Exploring The Beauty Of Vietnam & Cambodia
Arrive at Noi Bai International Airport, welcome by our guide and transfer to your hotel. Hanoi or “River-bound City” as its name literally means is Vietnam’s capital with a thousand-year-old history dating back to 1010. The city’s fascinating beauty which is characterized by unique cultural relics, ancient streets of antique houses, elegant French colonial buildings, tree-lined boulevards and romantic lakes has made it one of the most charming cities of Asia.
Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi
Morning, a full day city tour begins with Ho Chi Minh Complex which features the life of Ho Chi Minh, the nation’s founder. At the complex, visit Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum where the nation’s founder’s body is preserved (closed on Monday, Friday and through October - November) and the rural style house on stilts where Ho Chi Minh lived and worked. Stop by one of Hanoi’s icons, the One Pillar Pagoda, built in the 11th Century in dedication to Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara or Buddha of Compassion and reminiscent of a lotus blossom rising from a pond. Continue to the Temple of Literature, known as the first university of Vietnam built in 1070 by the Ly Dynasty to honor Confucius, sages and outstanding Vietnamese scholars.
Afternoon, continue the tour to one of the following museums of choice namely the Museum of Fine Arts, the National Museum of Vietnamese, the Museum of Revolution, the Museum of Military History and the Museum of Ethnology. Go to Hoan Kiem Lake, the center point of Hanoi whose name “The Return Sword Lake” originated from a legend of a sacred sword and home to a rare endangered giant turtle species and visit Ngoc Son Temple on the lake. Next, take a one-hour cycle tour of the Old Quarter of Hanoi with its ancient streets representing traditional trades from the past. Finish the tour at the Thang Long Opera Theatre with a traditional Vietnamese water puppet show.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi
Morning pickup at 8:00 AM from your hotel for transfer to Ha Long Bay, which is about 160 km or 3.5-hour drive away. On the way, you will see some rural areas of the Red River Delta with plenty of chances to take photos of Vietnamese farmers working in paddy fields. Stop half way to visit a handicraft workshop of fine clothes and embroidered paintings. Arrive in Ha Long City at 11:30 AM and check in aboard the booked junk right after the welcome drink is served. Start cruising while having lunch on board and enjoy the mighty bay view. Ha Long Bay meaning Descending Dragon Bay in Vietnamese as legend has it that it was where a holly dragon landed down from sky. The bay, famous as one of the world’s wonders and heritage sites whose formation dates back 500 million years, consists of around 2,000 karst islands and islets scattered over an area of 1,553 km2. The bay cruise will continue with up close sighting of Dinh Huong Island, Ga Choi Island, Dog Island, Sail Island, a visit to Sung Sot Cave and swimming stop at Titov Beach. Relax to enjoy the bay view at sunset, have dinner after, go fishing at 09:00 PM and spend a night on board.
Meals: Breakfast / Lunch/ Dinner
Accommodation: overnight on cruises in Ha Long Bay
Wake up at 06:30 AM and refresh your body and mind with a Tai Chi exercise on the sundeck. Tai Chi is an ancient internal martial art often practiced in soft and gracefully slow moves to enhance internal harmony and vitality. Have tea and coffee onboard before proceeding to Titov Islet or Soi Sim Island to trek and swim. Check out at 09:30, have a buffet brunch while cruising back to shore. Disembark at 11:00 AM to transfer to Airport in Hanoi for flight to Danang
Arrive in Danang, welcome by our guide and transfer to Hoi An, check-in and time at leisure.
Meals: Brunch
Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Hoi An
Morning, meet our guide at your hotel and transfer to discover the charm of Hoi An as a renowned World Heritage Site. Once a bustling maritime commercial port of Asia between 15th and 19th centuries, Hoi An is now a peaceful town of exceptionally well-preserved architecture, lifestyles and traditions. The town exemplifies a fascinating fusion of cultures between Vietnam and the outside world including China, Japan, Thailand and the Philippines. Highlights for sightseeing include the town’s iconic 400-year-old Covered Bridge with a small temple attached to one side as a prominent example of Japanese architecture, the Museum of Trade Ceramics which is an elegant Vietnamese style wooden house built in 1858 showcasing antique ceramic artifacts, the 200-year-old Tan Ky House typifying an ancient Chinese merchant residence, the Ong Temple built in 1653 by Chinese settlers to worship Guan Yu, an ancient Chinese general whose character stands for loyalty, bravery and justice and the local market vibrant with colors and activities.
Afternoon, take a boat cruise on the Thu Bon River to enjoy the countryside landscapes. Land on Kim Bong village where carpentry has been practiced since the 16th Century as the village’s trademark to visit some old-fashioned boatyards using timber as the main material. Move on to Thanh Ha village to see its traditional ceramic production trade still alive and thriving despite the 500-year passage of time.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Hoi An
Morning, free at leisure until transfer to Danang Airport for flight to Hochiminh.
Arrive at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, welcome by our guide and transfer to your hotel for check in.
Afternoon, take a city tour to visit the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica a neo-Roman cathedral built by the colonial French with materials entirely imported from Marseilles, the Saigon Central Post Office, which was designed and constructed in the early 20th Century by the famous French architect Gustave Eiffel, Cho Lon area or the city’s China Town and the Jade Emperor Temple (Phuoc Hai), a rare Taoist structure in Vietnam built by the Cantonese community in the area in 1909.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Ho Chi Minh
Morning, transfer to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels. The tunnels in Cu Chi district, 75 km Northwest of downtown Ho Chi Minh City, were once a major underground hideout and resistance base of Viet Cong forces during the two wars against the French and later on Americans. The tunnels, entirely hand-dug, formed a highly intricate labyrinth-like network of interlinked multilevel passageways at times stretched as far as the Cambodian border and totaling over 120 km in length. Its complexity is beyond imagination, containing meeting rooms, kitchens, wells, clinics, schools, depots, trenches and emergency exits all aimed for guerrilla warfare. The tunnels were deep and strong enough to withstand destructive bombings and self-contained enough to outlast prolonged sieges.
Afternoon, take a sightseeing tour of Ho Chi Minh City that includes the War Remnants Museum, which features a comprehensive collection of the machinery, weapons, photos, and documentation of Vietnam War with the both the French and Americans, former Presidential Palace and Ben Thanh market.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Ho Chi Minh
Morning, travel by road to the Mekong Delta, the world’s largest delta and Vietnam's largest rice bowl. On arrival in My Tho City, capital of Tien Giang Provine, embark on a boat and navigate through intricate canals while observing the local daily life up close as well as the landscape of waterways and lush islands. Land on the Unicorn Island to enjoy wandering through verdant orchards, tasting fresh fruits and listening to some Southern style traditional music. Move on to the second delta province, Ben Tre, where you will watch local villagers make coconut candy in a rural workshop, walk around briefly and try riding a horse-pulled carriage. More cruising to some bee-keeping households to taste fresh homegrown honey and honey tea. Go back to Ho Chi Minh City and spend time at leisure.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Ho Chi Minh
Morning, free at leisure for shopping and sightseeing until transfer with a private vehicle and English speaking guide.
Arrival Siem Reap, meet your driver for an airport transfer with a private vehicle and English speaking guide. Check in and leisure time.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Siem Reap
In the morning, visit the unique brick sculptures of Prasat Kravan, and continue to Ta Prohm. One of the area’s most beautiful temples, Ta Prohm has been left relatively untouched since it was discovered and retains much of its mystery. Its appeal lies in the fact that, unlike the other monuments of Angkor, it was abandoned and swallowed by the jungle, looking very much the way most of the Angkor temples appeared when European explorers first stumbled upon them. Visit as well Takeo, Thommanon and Chau Say Tevoda. Visit Preah Khan temple. Built by King Jayavarman VII, Preah Khan is, like Ta Prohm, a place of towered enclosures and shoulder-hugging corridors. Unlike Ta Prohm, however, Preah Khan is in a reasonable state of preservation and ongoing restoration efforts should maintain and even improve this situation. Continue your visit to Neak Pean, a fountain (built in the middle of a pool and representing the paradisiacal Himalayan mountain-lake), Ta Som, Eastern Mebon, guarded at its corner by stone figures of harnessed elephants, some of which are still in a reasonable state of preservation, and Pre Rup, the mountain-temple until sunset.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Siem Reap
In the morning, visit to the antique capital of Angkor Thom (12 century) the South Gate with its huge statues depicting the churning of the ocean of milk, the Bayon Temple, unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces of Avolokitesvara, the Phimeanakas, the Royal Enclosure, the Elephants Terrace and the Terrace of the Leper King. After your rest, visit the most famous of all the temples on the plain of Angkor: Angkor Wat. The temple complex covers 81 hectares and is comparable in size to the Imperial Palace in Beijing. Its distinctive five towers are emblazoned on the Cambodian flag and the 12th century masterpiece is considered by art historians to be the prime example of classical Khmer art and architecture. Angkor Wat’s five towers symbolize Meru’s five peaks - the enclosed wall represents the mountains at the edge of the world and the surrounding moat, the ocean beyond.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Overnight at hotel in Siem Reap
Leisure time until transfer to Airport in Siem Reap for departure
- Accommodation in a double or twin room with daily breakfast
- One night cruise on a wooden junk in Ha Long Bay
- Lunch or dinner as specified in the itinerary (B=Breakfast/ L=Lunch/ D=Dinner)
- Services of a driver and private air-conditioned vehicle during all tours and transfers.
- Experienced English-speaking guide during all tours and transfers
- Private boat for sightseeing as mentioned in the program, Entrance fees for all visits as mentioned in the itinerary
- Mineral water is available as complementary
- International & Domestic flight tickets
- Visa stamping fee at the airport (25US$ in Vietnam & US$ 30 in Cambodia, US$ 35 in Myanmar, paid by cash at the airport)
- Personal expenses, such as laundry, telephone, drinks, etc. All other services not specified in the itinerary
- Meals, if not specified in the itinerary
- Tipping for guides, drivers, hotel staff, restaurant staff, boat rider, etc.
- Surcharge for Peak season, Tet Lunar New year holidays, and compulsory dinner at some hotel & resort on Xmas and New year’s Eve
- Travel insurance (we highly recommend that you purchase adequate insurance)