Viking Mekong Review
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I had a difficult time finding reviews, and after I got there realized that the boat itself was called Tonle Pandaw, so if you're having difficulty that may be the reason. The weather is hot and humid. Right now they have a drought going on, so we had little rain. So there were a few things I did right. 1. Bought baby powder w/ cornstarch at $ store 2. Took Lemon Eucalyptus oil (bought at Nat'l Grocers instead of deet. That was info I found online. Bought it because I didn't want to smell at night. Liked it so well that I used it all the time instead of the Max 30% deet I also bought. Got it online...green spray bottle. No mosquito bites...and they like me. 3. Bought cool cloths on HSN and used them around my neck. Actually, liked the necktie one best.
Things I did wrong: 1. I had a choice between Golite clothing and Eddie Bauer travel. Took 3 capris in Golite. 1 in Eddie Bauer. Should have gone the other way. The Eddie Bauer breathed MUCH better and was much cooler. 3. Should have carried an umbrella each day. 4. Lt.wt. purse..when you're hot a purse sticking to your side isn't great. 5. Should have taken more cash..esp. $1's and $5's. Take $75 1's
Our tour director Bob was fantastic. I'd give him 10 stars out of 5. Tour directors carry repellant, pills for anything you might need, rain ponchos, and Viking gives you cleaning cloths each time you get on bus after tour..plus water is available always. I only gave cruise 3 stars, not because Viking wasn't great, but because I had great difficulty w/ the heat. Angkor Wat was 93...felt like 115 according to Weather channel. And it did. I don't do well in heat. Saigon was the 88 w/ 88 humidity I was expecting. That was tolerable. Knew that going in, but my husband wanted to revisit Vietnam. Highlight was electric "cars" in Hanoi. Be prepared for POVERTY. Didn't go to brick factory and school. People said we didn't miss anything. I think Viking could rethink some of their tours.
Cabin Review
Cabins are small, but you have to figure that. There were only 48 people on tour. Lots of room under bed to put suitcases, etc..and on side under bed. I used "cubes" and that was spectacular in keeping me organized. Took a container of laundry det. .stuff takes 2 days to dry mostly. They said they sprayed for mosquitos, and never had them in our room. Only place was at Killing Fields where we saw mosquitos.
Port Reviews
Siem Reap
The heat was ungodly. Angkor Wat is renowned, but we liked Angkor Thom and Bayon better. The Sofitel is fantastic, and their food was great. We were sorely disappointed that we ate at the Nest the second night. No air conditioning, and it was HOT. The Nest just doesn't cut it in the hot weather, and Viking needs to cut that out and opt for air conditioning. The next night we were praying for a restaurant w/ air conditioning, and it wasn't much better than the previous evening.
Phnom Penh
In morning we went to monastery. We watched monks getting ready for lunch...around 10:30. They only eat 2x a day. In the afternoon we rented a Tuk Tuk ride around city. Cost $20 for tuk tuk. 2nd day visited silver pagoda, royal palace and national museum. The royal palace is gilded in gold. No royalty anymore, but are refurbishing. Cyclo ride around to the above places. Afternoon went to Killing Fields. We were all depressed that evening.