Cambodia and southern Vietnam in 14 days

Both halves are run by our own Hanoi office, which covers Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. That matters at a land border more than anywhere else on a trip, because it is the point where two suppliers usually hand you to each other and hope.

Who it suits: travellers with two weeks who want two countries done properly rather than four countries sampled. Reasonable fitness, some long transfer days.

Your specialist: Paz Prosianoy, with our Hanoi office running both sides of the border.

Day by day

Day 1: Arrive Siem Reap. Transfer, an hour from the airport, nothing scheduled.

Day 2: Angkor, the main circuit. The Bayon and Angkor Thom at opening, Ta Prohm mid-morning, back by half past eleven. Angkor Wat at four, sunset at Srah Srang.

Day 3: Banteay Srei and the outer temples. An hour into the countryside to Banteay Srei, then Preah Khan on the return. Afternoon free. Phare circus in the evening.

Day 4: Tonle Sap, then free. Boat to Kampong Khleang, the stilted village east of town, rather than the closer and busier Chong Kneas. Back by lunch, afternoon at leisure.

Day 5: Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. Fly, 45 minutes. Afternoon at the National Museum and the riverfront. Dinner in the city.

Day 6: Phnom Penh. Tuol Sleng in the morning with the audio guide, then Choeung Ek. Quiet afternoon, nothing scheduled. Royal Palace late if you want it.

Day 7: Down the Mekong to Chau Doc. The border day, and one of the better days on the trip. A fast river boat south from Phnom Penh, immigration formalities at Kaam Samnor and Vinh Xuong handled with you on the boat, and into Vietnam by early afternoon. Roughly five hours in total depending on water levels. Overnight in Chau Doc, which is a working delta town with a Cham Muslim community and floating fish farms under the houses.

Day 8: Chau Doc to Can Tho. Sam Mountain in the morning for the view over the flooded plain into Cambodia, then three hours east to Can Tho. Afternoon free on the riverfront.

Day 9: Cai Rang floating market and the small canals. Out at half past five, which is the only time the Cai Rang wholesale market is a market rather than a photograph of one. Boats trading in bulk, produce hung from poles, coffee sold from a sampan. Then into the narrow canals where the palms meet overhead. Back for a late breakfast, afternoon free, or a bicycle through the orchards on an island in the river.

Day 10: Can Tho to Ho Chi Minh City. Three and a half hours north-east, with a stop at Ben Tre for a coconut workshop and a sampan on the small waterways if you want one more delta morning. Arrive mid-afternoon.

Day 11: Ho Chi Minh City. The War Remnants Museum in the morning, which is one-sided by design and still the most important two hours in the city. Reunification Palace, the old post office and the Notre Dame cathedral area on foot. Evening food walk through District 4 or District 3.

Day 12: Cu Chi, or Cholon. Either the tunnels at the quieter Ben Duoc section, an hour and a half out, or a morning in Cholon, the Chinese quarter, with its temples and its herb market. Afternoon free.

Day 13: Free day. Deliberately unscheduled. Most people use it for the tailors, the rooftop bars, the Fine Arts Museum or a day trip to the Mekong if they somehow want more river.

Day 14: Departure. Transfer to Tan Son Nhat and home.

What is included

Accommodation with breakfast throughout, the Siem Reap to Phnom Penh flight, the Phnom Penh to Chau Doc river boat including the border formalities, private air-conditioned car with English-speaking driver on every transfer and site day in both countries, licensed local guides on six days, the three-day Angkor pass, the Tonle Sap and Cai Rang boats, Phare tickets, all entrance fees on guided days, a day-by-day document with real drive times, and a WhatsApp group with your consultant and our Hanoi office for both halves of the trip.

What we would change, and when

• Border by air instead? Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City is a 55-minute flight and it saves you a day. It also removes the best transition on the trip. We will build either, and we will tell you which one our own staff choose.
• Travelling in low water, roughly March to May? The Mekong boat runs but sections can be slow, and in a very dry year the schedule changes. Our Hanoi office confirms it a fortnight out and we hold a road alternative through the Bavet crossing.
• Want the Cambodian coast? Add three days for Kampot and Kep between Phnom Penh and the border. Fourteen becomes seventeen and nothing has to be cut.
• Want central and northern Vietnam too? That is a different trip and it needs three weeks. See our 21-day route.

Visas and the border, plainly

Cambodia issues a tourist visa online in advance or on arrival at the main airports for most nationalities. Vietnam operates its own e-visa system, applied for online in advance, and it must be valid for the land and river crossing you are actually using, which is a detail that catches people out: an e-visa is issued for specified entry points. We apply for the correct one, for the correct crossing, on the correct dates, and we confirm the current rule for your specific passport before we quote rather than after.

Honest notes

Day 7 is a five-hour boat and two sets of immigration. It is not arduous and it is not fast either, and the toilet on the boat is a boat toilet. It remains our favourite day of the fourteen.

The Mekong delta is flat, green, hot and slow, and it is not spectacular in the way Halong Bay is spectacular. What it has is life on the water, which is why we give it three nights instead of the one-night version most operators sell.

Cai Rang means a half past five start. There is no later version of a wholesale market. If nobody in your party will get up, we would rather remove it than take you at nine to look at six boats.

Built by Paz Prosianoy, our Southeast and Central Asia specialist, and checked by our Hanoi office before it goes out.

Related

• Cambodia: the complete guide
• Classic Cambodia in 9 days
• Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam in 21 days