Anaconda, piranha and king toads, oh my! One day, on a cushy fall river cruise in the Upper Amazon Basin, our 10-passenger, motorized skiff was exploring tributaries, and tributaries of tributaries. Rudy Flores with machete (All Photos by David G. Molyneaux, TheTravelMavens.com) Each sliver of water was smaller than the former, until we plunged into…
My first trip to Vietnam ended a few weeks shy of 45 years since I was drafted into the US Army during the Vietnam War. As a soldier, I never made it out of the United States. But I will never forget 1968. Last in a series from the ruins and rivers of Southeast Asia
Sixth in a series from the ruins and rivers of Southeast Asia For our last day on the Mekong River, the Avalon Angkor was docked in downtown Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), which was abuzz with people at work, at play and, in between, riding their motorbikes. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Lots of…
Passengers on the Avalon Angkor cross into Vietnam on the Mekong, cruising backwaters for local markets and opportunities to meet people who live beside the rivers and channels.
Floating on the Tonle Sap toward Phnom Penh, stopping at ancient sites and visiting villages, passengers on Avalon Angkor begin to get a real picture of life in rural Cambodia.
After exploring Cambodia’s temples and ruins, and passing by such roadside delicacies as sparrows and rats, grilled crickets, spiders and roaches, we were ready for the comforts and kitchen of a fancy riverboat, Avalon Angkor.
New riverboats are cruising in Cambodia and Vietnam. These vacation voyages are an eye-opener, not only to the famed stone Angkor ruins, but also to the lives of rural villagers who are emerging from decades of warfare and deprivation. A bamboo bridge in the Tonle Sap River was built in 3 weeks to link the…
For nearly three years, I have been wondering about the loss of a favorite cruise vessel, the Spirit of '98. In August, she will be back. Spirit of '98 is now Un-Cruise's Legacy Cruise West, the company that owned Spirit, ended its touring days in 2010, and I feared that the ship, which needed some…