Asia’s great rivers are suddenly hot – and the phenomenon hasn’t peaked. The continent’s rivers are now second only to European waterways as anchors for upscale breaks.
Cruises have long been popular along North American rivers, while they’re increasingly available in South America and Australia, and Africa offers more than just the Nile. But Asia provides the biggest challenge to European dominance, with huge growth occurring in the past decade – particularly at the opulent end of the market.
Consider this: Myanmar (Burma), until recently a tourism backwater, now has 18 cruise vessels travelling up and down the Ayeyarwady (still advertised as the arguably more exotic-sounding Irrawaddy, so we’ll use that) where there were none 15 years ago. Even greater numbers of vessels cruise the Mekong (almost all on its Vietnamese and Cambodian reaches), and China’s Yangtze is busiest of all.
Some voyagers deal directly with cruise companies. However, most use travel agents – some of which reinvent themselves as cruise specialists, the rest generally touting links to companies which have their own vessels or ties to operators that do. For instance, Aqua Expeditions recently launched a round-the-clock travel agents’ portal which CEO Francesco Galli Zugaro believes “streamlines the booking process”.
This is an industry of deep discounting. Shop around, either online or by studying brochures – prices can vary markedly for the same cruise. (The best prices are sometimes offered by vessel operators rather than commission-shaving agencies.)
Luxury river cruise vessels tend to be shallow-draught and barge style – the waters are mostly calm. Passenger numbers are typically small, between 40 and 80 in large-cabin environs much like boutique hotel rooms, with satellite TV and wifi standard and balconies optional. Read on for a sampling of what’s available:
THAILAND
Time-strapped visitors to Bangkok can add short but memorable cruises to the beginning or end of business trips – a particularly good idea if a partner meets you in the Thai capital or you have the family in tow.
The Chao Phraya – a major waterway used by cargo ships, ferries and barges – snakes through the city, brushing against riverside skyscrapers and a string of historic buildings (including the famed Mandarin Oriental). Sightseeing is heavily skewed towards the nation’s Buddhist faith. Attractions seen from the river include the Grand Palace, National Museum and Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun).
Rice barges, some 100-plus years old, are stylishly refurbished in Thai style for 80km overnight cruises to the 665-year-old, temple-studded city of Ayutthaya, one of Thailand’s most visited destinations. Service is friendly and attentive aboard these shiny teak barges. I travel on the 12-passenger, six-cabin Anantara Song (run by the Manohra Cruises branch of the upscale Anantara resort chain), spending much of my time watching the passing scene while trailing my feet in the Chao Phraya. The experience is mirrored on the same company’s Anantara Dream, but other operators have similar offerings. From a distance these rice barges are much like those still used as freight-carrying workhorses – but, close up, they ooze opulence.
Day-trip cruise options between Bangkok and Ayutthaya also exist – but they’re more rushed. On the Anantara Song, by contrast, I am in unhurried mode – enjoying Thai cuisine, stopping at sacred temples, exploring Bang Pa-In Summer Palace and rambling amid ancient city ruins.
CAMBODIA & VIETNAM
In Indochina’s Mekong Delta region, increasing demand has seen operators boost the number rather than size of vessels to retain their “boutique” feeling. Often in replicated French-colonial style, most carry about 50 passengers.
One-week trips, in either direction, cruise the Mekong between Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s southern metropolis, and Cambodia’s Siem Reap, a mere five kilometres from the spectacular ruins at Angkor Wat – unsurprisingly, a voyage highlight. Time is usually added on for accompanying land excursions at either end.
Ho Chi Minh City, still commonly called Saigon, is itself one of Southeast Asia’s most interesting conurbations, with fascinating landmarks such as the elaborate Central Post Office, designed by Frenchman Gustave Eiffel (best-known for the Eiffel Tower); Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon; the 119-year-old Municipal Theatre, and the intricately decorated City Hall (often called by its French name, Hotel de Ville).
Cruises include a stop at Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh – and days savouring the Mekong, which narrows at some points for some atmospheric Apocalypse Now daydreaming as the jungle presses in. Some cruises visit villages and rural markets close to the riverbanks.
MYANMAR
Cruises begin and end in Yangon (formerly Rangoon) or Mandalay, with passengers cruising the Irrawaddy in either direction. Passenger numbers and choice of vessels are growing rapidly in Asia’s newest tourism hotspot, and accommodation before and after your cruise is in upscale lodgings where service standards now rival those of more visited locales.
Sightseeing is usually included in cruise packages; Yangon tours encompass major attractions like the Shwedagon Pagoda and Sule Pagoda, as well as other temples in this overwhelmingly Buddhist nation. There’s generally time, too, to explore a city where numerous once-grand British colonial buildings have decayed into delightful decrepitude. Many are wedged between steel-and-glass high rises showcasing Myanmar’s recent embrace of foreign investment.
After a northbound cruise, I join fellow passengers atop Mandalay Hill, gazing down on a modernising Asian city that retains its distinct Buddhist identity, with pagodas dominating the view. Later, a tour for passengers takes in the “world’s biggest book” – 729 stupas bearing lengthy religious inscriptions, located within Kuthodaw Pagoda’s 5.25 hectares. At sunset we walk across 165-year-old U Bein Teak Bridge, still used, crossing a shallow lake and linking two villages 1.2 kilometres apart.
The cruise itself is generally on modern vessels with design influences from the days of the British Raj. We pass rusting freighters filled with sacks of rice, tankers, fishing boats and tugs towing raft-like clumps of logs. At Yandabo, a village famed for pottery making, I eyeball a barge being piled high with clay pots for a Yangon-bound downstream voyage. We call at venerated temples, crowded markets, jewellery workshops and a school.
Cruiseco Explorer Captain Mg Mg, whose 32-strong crew looks after 58 passengers, reveals he’s “travelled up and down the Irrawaddy for 32 years and I never tire of it. Kids from remote villages wave from riverbanks – and we often spot Irrawaddy river dolphins arcing in and out of the water.”
Meals blend Western and Myanmar cuisines, with an emphasis on the former. Onboard entertainment includes traditional puppet shows, cooking classes and lessons in tying longyis (traditional cloths worn as skirts by both sexes) and applying thanaka (a yellowish paste made from pounded bark – universally worn as antiseptic, sunscreen, cooling agent and facial decoration).
In Bagan, we go ballooning above an estimated 2,200 pagodas and stupas – or wander through art-filled pagodas such as Ananda, built nine centuries ago.
A recent addition to Myanmar’s ever-expanding cruise options is the luxurious Coral Discoverer, which travels through the Irrawaddy Delta visiting remote fishing villages, while several cruises now head up the Chindwin River, a shallow tributary of the Irrawaddy, to access farther-flung areas.
INDIA
With an astonishing 2,816 kilometres of navigable waterways, India’s river cruising market is playing catch-up with the country’s extensive and renowned railway network, which carries grand tourist trains on journeys evoking bygone times.
Most cruises start in West Bengal’s Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and explore the lower Ganges, Hooghly (also spelt Hugli) and Brahmaputra, passing through wildlife sanctuaries, visiting archaeological sites, skirting traffic-choked towns and gliding into rural India – stopping at village markets, artisans’ workshops and schools along the way.
Alternatively, seven-night cruises leave Patna, renowned for its archaeological sites, and stop at the sensory overdose that is Varanasi, where hundreds of revered Hindu temples serve the faithful. You can also cruise from Kolkata to the World Heritage-listed Sundarbans National Park, where tigers swim amid the mangroves.
BANGLADESH
Only the most intrepid travellers pick Bangladesh for a holiday – but those who do report positive experiences. It’s arguably the world’s best tiger-spotting destination, with sightings all but guaranteed. Short cruises to see Royal Bengal tigers – which are expert swimmers – are safe and conducted by experts.
Cruises cover the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, traversing the rivers that crisscross India’s populous neighbour. There are half-day or full-day trips through teeming Dhaka, emphasising the historic “old Dhaka” district (for eight to 30 passengers aboard replicas of traditional wooden boats), or four-night packages that probe the Sundarbans Reserve Forest, adjoining India’s Sundarbans National Park, with tigers a big lure. The cruise boats are comfortable rather than opulent, but I spotted a satisfying range of wildlife, including leopard cats, crocodiles, turtles, spotted deer and many bird species. For adventurous river cruise fans wanting to see wild nature, this is about as authentic as it gets in the modern world.
CHINA
The Asian giant boasts the continent’s most developed cruise industry. At last count, more than 60 vessels were based on the 6,300-kilometre Yangtze, the world’s longest river in a single country – and many of them cater for the mass market.
Cruises concentrate on a scenic stretch including the main attraction: the Three Gorges, always visited during daylight hours to enhance viewing.
The Three Gorges Dam Project, completed seven years ago, involved flooding towns and villages – creating an enormous reservoir to generate hydroelectricity and ease insatiable Chinese demand. The demise of cruising was widely forecast, but instead it’s grown with a widened, deepened river accommodating bigger vessels.
Yangtze cruises remind many passengers of ocean travel: a few ships hold more than 500 people. Even the 124-passenger Sanctuary Yangzi Explorer, a top-drawer option, is considered small, despite accommodating more than double the number of passengers generally carried on Asian rivers. Consequently, opulence is comparatively inexpensive.
Cruising from Shanghai to Chongqing takes 11 nights. Far more popular are three-night Chongqing–Yichang cruises encompassing the gorgeous gorges. Big ships come with gyms and cinemas. Shore excursions feature Chinese banquets, opera, acrobatic displays and the like.
Listening to other passengers, it’s clear that the Three Gorges elicits the most intense anticipation – it’s what they’ve come to see. And, as we travel for 120 kilometres between spectacular walls of rock and foliage, it’s clear they aren’t disappointed. A less “exclusive” experience it may be, but this is still one of the world’s iconic river trips.
