrimage for devout Buddhists and a wonderful 230-metre hill that provides stretching views of the rice paddies around. There are many pagodas, shrines, statues, tombs and temples here containing a strong Chinese influence, including the ornate and stunning ‘Sam Mountain Temple’.

We have breakfast together then board the speedboat for transport up the Bassac River, eventually arriving in Phnom Penh at about 12:30. There are lovely views of abundant vegetation and far-off mountains along the way and the border crossing is a simple, stress-free experience. A car will await our arrival at Sisowath Quay in order to transfer us to your hotel in Cambodia’s capital city. 

Take the rest of the day to discover Phnom Penh and the different ambiance and pace of life here when compared with Vietnam. We advise you to check out the historical attractions at the Choeung Ek Killing Fields and S-21 Prison to get an important understanding of the harrowing recent history of Cambodia and the brutal regime of the Khmer Rouge.

After breakfast, we begin our city tour of Phnom Penh at the Royal Palace; current home of the Cambodian Royal Family with stunning grounds and an accompanying masterpiece of Khmer religious architecture in the Silver Pagoda. Following this, we head to Wat Ounalom; a beautiful site with a long history dating back to 1443, serving as the head of Cambodian Buddhism for the 97% of the country that practice the religion.

We have a traditional Cambodian lunch and transfer you to Siem Reap, taking 6 hours through quaint villages and Cambodia’s unique and wild countryside. Upon arriving, you can check into your hotel and relax into the evening at your leisure. Maybe check out Siem Reap’s lively bar scene, take a massage after your transfer or discover the wonders of Cambodian street food.

You will take breakfast early this morning to allow for a full day at the resplendent Angkor Wat, the largest religious site in the world. We leave at about 07:00 and head straight to Ta Prohm, an eerie ruined temple covered in snaking vines from banyan trees, which have taken back much of the jungle once cleared to make space for this now-ancient relic. 

We drive further into the 400-acre area of Angkor Wat, passing countless examples of Angkor architecture, both intricate and sweeping in its presentation, standing as one of the pinnacles of human accomplishment throughout the world. We head to the Great City of Angkor Thom, the final capital of the powerful Khmer Empire and once home to up to 150,000 citizens. Within its walls, we find Bayon Temple, noticeable by the hundreds of well-preserved stone faces created to honour the Buddhist deity of infinite compassion, Avalokitesvara.

After lunch at a local restaurant, we will round off the rest of the afternoon by visiting many other sites, including Baphuon Temple, the Royal Palace, the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King. We return to Siem Reap after this for another pleasant night in the lively town.

Enjoy a slightly later breakfast today until our guide takes you south to Me Chrey Village, one of the floating enclaves sitting atop Tonle Sap Lake that rises and falls with the water levels, capable of quadrupling in size over the wet season. Heading out onto a boat, we discover the crafting of traditional fishing tools and see how the locals utilise them to catch their dinner in these beautiful surroundings. We pass village pagodas where monks practice their faith adorned in traditional orange Buddhist garb.

Spend the final afternoon and evening of the Ho Chi Minh to Cambodia 9-day Tour in effervescent Siem Reap. This will be one of your last chances for a massage or to buy attractive souvenirs from the small, enclosed markets around the town.

Enjoy breakfast at your own pace and await transfer for your flight at Siem Reap’s international airport. You may use the services of the hotel until 12:00.

Thank you kindly for joining Incredible Asia Journeys - the trusted Vietnam travel agency on the Ho Chi Minh to Cambodia 9 Day Tour. It is always an absolute pleasure to serve our guests and we hope that you enjoyed yourself enormously.