This was published 5 years ago
Best river cruises in Asia: Outstanding itineraries, cultural encounters and adventures
By Brian Johnston
Travelmarvel's RV Rajmahal on the Ganges.
River cruising in Asia is a grand adventure. Giant, muddy rivers slurp through blue hills, chiselled gorges or emerald-green rice paddies. Riverbanks flaunt thousands of years of history: serene smiling Buddhas, golden temple spires winking in the heat, raucous boomtowns, ruined palaces. Daily life passes in vignettes of flip-flopping monks and market vendors, ladies in sarongs or saris, giggling children and droopy-eared cattle.
No surprise, then, that river cruises in Asia have become a hot-ticket item. The only wonder is why it took so long. Often, river-cruise ships provide the only reliable accommodation, transport and tours in destinations that challenge individual holidaymakers with minimal tourism infrastructure and spine-jolting roads.
The Ganges, Yangtze, Mekong and Irrawaddy are the four big names in Asian river cruising, but horizons are expanding. In India alone – considered an adventurous frontier just a few years ago – a dozen mainstream companies now operate on the Ganges River, and attention is turning to the Brahmaputra River in India's remote, rugged north-east, with some cruise specialists partnering with local river-cruise companies to offer holiday packages.
Cruising in Myanmar.
Last year, river-cruise ships started sailing the Upper Mekong on a splendid journey from Chiang Saen in Thailand through Laos and Myanmar into China. Some ships sail the Upper Irrawaddy north from Mandalay to Bhamo, or tackle its tributary Chindwin River, notorious for tricky water levels but providing one of river cruising's most remote adventures.
Even more remote is the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea. Other interesting cruise destinations include a network of northern Vietnam rivers, Keralan waterways in southern India, and Thailand's River Kwai, infamous for its World War II Japanese prisoner-of-war camps. Here's where and why you should set sail in Asia.
THE YANGTZE
A cabin on Travelmarvel's RV Princess Panhwar.
THE CRUISE
River cruises typically focus on the 250-kilometre stretch of spectacular Three Gorges and sail from Chongqing to Yichang, but some continue downriver to Wuhan, and a few as far as Nanjing or Shanghai.
THE EXPERIENCE
The Yangtze basin is home to a third of the Chinese population and is dense in mega-cities and historic sites such as temples, rock tombs and the ancient river port Fengdu. Chongqing Zoo features pandas. Plunging gorge scenery with emerald-green water and jungle-clad peaks is the highlight. The mindboggling Three Gorges Dam is a feat of modern engineering.
THE DIFFERENCE
Most itineraries include a substantial land tour, often to Shanghai, Xian and Beijing. River-cruise ships are large and usually Chinese-owned charters.
WHEN TO GO
Yangtze cities Chongqing, Wuhan and Nanjing are known as the Three Furnaces of China, so avoid high summer. Try for spring (April to May) and autumn (September to October).
WHO GOES
Abercrombie & Kent, APT, Avalon Waterways, Century Cruises, CroisiEurope, Helen Wong Tours, Sanctuary, Scenic, Tauck, Travelmarvel, Uniworld, Wendy Wu Tours, Victoria Cruises, Viking.
SET SAIL
Sanctuary Retreat's four-night Yangzi Explorer cruises from Yichang to Chongqing. On-board activities include tai chi, dumpling cooking, traditional Chinese painting and mah-jong. From $US1235 a person (about $1585 a person), sanctuaryretreats.com
THE MEKONG
THE CRUISE
The standard cruise sails from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to Kampong Cham in Cambodia (and sometimes across Lake Tonle Sap), with coach journeys onwards to Angkor Wat.
THE EXPERIENCE
The Mekong Delta bustles with market-filled port towns such as Cai Be and Sa Dec. Further north in Cambodia, scenery becomes more scenic with hills and temples. Booming Phnom Penh has disturbing Khmer Rouge sites, while Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) has Vietnam War remnants and fabulous street food. The highlight is the Angkor Wat temple complex.
THE DIFFERENCE
Cruises are partly land-based, with hotel stays in Ho Chi Minh City and Siem Reap, Angkor Wat's service town. You'll have numerous opportunities to encounter locals in markets, temples and schools.
WHEN TO GO
To escape the worst humidity, sail in the November-to-February cool season. October is the tail-end of the rainy season, though rain comes only in sharp bursts.
WHO GOES
Abercrombie & Kent, APT, Aqua Expeditions, Avalon Waterways, CroisiEurope, Evergreen, Pandaw, Scenic, Travelmarvel, Uniworld, Wendy Wu Tours, Viking.
SET SAIL
Travelmarvel's eight-day Majestic Mekong journeys from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City. Small-boat excursions explore Mekong tributaries and rickshaws tour Vietnamese town Tan Chau. From $2495 a person, travelmarvel.com.au
THE IRRAWADDY
THE CRUISE
Most river cruises ply the river's Mandalay-Bagan section in a few days. Some sail onwards to Pyay or Yangon. Adventurous companies tackle the northern Irrawaddy to Bhamo near the Chinese border.
THE EXPERIENCE
A wide, muddy river flows through broad valleys ringed by purple mountains, dotted with golden stupas and lush with rice paddies. Concentrations of temples erupt at old capital Mandalay, nearby Sagaing and Pyay. Bagan features one of the world's great architectural ensembles of temple ruins. Visits to passing market towns provide glimpses of daily Burmese life.
THE DIFFERENCE
The need for shallow drafts means small ships. Riverside and tourism infrastructure is relatively undeveloped. Prepare for tropical heat.
WHEN TO GO
To avoid monsoons and sweltering humidity, stick to the November-to-February (relatively) cool season. More adventurous river cruises that go northwards to Bhamo only sail August-September because of water levels.
WHO GOES
Abercrombie & Kent, APT, Avalon Waterways, Belmond, Evergreen, National Geographic Expeditions, Pandaw, Sanctuary, Scenic, Strand Cruises, Tauck, Travelmarvel, Wendy Wu Tours.
SET SAIL
Scenic's 11-day Luxury Irrawaddy cruises from Mandalay to Pyay with a hotel stay in Yangon. Activities include a trishaw ride, attending morning almsgiving and a visit to a monastic school. From $7040 a person, scenic.com.au
THE GANGES DELTA
THE CRUISE
The majority of cruises run between Patna and Kolkata, mostly on Ganges tributaries such as the Hoogley. A minority tackle the middle Ganges from Patna to Varanasi in the summer high-water season.
THE EXPERIENCE
Riverbank scenery is relatively demure – think mango orchards and rice paddies – but colourful passing life provides a true spectacle. You'll be provided with a passing feast of villages, crumbling forts, Hindu palaces and temples, and ghats where multitudes pray. Varanasi is one of the planet's most mind-boggling religious destinations.
THE DIFFERENCE
The section of the Ganges navigable in cool months has few grand monuments, though many itineraries have add-ons to Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. Instead, expect temples, colonial-age remnants and a brilliant opportunity to encounter everyday India, which is both confronting and exhilarating.
WHEN TO GO
October to March brings the most comfortable weather, though high-season December can see particularly bad pollution levels.
WHO GOES
Abercrombie & Kent, APT, Assam Bengal Navigation, Avalon Waterways, G Adventures, National Geographic Expeditions, Pandaw, Travelmarvel, Uniworld.
SET SAIL
Uniworld's 13-day Golden Triangle & Sacred Ganges tour between Delhi and Kolkata includes an eight-day cruise. Excursions visit brass craftsmen, a Hare Krishna complex and French and British colonial remnants. From $8299 a person, uniworld.com/au
FAR HORIZONS
Beyond Asia's four big cruise rivers, many others await the adventurous river cruiser. Here are five great examples.
SALWEEN, MYANMAR
Myanmar's longest river isn't the Irrawaddy but the Salween, though only a brief section is navigable between hill town Hpa-An and its delta at Martaban. Attractions include Moulmein, first capital of British Burma, World War II graves at Theinbyuzayat, pagodas, Karen tribal towns and traditional craft-making villages. See pandaw.com
BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER, INDIA
Another of India's mighty rivers rises in China, becomes the Jamuna River in Bangladesh, and empties into the Bay of Bengal. Cruises start on the Hoogley at Kolkata and head north towards a Himalayan backdrop, visiting tribal villages, tea plantations and Kaziranga National Park, home to elephants and rhinos. See assambengalnavigation.com
RED RIVER DELTA, VIETNAM
This river flows from China into northern Vietnam and empties into the Gulf of Tonkin. It provides a great chance to sail various tributaries through beautiful highlands draped in rice paddies, then onwards into the ocean at Halong Bay, famous for its limestone rock formations. Itineraries also take in Hanoi. See wendywutours.com.au
SEPIK RIVER, PNG
Rising in the central highlands, this 1126-kilometre river empties into the Bismarck Sea on PNG's north coast. Unusually, it's visited by ocean-cruise ships, which travel a couple of hundred kilometres inland to visit remote stilt villages, the market township of Angoram and bird-rich swamps and minor waterways. See truenorth.com.au
KERALA WATERWAYS, INDIA
Southern India's spice-scented waterways have long been the domain of private houseboats, but Oberoi's 16-passenger luxury vessel Vrinda marked a change. In 2017, the state government announced plans to develop river cruising on a 450-kilometre stretch of waterways between Hozdug and Kovalam. See oberoihotels.com
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