Saigon Exploration

Embracing Southeast Asian culture with the newest ship from Avalon Waterways.

- Lane Nieset

Pulling in to Siem Reap, we pass by markets, restaurants, and a church — establishments that would seem commonplace in any village. Except this one is floating. During the rainy season, Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, swells more than five times its size. Stilt homes sit like jungle gyms along the banks and barges painted in vibrant shades of mustard yellow and electric blue bob as peacefully as lotus flowers along the water’s surface.

Out of the 14 ships sailing on the Mekong River, which stretches from the Plateau of Tibet to the South China Sea south of Saigon, only vessels with 9 feet of draft can cruise through the lake. Avalon Waterways’ new Suite Ship, Avalon Saigon, is one of the few (the others take the lengthy six-hour road route). I hopped on the 18-suite ship, the sister to Avalon Siem Reap, in Ho Chi Minh City, which locals still refer to by its former name, Saigon. Vietnam’s largest metropolis is pulsating with energetic bars and trendy cafes, but a cocktail at the infamous Rex Hotel (site of press briefings dubbed “the Five O’ Clock Follies” by journalists during the Vietnam War) was the only taste of Saigon’s nightlife I needed; we were here for the river, not the rooftop bars.

Suite Life