Mekong Discovery – MD.Test.99999 – DOWNSTREAM – 7 nights

DAY 1: PHNOM PENH / EMBARKATION

Embark in the late morning and lunch onboard. In the afternoon, guests are free to further explore Phnom Penh. Alternatively, guests can opt to go shopping or sample the city’s vibrant restaurants and bars. 

(There is a scheduled shuttle coach with your local guide provided from the Port to the Central Market for your shopping time).

Pre-dinner cultural entertainment is provided on the Sun Deck as guests enjoy a performance by local children of Apsara, the Khmer national dance and other traditional folk dances.

DAY 2: PHNOM PENH

After breakfast on board this morning, Tuk Tuk drivers meet you on the pier for an exciting morning tour of the best sites in Phnom Penh. You are gently transported along the riverfront to the Royal Palace complex which is the official residence of the King of Cambodia, where you enjoy a leisure walk through the grounds. After viewing the Throne Hall and Moonlight Pavilion, you visit the famous Silver Pagoda, home of Cambodia's Emerald Buddha and the Maitreya Buddha, which is encrusted with more than 9,000 diamonds. 

Your Tuk Tuk is waiting outside to take you on the short ride to the open-air National Museum, Cambodia’s largest museum of cultural history with one of the world’s largest collections of Khmer art and ceramics as well as Angkorian and pre-Angkorian artefacts, excavated at the Angkor Temple complex at Siem Reap, as well as other areas around Cambodia.

After returning to the ship, enjoy a free afternoon in Phnom Penh.

DAY 3: WAT ROKA KAONG - OPOPEL VILLAGE - KAMPONG CHAM

This morning we will visit Wat Roka Kaong. Based on archaeologists’ statements this Temple complex was built in 1840. Some parts of the building were made by wood and have been renovated 1998. An emerald statue was found during the renovation believed to be over 180 years old and given this Wat its second name Wat KeoMoni Chort (Emerald). In front of the two Golden Buddhist Columns (53meter tall), where two temples, the north temple called Preah Keo Preah Kor and the south temple called BakSei Chamkrong. Unfortunately, Baksei Chamkrong temple was destroyed by a landslide in 2020. Enjoy wandering around this temple complex and then proceed to the Main Pagoda.

Upon entering the beautiful and colourful Main Pagoda, we receive a traditional water blessing from the local monks. 

This afternoon we have a visit to the rural and charming village of Opopel, with its stilted houses and grazing Brahim cows seeking the shade of banana trees. You feel a sense of timelessness here, witnessing the rhythm of rural life. A visit is made to the home of a local family who discusses their lifestyle, then onto the local school to join children in their classroom giving you a glimpse a typical Cambodian school day. A leisurely stroll through the village offers an opportunity to take photos of this place that time has forgotten. On your way back we make a brief stop at the local monastery.

In the evening, you gather in the Sun Deck in front of the Le Salon Lounge for a Farewell Reception with the entire crew, before enjoying a Cambodian Farewell Dinner in Le Marche Dining Room.

DAY 4: KAMPONG CHAM / DISEMBARKATION - SIEM REAP

Following breakfast, you say goodbye to the crew as you disembark the cruise and transfer from Kampong Cham to Siem Reap, Cambodia, with a lunch stop, arriving in Siem Reap in the afternoon.