Last time I crossed the mighty Mekong I got wet - more correctly soaked to the skin - which was what I should have expected choosing to make the trip in an open boat in the wet season.
The home-stay at the other end made it all worthwhile but I vowed, no more open-boat runs in the wet season!
It's all hypothetical now however, with the launch of the Jayavarman on track for September.
The Jayavarman (pictured, inside and out) is the 58-metre flagship of tour operator Trails of Indochina's new Mekong River cruise program.
The cabin pictured here this week is a faithful impression of the Jayavarman's deluxe standard Indo-China-class accommodations. And there are 11 like this.
The cabins offer 24m sq of space, making them the largest of their type on any vessel operating Mekong cruises.
Operated by Ho Chi Minh City-based Heritage Lines, the new vessel is part of a US$4 million project.
The operator describes it as “a fusion of traditional eastern shipbuilding craft and avant-garde French colonial design overlayed with state of the art technology”.
Accommodation will actually range from two Bao Daop Royal Hue-themed junior suites (26m sq) to the 11 Deluxe standard Indochina-style cabins and the slightly smaller “superior standard” class cabins, all individually-themed.
Spacious facilities also include a spa, a restaurant serving eastern and western cuisine, two expansive lounges, a shop and a library spread over 800 square metres on five decks.
After a maiden voyage, Jayavarman will begin a range of Mekong Delta cruise itineraries of two, three, four, five and eight days.
All programs are soundly based on a series of in-depth, hands-on experience-oriented Mekong River itineraries between Ho Chi Minh City (remember when it was simply, and romantically, old Saigon?) and Siem Reap, Cambodia.
They will include an appealing eight-day Lost Civilisation itinerary between HCM and Siem Reap (all ashore for Angkor Wat), and a five-day Serenity Cruise linking Phnom Penh with Siem Reap.
A four-day Pearl of the Orient itinerary does HCM and Phnom Penh and a three-day Deep in the Delta cruise offering passage from HCM to the river town of Chau Doc.
Prices start from US$743 per cabin in a superior stateroom for the three-day Deep in the Delta' program.
Top of the range, the eight-day Lost Civilisation gem costs from US$2675 per cabin in a superior stateroom.
All prices include accommodation, full board and all cruise activities including some shore excursions.
Heritage Line managing director Thomas Peter says the various itineraries had been planned to give guests “the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the delta's unique environment”.
Activities ashore will include visits to floating markets, bicycle rides to remote villages and fishing communities and getting involved with local humanitarian projects. There will even be a cooking school run by a Vietnamese family.
Prices do not include international airfares (of course) and beverages are on the tab.
Licensed travel agents will take bookings. | 
