SOUTH EAST ASIAN TOUR WITH ALL THE HIGHLIGHTS – 15 DAYS FROM HANOI

Hanoi, the first stop for your Indochina tours. Upon arrival, our private Vietnam Tour guide and driver will welcome your Vietnam Holiday to Hanoi, a city where the exotic chic of old Asia blends with the dynamic face of new Asia. Where the medieval and modern co-exist. A city with a blend of Parisian grace and Asian pace, an architectural museum piece evolving in harmony with its history, rather than bulldozing through like many of the region’s capitals. Hanoi is where imagination becomes reality.

Free at leisure. Overnight in Hanoi.

Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam with a long background of history and culture. Besides historical destinations, Hanoi is well-known for its beautiful lakes with the image of local Tai Chi in the early morning, tree-line boulevards, funny street vendors & special street food cuisine.

05:30 Wake up early and be ready for an amazing morning trip around Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarter – the symbols of Hanoi city and Hanoian. You will be surprised by seeing local Hanoians doing morning exercises around Hoan Kiem Lake as they are so natural practicing such strange Tai Chi in their own ways. Let’s see the way they do and join with them! From Hoan Kiem Lake, take a look at the Old Quarter as it is the only time in day you can enjoy quiet atmosphere.

07:00 Have breakfast with Pho – the most famous and popular dish in Vietnam in general and Hanoi in particular.

08:00 Transfer to visit Ho Chi Minh complex with first stop at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum – a large memorial to the national hero – President Ho Chi Minh who led the country to independence and reunification. The Mausoleum is located at Ba Dinh Square where Ho Chi Minh President read the Declaration of Independence on 02nd Sep 1945 establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Then take a short walk to the Presidential Palace & House on Stilt. Near from Ho Chi Minh complex, One Pillar Pagoda – symbol of Vietnam with unique architecture of lotus flower is a must-see destination for all Vietnam tours. Our next stop will be the Temple of Literature which is the first university in Vietnam. It was constructed in 1070, first to honor Confucius and nowadays to celebrate the doctorates and high rank scholars of Vietnam.

After lunch time, we continue our Hanoi city tour to the Museum of Ethnology offering an insight into the 54 different ethnic groups of Vietnam. It introduces Vietnamese traditional ways of life from religious events to the symbolic rituals as well as displays a variety of Vietnamese homes as full-scale replicas outside.

End the day with a short cyclo ride around the old streets observing daily life of Hanoian, take exotic photos of Hanoi traffic and enjoy a fantastic water puppet show.

Overnight in Hanoi.

Halong tour must be the most beautiful tour in Vietnam for any Vietnam Holidays. We start at 8.00 A.M for the 3 hour drive (170 km) through the Red River Delta, which offers plenty of chances for taking photos of Vietnamese farmers tilling the vast green paddy fields. At half way, we’ll have a visit to a handicraft workshop with fine clothes, embroidered paintings, stone statuettes and all kinds of gems mined in Vietnam such as star rubies or sapphires… Our destination is the World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay. The bay offers some 3000 mountain islands and islets towering in the Gulf of Tonkin in the East Vietnam Sea.

Upon arrival, you’ll be welcomed on board our luxury junk and treated with wine and fresh local seafood. As our junk gliding further into the tranquility of Ha Long Bay amid the towering mountain cliffs and on the emerald green water, you’ll have relaxing time combining the fine tastes of the wine and the freshness of Ha Long Bay. During the cruise, we’ll stop some times for visiting the amazing Sung Sot cave and the Ti Top white sand beach before anchoring for the night. Overnight on board the junk in the wild of Halong Bay.

Our Farming & Fishing Life Tour provides you with a close-up and intimate exposure to both the local farming and fishing communities. Accompanied by your tour guide, you commence the day leisurely cycling along country roads witnessing local Vietnamese rural life first hand, discovering all manner of photo opportunities – coming and visiting a beautiful organic vegetable village, watering and planting vegetable, hoeing a soil with local farmer, riding a water buffalo in a rice paddy field; seeing ducks swimming along the rice farm or farmers tending their crops. The photo opportunities are endless.

Tour guide meets you at your hotel and cycle to a local farming village traveling along picturesque country roads.

Share in the daily work life of local farmers – hoeing and a soil, watering veggie at an organic herb garden, riding water buffalo in the field and enjoy the freshest air of the countryside beauty.

Board and cruise to the mouth of the river where it meets the Cua Dai Sea. Learn and try your hand at local traditional fishing techniques using round and cast nets. Learn to paddle the strange and unique Vietnamese bamboo basket boats.

Explore the now tranquil coconut-palm flanked waterways of a past war and hear of the extreme conditions endured by soldiers on both sides

Back on-board our Hoi An boat, enjoy lunch and cold beer or soft drink

Return to hotel by car and overnight in Hoi An.

Hoi An Ancient Town – highlight of any tour to Vietnam – is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique heritage site.

Day free to cycle through rice paddies in the countryside of Hoi An ancient town, shop for souvenirs among the antique shops and art galleries, or just sit at sidewalk cafes and soak up the atmosphere of this quaint town. Or relax on the white sandy beach of the famous Danang Beach. Overnight in Hoi An.

After breakfast, our Vietnam tour guide and driver in Hoi An will transfer you to the airport for your flight to Ho Chi Minh city. Arrive at Tan Son Nhat airport, welcome by our private Vietnam tour guide and driver and transfer to you hotel for check in. Ho Chi Minh, the most exciting city of Vietnam, a mecca of commerce, also a city with a chequered history and a rich culture, its pagodas, museums, public buildings, parks and boulevards make it one of the most delightful Vietnam Tours and cities to visit in Vietnam. Pick up nad transfer to your hotel.

Free at leisure and overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

Around 08:00 Tour guide pick you up in your hotel lobby, then driving 90Km (2hrs) to Ben Tre. The boat will cruise along the Ham Luong river (a branch of the Mekong) and stop off at various local workplaces including a brick works, a salt refinery, a coconut processing workshop and a mat weaving house. The boat will then stop at a quiet village where you can have a short walk to experience real Delta village life, boarding your Xe Loi (a kind of motorized rickshaw) and stopping at a riverside restaurant for a delicious and filling lunch, featuring such local specialties as elephant-ear fish and river shrimp.

After lunch, it’s time to board a sampan for a relaxing trip along narrow canals. You will back to the river to board your boat. Then, we will head back to Saigon and arrive at your hotel at around 17:00.

An extremely complex tunnel system, the Cu Chi network covers a wide area of countryside near to Ho Chi Minh city and was an excellent way for the Viet Kong to move undetected by American forces underground. This evocative day tour explores the struggle of everyday life during the Vietnam War from a local perspective and takes you deep underground to explore the tunnels.

The Cu Chi tour starts with an introductory video detailing its long 25-year construction. Then it is time to go underground in the infamous 120-mile Cu Chi tunnel system which offered a safe haven for soldiers and thousands of Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War. It is virtually an underground city with dwelling houses, schools, hospitals and factories.

On display are booby traps, the remains of a US army tank and huge craters left by American B52 bombs. You will be able to admire lots of compelling photos and personal effects left behind.

There is also the chance to play real war games firing an authentic AK rifle used during the war.

After breakfast in the hotel, we will start our first visit to Angkor Complex: Angkor Thom, the fortified city of Angkor Thom covers an area of 10 square km. Enter by the monumental South Gate over a causeway lined on either side by statues of demons and gods, each carrying a giant Naga. We will stop at the famous Bayon temple and continue to the Terrace of the Elephants and the terrace of the Leper Kings, then to Ta Phrom – It has been controversially left to the destructive power of the jungle by French archaeologists to demonstrate the awesome power of nature.

In the afternoon we continue to Angkor Wat – is the largest and most impressive of all the temples and also the 7th wonder of the world. Then we will enjoy viewing the sunset from Phnom Bakheng. Return to town after tour and overnight at Siem Reap.

After breakfast, our Indochina tour guide in Siem Reap will transfer you to the airport for the short flight to flight to Luang Prabang. Pick you upon arrival and transfer to hotel. Free at leisure. Overnight in Luong Prabang.

Luang Prabang is the perfect end for your Indochina tours. If you wish, get an early start (6:00am or so) and go watch or participate in the traditional Lao rite of Almsgiving to the monks. In the city, some 300+ monks file through silently collecting alms. This is an amazing sight and your guide will be on hand to demonstrate and explain this important ritual. Return to your hotel for breakfast.

After breakfast, begin a Mekong Riverboat trip with your guide on the mighty Mekong River to visit the famous & sacred Pak Ou Buddha Caves. These caves, overlooking the confluence of the Mekong & Ou Rivers from on high, have been home to many thousands of Buddha images that were placed here by local people since 16th century, when King Setthathirat found the caves and declared them a holy spot. Today many still pay respect with this old tradition. Walk through the caves before returning to your boat and to Luang Prabang town. Enjoy lunch en route.

Return to the hotel to relax or explore on your own. Luang Prabang is a wonderful walking town, and you can find dinner on your own at any number of fine international restaurants. Overnight in Luong Prabang.

Colour is the first of Luang Prabang’s virtues to greet travellers. Pearly frangipanis with their heady perfume, banks of overgrown trees peppered with scarlet flowers, the burnt sienna robes of hundreds of monks and their novices, and resplendent gold and claret wats. Day free at leisure for your own visit.

Overnight in Luang Prabang.

Free time at leisure for you to wrap up your memorial Indochina tours until private guide will see you off at the airport with the sincere thanks for traveling with us. We hope that you have enjoyed your Indochina tours with us and look forward to your next Indochina tours. We say goodbye and see you again!!!