Exploring the Enchantment of Vietnam, Cambodia and the Mekong River
- Ruth Mcbride
- Sep 28, 2025
- 4 min read
Our big 2025 Adventure vacation is almost here! We are very excited about our upcoming exploration of Cambodia and Vietnam, although we are dreading the very long flights we are about to embark on!
Our trip to Vietnam and Cambodia is 21 days including travel days. We decided this time to try another tour operator instead of Viking. We are going a bit more bespoke and using Avalon for our trip primarily because the river cruise ship the Avalon Saigon holds a maximum of 36 passengers and all of the cabins are suites!
Our real adventure starts though as soon as we board our Turkish Airlines flight from Toronto -YYZ to ISTANBUL-IST. We are travelling Business Class on Turkish Airlines and we have read some amazing reviews of the experience of flying Business Class on Turkish airlines! On Turkish Airlines there is an onboard chef for business class passengers, lie-flat seats, Salvatore Ferragmo amenity kits and a very good in-flight entertainment system. The real reason we decided to fly Turkish Airlines to Hanoi was the very long 12 hour stopover in IST. Why would we want a long stopover in IST you ask? Well let me tell you!
Turkish Airlines ‘TourIstanbul’ for long layovers offers offers passengers the oppportunity to explore the city on a guided tour with transfers to and from IST into Istanbul, a meal at a local restaurant and a return transfer to IST to relax in the Turkish Airlines Business Class Lounge.
We last visited Istanbul on our 2022/2023 Viking World Cruise, visiting the highlights such as the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia and the TopKapi Palace. What we missed out on though was the ‘Grand Bazaar’ as it was closed for ‘Eid al-Fitr’ or ‘Festival of Breaking the Fast’.
We are hoping that our tour in Istanbul with Turkish Airlines gets us to or near the Grand Bazaar and if so we may ‘ditch’ the tour and meet up with the group after we have spent some quality ‘shopping opportunity’ time in the Grand Bazaar!
It is nice that the adventure begins as soon as we get on our 10 hour and 5 minute flight to Istanbul, followed by a 12 hour layover in Istanbul, and then a 9 hour and 20 minute flight to Hanoi!
We decided to arrive a few days earlier than our scheduled Avalon tour in Hanoi to get accustomed to the time difference (Hanoi is 11 hours ahead of Toronto) and do some exploring with a recommended private guide, on our own.
Speaking of jet lag….I’ve used ChatGPT to figure out our optimal sleep schedule to avoid having jet lag when we arrive in Hanoi.
Let’s hope this sleep schedule works! In the meantime I did purchase some Melatonin to try on the flights if I can’t fall asleep naturally. Richard called Turkish Airlines 48 hours in advance of our flights and was able to add the use of his Cpap machine to all segments of the flights we are taking with Turkish Airlines on this trip. Now we know Richard will get restful sleep and he won’t keep the rest of the Business Class passengers awake with his snoring!
Avalon provides us with included transfers to and from the airports in Vietnam despite arriving early into Hanoi. We are staying at the LOTTE Hotel in Hanoi with stays at the Vinpearl Resort & Spa in Ha Long, Park Hyatt Siem Reap (Cambodia), Avalon Saigon (36 pax river cruise ship) for our cruise on the Mekong and finally the Park Hyatt Saigon (Ho Chi Minh).
I’ve tried to pack very lightly for this cruise although we still have 2 checked bags (less than 40 lbs) and 2 roller boards; given one of the roller boards will have my Fuji XT-4 and lens in a special padded camera bag. We want to be able to pick up any wonderful souvenirs as memories of our trip, without having to buy more luggage like we did on our World Cruise with Viking! LOL!
Hanoi weather looks like it could be rainy when we arrive and 28C-32C (82F-89F). In fact this is what is going on in Vietnam right now!
The good news is we are flying to Hanoi and the typhoon is not on a direct path to Hanoi. The bad news is there will be the aftermath of the typhoon in Hanoi! We will figure it out I guess when we get to Hanoi!
From other people that have been to Vietnam at this time of year we were advised that we would probably be changing our clothing twice a day because of the heat. We are prepared for outfit changes twice a day and will find somewhere to have our laundry done along the way. The Avalon Saigon as small as the ship is, does do laundry for a fee.
And now back to the business of packing! It sure isn’t as exotic as our upcoming trip but I definitely don’t want to forget anything that we might need on our trip! I will be blogging on this trip as much as possible and I am really looking forward to the photography opportunities with my Fuji XT-4 as well as my brand new Iphone 17 Pro Max with its amazing 40 X optical zoom and editing features!
Bon Voyage Canada and Good Morning Vietnam!
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