Welcome to Ho Chi Minh City. Get picked up from the airport and transfer downtown to your hotel. Rest of the day is free at your leisure to wander around colorful streets.
Formerly known as Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city and a commercial hub of the country that characterized by a vast array of sights and sounds with people rushing about their life from early morning until midnight. The city contains in it a fascinating blend of old and new, East and West and is home to great local cuisine.
The rest of the day is at your leisure to rest or just take walk around the central quarter for some first explore of this city.
Accommodation in hotel in Saigon center.
Meal Included: N/A
Depart Saigon centre for a visit to the Cu Chi Tunnels, one of the most famous war relics in Vietnam and the World that was dug and used as the stronghold by Viet Minh and Viet Cong during the anti-French and American Wars. This underground city stretches over 2 hundreds kilometers in the soil of Cu Chi district, about 75 km northwest of Saigon. Divided into three levels within a complicated system of rat-hole-like tunnels, there are living rooms, fighting bunkers, hospital, military workshops and cinemas with air filters, airtight covers, booby traps and sentries were all part of the system. Chance to creep into a tunnel and learn how strong people’s determination can be.
This afternoon, take a ride on cyclo through busy Saigon streets to catch up interesting moments from the wheels and visit to city’s some featured sights including the War Remnants Museum, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Central Post Office, Independence Palace (former Presidential Palace of the South of Vietnam). Ride through Dong Khoi street (former Rue Catinat, made famous by Graham Greene in his bestselling book the Quiet American) and spend some time for a troll through the Ben Thanh Market that filled with lots of interesting local products.
Free evening to enjoy time at your own pace.
Meal Included: Breakfast, Lunch
Depart for Cai Be town on the bank of Mekong. Upon arrival, set off by motor boat to visit the Cai Be floating market and watch the locals trading fruit and many other commodities on board their vessels. Visit a small family business to see how coconut candy and crispy rice popcorn are made. Then wander into the small villages to visit the orchard and fruit plantation, accompanied by traditional southern Vietnamese folk music.
Keep cruising to a series of small canals to experience the charms of the Upper Mekong Delta. Arrive in Tan Phong island, join to a cooking class. Enjoy your cooking experience and learn how to prepare special Vietnamese dishes. Food cooked by yourself and fresh river food served in the heart of the garden. Relax on the hammocks to get back your energy.
In the afternoon, cycle around the village path to meet the local islanders to learn more about the local daily life in the Mekong delta.
Overnight homestay in Mekong.
Meal Included: Breakfast, Lunch
After breakfast, you will be visiting Mr Ba Duc’s ancient house. It’s one of several houses preserved in harmonious combination of two architectural styles: Vietnamese and French, whose shape is unique to the colonial period.
Today, you will also visit a rice husking mill to learn about the procedure for rice production. Mekong Delta is popular for its own unique charm. In Cai Be, a lot of materials are still hand-crafted, such as: “Cham La”, the coconut leaves used to weave the roofs of homes. If you want to see how bricks are made, you’ll see it here. After lunch at a restaurant serving local cuisine, you will get back to HCMC for a short flight to Danang, gate way to Hoi an
On arrival, you will be greeted by our guide and transferred to your hotel in town to rest. Dinner is on your own account.
Overnight in Hoi An.
Meal Included: Breakfast
Hoi An, one of the world heritage sites in Vietnam is a little charming city by the bank of Thu Bon River. During the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, this place was one of important trading ports in Asia where merchant ships from both East and West gathered for business, making it a very hustle and prosperous town. Today, remains of ancient architectures, traditions and life style are very well preserved producing this unique heritage site and make it one of the biggest attraction in Vietnam.
Take a walking tour of the ancient town with visits to central market, ancient temples and pagodas, ancient houses, museum and so on…
The afternoon is free for shopping or to relax on the Hoi An beach nearby.
Meal Included: Breakfast, Lunch
The tour will start from 8:30am at your hotel. You will cycle towards the countryside for a visit to Tra Que, a vegetable growing village that is famous for its green produces. You will join with local on their farm and learn how the best herbs and greens are grown. On the sandy farms, only intensive labor, pure water and organic fertilizer are used. Hoi An food inspires one’s taste but not many people know what make it tasty largely come from this village.
Continue to cycle along the little paths through rice paddies, farms and peaceful villages where you will see buffalos, local working with traditional tools and friendly children waving at you along the way.
Back to the Hoi An town and together with your chef, you will take a tour to Hoi An central market to get introduction about ingredients available here, then go to cooking center for the cooking course. The chef will introduce you how to play with ingredients and very detail of each step in the cooking process. It can be a bit different from cooking style you are used to but what you learn here surely not just for fun but you can apply at home for family treats daily or at the weekend. It is the time to enjoy lunch of your own creation and check how wonderful a cook you are.
Rest of the day is at leisure. Night in Hoi An
Meal Included: Breakfast, Lunch
Leaving Hoi An for Hue, the former imperial capital of Vietnam with stop for a visit at the Cham Museum, containing the finest collection of Cham sculptures. Climb over the Pass of Ocean Clouds and dropping down to the wonderfully photogenic fishing village of Lang Co.
This afternoon, take a leisurely boat trip on the romantically named Perfume River to visit Thien Mu Pagoda, constructed in 1601; the 21-meter tall tower is the centerpiece of the pagoda.
Continue to The Imperial Citadel where the Nguyen Dynasty ruled between 1802 and 1945, The ancient citadel reflects the pomp and ceremony of the dynastic rulers as well as the scars of many years of turmoil, both ancient and modern (the Royal Citadel was badly damaged in the latter stages of the war) but retains a sense of grace and majesty even today.
Overnight at hotel
Meal Included: Breakfast
Morning tour with a visit to Khai Dinh’s Tomb which is traditional Vietnamese in design with a European touch making it unique from the other tombs in Hue.
We then visit another pagoda for an elaborately prepared vegetarian lunch, which will be served by the nuns of the pagoda. This gives a fascinating insight into the life of religious people in the area.
After lunch transfer to the airport for the short flight to Hanoi. On arrival transfer to your hotel and the remainder of the day is at your leisure.
Overnight in Hanoi
Meal Included: Breakfast, Lunch
Today you will have a day tour to visit Hanoi’s featured sights.
Start with a visit to the memorial complex for the historic figure and father of modern Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh. Here you will visit the mausoleum, the presidential palace and his humble house on stilts where he lived for the last 11 years of his life. Nearby is the little One Pillar Pagoda, one of Vietnam’s most iconic temples built from 1049 by Emperor Ly Thai Tong.
Continue to another landmark of the city, Temple of Literature – Vietnam’s first university that built from 1076 where for incredible more than 700 years, Vietnamese intellectuals were educated and names of those received Doctor Laureate through Royal examinations still remain on huge stone steles that stand on turtle’s backs.
The picturesque West Lake and the sixth century Tran Quoc Buddhist Pagoda will be visited next before having lunch at local restaurants.
After lunch, take a visit to the fascinating Ethnology Museum, which are both a research centre and a public museum exhibiting the ethnic groups of Vietnam. You will then enjoy a cyclo ride through the Old Quarter also known as the ‘Hanoi’s 36 streets’. This bustling area of narrow streets and alleys is home to literally thousands of small businesses and shopkeepers. It’s a great place to explore with plenty of photo opportunities around you.
Finish the day with a Water Puppet show – a uniquely northern Vietnamese art form depicting scenes from rural life and episodes of national history.
Overnight in Hanoi
Meal Included: Breakfast, Lunch
Depart Hanoi for a 4 hours drive through the rich farmlands of the Red River Delta to Halong Bay -the world natural wonder. Halong Bay is a huge body of emerald water that dotted with thousands of limestone islands of special shapes that formed by winds and waves through millions of years. The place was twice recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage for its exceptional natural and cultural values.
Upon arrival in Halong city, we board a shared wooden boat for a cruise among the 3, 000 spectacular limestone islands. The boat is one of the more traditional varieties that sail through the magnificent UNESCO World Heritage Site. Enjoy sumptuous fresh seafood lunch as you wind your way through spectacular bay of dramatic islands, floating villages and mirror like water. Enjoy your discovery, swim in emerald water and relax on little pristine beach. Later, the boat will anchor in the middle of beautiful bay for the night. Enjoy your time swimming or relax on the sundeck when the sun setting down over spectacular islands and water. After dinner you can take part in fishing game or just enjoy your time by the bar.
Overnight in great comfort under romantic stars live sky.
Meal Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Get up in the morning, enjoy fresh air and gentle breeze from sun deck, away from the crowd or any noise of life, and enjoy the breath-taking beauty of the rocky islands rising from the crystal-clear water of the bay, we can hear birds singing, cicadas chirping ashore and the gentle lapping of the waves against our boat, the perfect soundtrack to accompany the fresh air and gentle breeze. After breakfast, cruise further for visit to another part of Halong bay. Lunch is served aboard before you disembark the boat at quay around early noon. Driver to Hanoi, overnight at hotel.
Meal Included: Breakfast, Lunch
Have breakfast at your hotel and get transferred to the airport for your flight to Siemreap, the beautiful town and gateway to the legend heritage of Temples of Angkor. Pick up from airport and transfer to hotel. After check in, we take short walk along the road in front of the King’s Residence to see the Main Shrine, where the local people usually worship, with its statue of Yeay Teap, Preah Ang Chek and Preah Ang Chorm. Buying jasmine and lotus flowers to worship is very important for the Cambodians. We continue to one of the city’s lively open markets, Psar Chars, also called the “Old Market”, where anything and everything is for sale! Tonight we enjoy buffet dinner with Apsara dance performance at local restaurant.
Overnight in Siem Reap.
Meal Included: Breakfast, Dinner
Breakfast at hotel. Today we continue to explore the jungle covered temple of Ta Prohm is an incredible sight. There are enormous fig trees and gigantic creepers which embrace themselves in the stone foundations of the structure giving the impression of man’s creation being reclaimed by the powerful forces of nature. We explore this masterpiece as well as some of the surrounding temples including Banteay Kdei, Sra Srong, Ta Keo, Krol Ko and Pre Rup Temples. Late afternoon we take Tuktuk, a small open-sided taxi common in Cambodia, to cruise around the suburb of Siem Reap town and for a blessing ceremony by Buddhist monks for happiness, prosperity and safety for your journey. Overnight in Siem Reap.
Meal Included: Breakfast, Lunch
Breakfast at the hotel: Start your sightseeing tour of Angkor area we spend a full day exploring the wondrous ancient ruins with the South Gate of Angkor Thom, which is famous for its series of colossal human faces carved in stone, the impressive Bayon Temple, the Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas, the Elephant Terrace, the Terrace of the Leper King and the largest as well as the most complete temple of Angkor Wat. This architectural masterpiece was constructed in the 12th century and covers an area of about 210 hectares. We stroll around this massive edifice, seeing the many galleries with columns, libraries, pavilions, courtyards and ponds full of water reflecting the towering temple. We also visit Preah Khan, Kravan, Neak Pean. If time permitted, we also walk up to Phnom Bakheng Hill for a view of the spectacular sunset over these sandstone monuments.
Overnight in Siem Reap.
Meal Included: Breakfast, Lunch
This morning, take an interesting boat trip on the Tonlé Sap Lake. Visit Kampong Phluck, a village where you will see houses on stilts that are submerged when Tonlé Sap Lake extends. Pass floating houses and impressive flooded forests, portraying life on the water.
This afternoon you will get transfer to the airport for a flight to Bangkok.
Bangkok, the “city of angels”, is the capital and the largest city of the Kingdom of Thailand. It is one of Asia’s most cosmopolitan cities with magnificent temples and palaces, authentic canals, busy markets and a vibrant nightlife that has something for everyone.
Get picked up and transferred to hotel for check in, the rest of the day is free at your leisure to roam around the lovely parts of the city.
Overnight in hotel in Bangkok.
Meal Included: Breakfast
Breakfast at the hotel and take an early visit to the famed Wat Po to observe the serene morning chanting ritual of the monks, an incredible start to the day. Wander around the temple ground for sightseeing and admire the huge reclining Buddha. Continue to the majestically and grandeur Grand Palace, Thailand’s most important landmark, and marvel at the mysterious Emerald Buddha, the most revered Buddha image in Thailand. After lunch, visit Chinatown with a walk through old streets and shopping areas. Experience the hustling atmosphere and enjoy sightseeing, and shopping in the local market. Take a visit to one of the Chinese temples in town and then end your day with a stunning boat trip through the city’s winding canals. Return to the hotel in the late afternoon and be free at your leisure for the evening.
Overnight in hotel.
Meal Included: Breakfast, Lunch
Breakfast at the hotel and enjoy your time free until getting transferred to the airport for your flight to Phuket. Upon arrival, get pick up and take a ferry transfer to Koh Phi Phi Island. Enjoy your remainder of the day for sun, sand and see.
Overnight at a beach resort.
Meal Included: Breakfast
Free day in Koh Phi Phi. Enjoy a beach break at a beach resort
Meal Included: Breakfast
Free day in Koh Phi Phi. Enjoy a beach break at beach resort
Meal Included: Breakfast
Free day in Koh Phi Phi. Enjoy beach break at beach resort
Meal Included: Breakfast
Today is departure day. Enjoy some free time to relax before your transfer back to Phuket for a flight to Bangkok to connect your for flight home. Safe travel!
Meal Included: N/A
