Cambodia, Vietnam river cruises to Angkor ruins

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 island village of Koh Pen, Cambodia, to the mainland. Because of annual flooding, it will be dismantled in June, to be rebuilt in December (Photos by David G. Molyneaux, TheTravelMavens.com)

River cruises, which have proven hugely popular in Europe, are expanding to more exotic locales, drawing vacationers primarily from North America, Europe and Australia.

Yet, riverboat journeys in Southeast Asia are neither an ordinary nor leisurely cruise, at least not in the sense of anything you might do on a lazy voyage on the rivers of Europe, watching the sophisticated world roll by.