Just returned from Mekong River - The Jahan

[ikesyd]

Just returned from an amazing upstream trip along the Mekong River for 8 days on The Jahan (Heritage Line) from Saigon to Siem Reap. Prior to our trip I could not find many reviews on The Jahan, so have decided to write a review here.

Started our trip in Saigon where we stayed 4 nights. I arranged a wonderful city tour with Saigon Hotpot – free (you can give the association a donation) with students who wish to improve their English. Next day we went to Cu Chi tunnels for the morning via speed boat(arrive before the crowds, more expensive but well worth it).Third day we did a full day trip with guide & driver to the Mekong Delta – not many tourists – great seeing the daily life of the Vietnamese in that area.

Our cruise began with the meeting point at the Riverside Renaissance(we stayed here) at 12noon for coffee/soft drink & cookies. Our 45 fellow passengers were mainly Australian, a group of 14 Norwegians(who lost their luggage in Paris – 13 received their bags 3 days later, the last one not till the end of cruise in Siem Reap – ship did their laundry overnight each day for them!), an English couple and a couple from New Zealand. Transported to the boat in two buses each with a Vietnamese guide(they would be our guide while in Vietnam waters) to My Tho port, about a 30-40 minute trip. These groups would be the group you went with for the various shore excursions.

Our cabin was a Superior(lowest category) which was 30sqm & 4sqm for balcony. Great size room, king size bed, coffee/tea machine, fridge, good size bathroom with large shower. All areas of the boat were kept very clean. Plenty of bottled water supplied in rooms and each time we went ashore. Wait staff were Cambodian – girls were beautiful, and the crew were Vietnamese. Always greeted us with a smile & hello whenever we saw them. Always on hand to assist with disembarking/embarking form the boat onto a variety of smaller boats/gangplanks etc. Welcomed back on board each time with a cold towel & ice tea. Also after visiting the local villages we removed our shoes and these were cleaned and returned to our room!

Meals on board were excellent! Breakfast & lunch (loved the variety of salads) were buffets and you could sit where you liked and different other passengers each time. Dinner was mainly a choice of entrees and mains each night, plus a soup and dessert. Would have liked a few more buffets(1st night and BBQ on sun deck and excellent Apsara dance performance while in Phnom Penh). Drinks were not included in the price but were very reasonable and good selection. Each night before the next day briefing was happy hour and welcome/farewell cocktail nights were open bar.

All shore excursions were excellent and a good variety except for last tour on last afternoon to the floating village of Chong Khneas – too touristy, too many people and didn’t like the crocodiles & fish get in very small pens. Actually travelled back through this village the next morning after departing the boat to travel to the port area to catch the bus (approx. 20minutes) to Siem Reap – this would have sufficed for a visit!

Our trip was high water upstream and we were lucky enough to be able to travel across the Tonle Sap Lake instead of having to endure a long bus ride. Our crossing took 6 hours and being the last full day of our cruise was a great day to spend relaxing on the sun deck & swim in the small pool or having a spa/massage. This would be my preferred direction of travel as a downstream trip this would be the 1st day, it was a good way to unwind (even though we already were!).

The scenery along the way was stunning – always something different to look at each day! After crossing into Cambodia we were joined by two new Cambodian guides – great idea having local people for each country as they could explain so much about their countries, history and way of life and answered our many questions.

Along our journey we passed the Amalotus, La Marguerite and a couple of Pandaw boats.

I selected The Jahan for a number of reasons: smaller boat, large rooms, individual balcony (though tended to sit on sun deck), the small pool and itinerary available at the time we could travel.

At the end of our cruise we spent 3 nights in Siem Reap at the Shinta Mani Resort – a wonderful place to stay! Spent two days with a guide & driver visiting the various temples around Angkor Wat & the fishing village of Kampong Khleang.

I can highly recommend a cruise on the Jahan. In Phnom Penh we were docked alongside the sister boat – Jayavarman(no open curtains in the morning!), as we crossed through that boat I think the passengers may have been a mix of English/American.

I am happy to answer questions about our cruise/the places visited etc. It is a trip I will have happy memories of - the wonderful local people, beautiful scenery, sad histories of the countries, friendly crew and great boat, to name just a few!:)

[nana541]

What a great report! And a wonderful trip. Your review us exactly the reason CC needs to have the ability to post reviews in a River Cruise review section for "other" river cruise companies and not just the 5 or 6 we seem to discuss on this board.

 

Maybe that would make it possible to get more reviews from a variety of companies!

 

Once again great review!!

 

And welcome home :)

 

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Edited October 9, 2014 by nana541

[Sparky333]

Thank you so much for posting - it sounds like a wonderful trip!

 

I feel for the poor Norwegians in their one outfit - at least it was a clean outfit each day for them!