Angkor to the delta, downstream all the way
Two countries joined by the river that runs through both. Three days at Angkor, two in Phnom Penh, then a speedboat across the border at Kaam Samnor and four days working down the delta to Ho Chi Minh City.
At a glance
- Days
- 12 days, 11 nights
- Party size
- 1 to 8, private
- Start
- Siem Reap
- End
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Effort
- Easy to moderate
- From
- USD 1,950 per person
Who this route is for
People with two weeks who want two countries done at a reasonable pace rather than four countries done at a run. It is also the best route on this site for anyone whose interest is the Mekong itself, because you follow the same river for eight days and watch it change from a Cambodian floodplain into the densest agricultural delta in Asia.
It skips northern and central Vietnam entirely. No Hanoi, no Ha Long, no Hoi An. If you want those, look at the fourteen-day Vietnam route or the eighteen-day classic.
Day 6 crosses from Cambodia into Vietnam on the Mekong: Cambodian exit at Kaam Samnor, Vietnamese entry at Vinh Xuong, about five hours in total. It is the most agreeable international border in the region and roughly two-thirds of the reason to run the route in this direction.
Day by day
Arrive Siem Reap
Met at Siem Reap Angkor airport, which opened in 2023 and is 45 kilometres from town — about 55 minutes, and worth knowing before you book a tight connection. Angkor pass bought this evening if we arrive before 17:30.
Angkor: the central group
Out at 07:30. Angkor Wat once the sunrise crowd has gone to breakfast, then the Bayon and the walled city of Angkor Thom. Hotel from 11:00 to 15:00 because midday here is not sightseeing weather. Ta Prohm late.
Angkor: the outer temples
Banteay Srei an hour north, then Beng Mealea unrestored in the forest. If you would rather have Koh Ker, we will swap it — further, a separate USD 15 in cash, and a different kind of ruin entirely.
Siem Reap to Phnom Penh
Six hours on National Road 6, breaking at Kampong Thom for Sambor Prei Kuk: seventh-century brick towers, pre-Angkorian, UNESCO-listed, and almost empty.
Phnom Penh
Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek in the morning. Our guide will tell you their own family history if you ask, and will not perform it if you do not. The afternoon is deliberately gentle: the Royal Palace and the National Museum, or nothing.
Phnom Penh to Chau Doc by river
Board at the riverside in the morning. Down the Mekong, out of Cambodia at Kaam Samnor and into Vietnam at Vinh Xuong. About five hours including both immigration posts, and our staff handle the paperwork at each.
Nobody will charge you a dollar for a thermometer, because we will have declined it for you. Afternoon in Chau Doc: Sam Mountain for the view over the Cambodian border you have just crossed.
Chau Doc to Can Tho
Tra Su cadjuput forest in the morning — a flooded melaleuca forest you cross in a paddle boat, and one of the few places in the delta where the water is quiet. Then three hours south-east to Can Tho.
Cai Rang floating market
On the water at 05:45, because Cai Rang is a wholesale market and it is done by 08:00. Boats sell in tonnes; the vegetable tied to the pole is the shop sign. Back for a late breakfast and a free afternoon.
Can Tho to Ben Tre
East through the coconut country to Ben Tre, then out into the small canals by sampan — the ones a motorised boat cannot enter. A night in a homestay or a small riverside lodge, depending on your style.
Ben Tre to Ho Chi Minh City
A morning on the water and a two-hour drive into the city, arriving for lunch. The afternoon is free and the contrast is the point: ten days of river towns, then nine million people.
Ho Chi Minh City and Cu Chi
Cu Chi tunnels in the morning — go early, it fills up by 10:00 — then back for the War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace in the afternoon. Both are one-sided and both are worth your time.
Depart Ho Chi Minh City
Tan Son Nhat is 8 kilometres from the centre, 25 to 45 minutes. If you fly in the evening we hold the room until 16:00.
What it costs
| Party size | Simple | Comfortable | Excellent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 travellers | USD 1,950 | USD 3,010 | USD 5,280 |
| 3 - 4 | USD 1,590 | USD 2,480 | USD 4,690 |
| 5 - 8 | USD 1,350 | USD 2,150 | USD 4,290 |
What the price includes
- 11 nights as described, twin share
- Phnom Penh – Chau Doc speedboat with our staff at both immigration posts
- All delta boats: Tra Su, Cai Rang, and the Ben Tre canals by sampan
- Private vehicle and driver for every land transfer
- Khmer and Vietnamese guides, each in their own country
- Three-day Angkor pass, Sambor Prei Kuk, Cu Chi and all fees named above
- Breakfast daily plus the meals named day by day
What it does not include
- International flights into Siem Reap and out of Ho Chi Minh City
- Cambodia and Vietnam visa fees
- Travel insurance, which we require
- Drinks, laundry, and meals not named
- Tips for guides and drivers
Photographs
Who this trip is wrong for
- Anyone who wants Hanoi, Ha Long or Hoi An. None of them is on this route and none can be added without adding four days.
- Travellers who dislike boats. There are six separate boat journeys here, one of them five hours long.
- People who need air conditioning at all times. The delta is humid year-round and the sampan does not have any.
- Anyone in a hurry through Angkor. This route gives it three days on purpose; if you want one, it is the wrong itinerary.
- Parties with mobility limits. Beng Mealea involves scrambling on collapsed sandstone, and the delta boats need a step down from a floating pontoon.
Practical notes
Which direction, and why
Downstream. The Phnom Penh to Chau Doc boat leaves in the middle of the day and gets you to a hotel in daylight; the reverse leaves Chau Doc at 07:30, which means a very early start from a town you have barely seen. Running north from Vietnam also puts Angkor at the end, when you are tired, rather than at the beginning, when you are not.
Visas
Cambodia eVisa at USD 30 from evisa.gov.kh, valid on arrival by air at Siem Reap. Vietnam is visa-free for 45 days for most European passports; otherwise an eVisa at USD 25, and the Vinh Xuong river crossing accepts it. Do not let anyone at the Chau Doc pier sell you a visa you already have.
Money
Cambodia runs on US dollars in practice — carry clean, untorn notes and expect small change in riel. Vietnam is dong, and cards work in cities but not on a sampan.
Questions travellers ask most
Is the river border crossing complicated?
Not with someone doing the paperwork. Cambodian exit at Kaam Samnor and Vietnamese entry at Vinh Xuong, both riverside posts, roughly forty minutes each with the boat waiting.
The only friction is the unofficial extras: the one-dollar “health check”, the fixers at the pier. Our staff decline them before you have to.
Could I do this in the other direction?
Yes, and we will build it, but the boat leaves Chau Doc at 07:30 which means a 05:00 start, and Angkor lands at the end of the trip rather than the beginning.
Most people who ask end up going downstream once they see the timings.
Can I add the Cambodian coast?
Kampot and Kep add three days and fit neatly after Phnom Penh: pepper farms, a decaying French seaside town, and the best crab in the country. The river crossing then happens on day nine instead of day six.
Why three days at Angkor rather than two?
Because the three-day pass costs USD 62 against USD 37 for one day, and the marginal day is the cheapest good day of the whole trip. Two days sees the central group and Banteay Srei; the third day is where Angkor stops being a checklist.
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