The Memorable Vietnam & Cambodia Tour – 15 Days

After the flight, we will be welcome and transferred to accommodation in Hanoi. Tonight we will have a welcome dinner at one of the fine restaurants in town.

In the morning we will visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, His House on stilts, the One Pillar Pagoda, the outside of the Presidential Palace and the Temple of Literature which was Vietnam’s first University. In the afternoon we will go to the intriguing Ethnology Museum followed by an hour on a cyclo (a pedal rickshaw) being taken around the Old Quarter of Hanoi. Then we can enjoy the ancient and unique water puppet show.

Notes: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum opening time: Open from Tuesday to Thursday and weekends from 8 am to 11 pm. Closed on Mondays and Fridays. The mausoleum is closed for two months of the year, usually October and November, when Ho Chi Minh’s body is maintenance.

We transfer to Halong today for our 2-day boat trip. Arriving at Halong Bay at midday, we will be welcome on board with a welcome cocktail before checking in. Enjoying seafood lunch and seeing the stunning views of the bay while the junk is sailing through the calm water.

The Paloma junk cruise will take us around Bai Tu Long bay, visiting Vong Vieng floating and fishing village to see the daily life of people here. We also join activities like: swimming, kayaking, sunbathing… and some other services available like massage, sauna…. Enjoying sunset, dinner and overnight on boat.

Early morning wake up today for Taichi session the sun deck and sunrise on the Bay. Then enjoy breakfast while the Paloma junk cruise sails through the Bay with marvelous islands and islets passing. Stop at Sung Sot cave for 1 hour then back to the junk for relaxing. Check out time at 10:00 and enjoy early lunch before returning to the wharf.

Our waiting vehicle will transfer us back to Hanoi. We will have a day room in Hanoi to leave the languages and freshen up. We then have free times until transfer to Hanoi Railway station for overnight train to Hue. Overnight in on soft sleeper train to Hue.

Upon arrival at Hue Railway Station, we will be transferred to our hotel in Hue (Check in time at 12:00). We will have breakfast in the hotel. Hue is known as an ancient Capital city of many original historical vestiges. There are more than 100 architectural works to be extremely reflected in the life of Emperors and Mandarins under Nguyen’s reign. Situated in the middle of hills on the Southern Bank of Perfume River are very beautiful tombs of Nguyen Kings.

Our tour starts at 08:00 in the morning at the lobby of the hotel. We will be met and transferred to the Wharf where we will cruise along the Perfume River to visit Thien Mu Pagoda (The Heavenly Lady pagoda), from here we will have a good view of Perfume River and surroundings. Then we back to the awaiting vehicle to visit Tu Duc King’s tomb, which is one of the most beautiful works of Royal Architecture of the Nguyen Dynasty. The tomb lies in a boundless pine forest.

Then we transfer back to the city for our delicious lunch at a fine local restaurant. In the afternoon, we will visit the Citadel and the Forbidden Purple City together with Dong Ba market. Then we relax at hotel. Overnight in the hotel in Hue.

After breakfast at the hotel, we travel by vehicle to Hoi An along scenic highway 1A. Along the way, we will stop to contemplate the stunning views north, to Lang Co Beach and south to Danang city. Danang city with Cham Museum, the Marble Mountain – the five elements of the Universe (water, wood, water, fire, and earth). We will arrive in Hoi An in the afternoon, relax and take our walking tour. Overnight at hotel in Hoi An.

Our tour can be started at 08:15 AM at the meeting point. We will have a meeting point at the restaurant. After taking the welcome drink, we visit Hoi An’s colorful market and experience the amazing sights, sounds, and aromas of this busy market. We will have our opportunity to interact with local sellers and purchase some of the ingredients to be used in the coming cooking lesson. After that, we board the boat for a leisurely cruise about 25 minutes along Thu Bon River to Cooking School.

This is a chance to view local river life and make sure your camera is in your hand. Upon arrival, we explore the cooking school’s herb and vegetable garden before learning about some Hoi An and Vietnam’s well-known dishes. The cooking lesson runs for about 2 hours, each dish is first demonstrated by the restaurant’s Chief before we prepare the same dish ourselves. Included in the class is a brief introduction to Vietnamese food carving (plate decoration). After the lesson, we enjoy our products then. A vegetarian lunch can be provided on request. Our class finishes at approximately 1 pm. We transfer back to central Hoi An. The rest of the day is your leisure to explore Hoi An ancient town.

Note: afternoon class will be from 13:00 to 18:00

After breakfast, transfer to Da Nang Airport for a flight to Ho Chi Minh city. Arrival Ho Chi Minh City, transfer to the hotel for check-in & relax. In the afternoon, we will leave Saigon for the Cu Chi tunnels, otherwise known as the “Iron Triangle” or “Iron Land”. On our way there we will drive through the pleasant countryside; rubber plantations and rice paddies. Before entering the tunnels, we will see a short introductory video showing how they were constructed, followed by an exploration of the maze of tunnels, some of which have been widened to allow tourist access.

Also on display are various mantraps and the remains of an American tank, as well as numerous bomb craters made by 500lb bombs, dropped by B52 bombers. After that, we transfer back to Ho Chi Minh city. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh city.

After breakfast at hotel, at 8:00, we depart our hotel for the Reunification Palace, the former Presidential Palace for the president of the South of Vietnam. After that, we will visit the War Remnant Museum, where we can see countless artifacts, photographs, and pictures documenting the second Indochina war. We also stop at Notre Dame Cathedral and Old Post office to get good shots for our memory of the big, modern city of Vietnam.

Our delicious lunch will be served at a nice restaurant in the central city. In the afternoon we will visit Ben Thanh market, Cho Lon, China town and market. Here we can experience our Vietnamese Southern daily life. Then we will be back to hotel at around 18:00. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh city.

At 08:00, we start our tour to Mekong Delta, visiting the local market of Vinh Long town then boating to visit the brick kilns, the orchard, and traditional house; enjoying the local fruits and tea, listening to the traditional music at Ut Trinh home. After that, we boat deeper into the countryside on smaller canals to enjoy our peaceful time… After lunch, we are biking on the village path to see the local farms, house, “monkey” bridges…; then boat back to Vinh Long for our continuous trip to Can Tho. Overnight in Can Tho.

After breakfast this morning, we will take the morning boat trip to visit the Cai Rang floating market with the busy sense right at the time. Then we keep on cruising through the small channels system, visit the rice noodles making a village. Let’s try to experience the “Monkey Bridge” in the Mekong Delta. After that, we transfer to Chau Doc where we will be relaxed before taking a boat trip to Phnom Penh at 7 AM the next day.

Goodbye Vietnam at 07:00 AM, we take a hydrofoil upstream to Phnom Penh. It takes us 5-hour boat trip along Mekong River. We spend the full afternoon to visit Royal Palace which visits the silver pagoda with their compound afterward we continue to visit National Museum as well as to learn more about the pre-Angkor period, Angkor period and Post Angkor. Overnight in Phnom Penh.

After breakfast at the hotel, then we drive 16km south-west of Phnom Penh to visit Cheong Ek known as killing field during the Khmer Rouge regime then we return to Phnom Penh for visiting Toul Sleng Museum which is former high school after Khmer Rouge came to power and then they turn it into prison that most people now called Genocide Museum or S21. Afternoon, we will transfer to airport for flight to Siem Reap. Overnight in Siem Reap.

In the morning, we will explore Angkor Thom the site of the ancient capital of the Khmer empire. Visit the South Gate, Bayon, Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas, Elephant Terrace and the Terrace of Leper King. Then, we visit Ta Prohm, which many consider being the most charming of all the temples. Afternoon, we will explore Angkor Wat and enjoy the sunset on the hilltop of Phnom Bakheng overview of Angkor Complex. Overnight in Siem Reap

Today this morning we will enjoy Tonle Sap Lake, Asia’s largest inland lake also the biggest harvest freshwater fish in the world, which swells to ten times its normal size during the wet season; here we have a two-hour boat trip observing how local people go about their daily lives, during the boat trip we stop to visit a bird garden and a fishing farm, and also our boat driver will stop for us to visit the floating school which is a lot of the poor children study in this school, and they are the fisherman’s children and a local market will also prove a rewarding experience for today. In the afternoon, transfer to the airport for the flight out of Cambodia. Vietnam Cambodia itinerary 2 weeks ends.