Why your next holiday should be a river cruise

A breathtaking hotel on a beach or in a city is a dime a dozen these days. Yet another infinity pool and designer room? Been there, done that.

Sophisticated, hard-core travellers hankering after extraordinary vacation experiences are looking to the rivers of Asia — especially in the Indochina region where the Mekong and Irrawaddy cut through.

While there have always been river cruises there, cruise providers are now upping their game. Last July, Belmond (previously the Orient-Express group) launched the Belmond Orcaella, a ship with a total of 25 cabins and suites plying Myanmar’s Chindwin River. Next year, Avalon Waterways will be introducing two new all-suite ships, the Avalon Siem Reap (on the Mekong) and Avalon Myanmar (on the Irrawaddy River). Sanctuary Retreats will add the 20-suite Sanctuary Ananda in Myanmar to its fleet in November. Joining the fray is Aqua Expeditions, which makes its Asian debut on Sept 30 with the Aqua Mekong. It even relocated its headquarters from Peru — where it operates Aqua Amazon and Aria Amazon — to Singapore.

“For the last two and a half years, I explored rivers in Africa and the region,” said Francesco Galli Zugaro, chief executive officer of Aqua Expeditions. “I realised our biggest draw to Peru was Machu Picchu; for the Mekong cruise, the Angkor Wat complex is the Machu Picchu of South-east Asia. The Mekong blew my mind. While the Amazon (cruises) are more wildlife-focused, the Mekong is more cultural. It’s about getting up close to the Vietnamese and Cambodian cultures and river life without sacrificing any creature comforts.”

Modern luxury is definitely a key defining element. Not only are these new ships much more intimate, with fewer than 30 cabins, there are usually a host of luxurious facilities onboard, too. For example, the Avalon Siem Reap has spa treatment rooms, while the Sanctuary Ananda boasts Malaika Egyptian cotton sheets for its beds. For Aqua Mekong, Zugaro said travellers could enjoy “soft adventure” by day — shore excursions such as cycling along the river banks, exploring the backwater canals of Vietnam and Cambodia in its four speedboats (“we’re the only ones with a private fleet of them”) or visiting markets with chefs — before returning for happy hour and fine dining.

And we’re not talking about just your average meals and drinks — Zugaro has executive chef David Thompson (of top Asian restaurant Nahm) overseeing the menu on board and is partnering spirits firm Proof & Company for its cocktail selections.

THE BOATING LIFE

Small-scale cruises are set to get even bigger. Luxury boutique accommodation company, Secret Retreats just launched a collection called Secret Cruises earlier this month.

“We have been thinking for a few months about how to better highlight the boats we had in our collection,” said its managing director Stephane Junca.

Secret Cruises now has seven boats on the Mekong, including The Jahan, and is currently talking to more cruise operators on Chaopraya River in Thailand and the Irrawaddy in Myanmar.

“Just like our retreats, these boats offer unique Asian experiences — from the design of the vessels, the journeys and itineraries to the service on board, the atmosphere and character,” said Junca. “They are small and intimate and they can access remote areas. They are floating boutique hotels.”

He also sees huge potential for small-scale luxury cruises beyond river cruises, citing the sheer number of archipelagos in Indonesia and the Philippines as well as the bays in Vietnam and India.

Keira Fitzgerald, head of Asia for bespoke luxury tour company Lightfoot Travel — which currently offers two cruises, the Belmond Orcaella and Aqua Mekong — feels luxury river cruising allows for the best of both worlds.

“Cruising provides a ‘safe’ and comfortable mode of travel to the Asian market, yet still allows clients to experience the culture around them. A bonus is that travellers are able to enjoy visiting multiple sites with the convenience of being based in a single location — no daily packing and unpacking, which you would have to do in a regular land-based itinerary,” she explained.

Moreover, river cruising is flexible enough to suit most travellers in terms of length and activities. Aqua Mekong has itineraries starting from three nights to seven nights. And as Fitzgerald pointed out, travellers interested in longer, multi-week holidays might consider river cruising as just one part of a longer holiday.

“There is definitely a trend in small-scale river cruising. We have big boats chartering our cruise because they want to give their guests a different experience and the ability to go up the Mekong — you can’t do that with big ships,” said Zugaro. “People want authentic experiences and personalised service. You can’t get that with 2,000 guests in a big ship.”

Time to head for a little river boat adventure now?