Arrival Hanoi airport, welcome to Vietnam! Please be sure your visa should be pre-arranged, or your visa-on-arrival letter is in your carry-on luggage. Please go to custom desk as your first point of entry into the country and present these documents for visa upon arrival. Your private vehicle and guide transfer you to hotel for check in. The driving distance is approximately 45 minutes. 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. Read more

Hanoi

The city tour begins with a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Complex which features the life of Ho Chi Minh, the nation’s founder. At the complex, visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where the nation’s founder’s body is preserved (closed on Monday, Friday and through October - November), the colonial Presidential Palace, originally the French Governor Office and a fine example of French architecture in Hanoi, and the rural style Ho Chi Minh’s 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 History, the Museum of Revolution, the Museum of Military History or the Museum of Ethnology. Next, head for 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. 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. Read more

Hanoi

Morning, meet our guide at your hotel and transfer to Ninh Binh Province about 100 km South of Hanoi. Arrival, take a boat cruise along the Hoang Long River through the scenic landscape of Tam Coc – Bich Dong, a 350 ha area of karst mountain scattered over the lush wetland with paddy fields. This area is referred to as “an inland Ha Long bay” for its strikingly similar water-and-rock terrain features. Depending on the time of visit, you may see local farmers harvesting rice or transplanting seedlings for the new crop. We will continue to pass through three big caves which feature the area’s name (Tam Coc means three caves in Vietnamese) and which represent a host of local rocky caves and grottoes. Afternoon, we head for Hoa Lu to see the few vestiges of the first capital of Vietnam. Built in the 10th Century by the Dinh Dynasty not only for a capital but also as a stronghold against the Northern invaders, Hoa Lu shortly later it was inherited by the Le Dynasty. You’ll also visit the two old temples one dedicated to Dinh Tien Hoang, the only king of the Dinh Dynasty and also Vietnam’s first emperor and the other to the succeeding kings of the Le Dynasty. Though the temples are no longer intact, some precious antique carvings and sculpture of stone and wood are still preserved. Read more

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. The transfer is approximately 3 hours. 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 and you may stop on the way to admire the local scenery. 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. After lunch, take a short trek to a nearby summit for a panoramic view of the bay dotted with golden sails, go swimming on a quiet beach or sunbath on the sundeck. Later in the afternoon, you will visit an interesting fishing village with an opportunity to interact with local people who have been living in the bay for almost three generations. An optional kayaking trip is available weather permitting. Back onboard enjoy a lavish dinner and enjoy the bay view at sunset. Spend a night on board. Read more

Halong Bay

In the morning, refresh your body and mind with a Tai Chi exercise on the sundeck at the break of dawn. Have tea and coffee onboard and continue exploring Ha Long Bay sailing across its 2000 islets and visiting some of its major highlights. Normally, check out at 09:30, have a buffet brunch while cruising back to shore. Disembark at 11:00 AM to transfer to Hanoi capital. Free at leisure until meet our guide then transfer to airport for flight to Da Dang. Flight time is approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes Arrival Da Nang airport, you are transferred to Hoi An town by private car & guide. The transfer from airport to hotel in Hoi An is approximately 40 minutes. Check in & relax Read more

Hoi An

Meet our guide at your hotel and go cycling to a lantern-making family for a half-day visit. Colorful lanterns are an unmistakable part of Hoi An’s visual identity as the craft of lantern making has been passed down to present town dwellers from generations of their ancestors. We will spend half a day observing and learning how to make lanterns the traditional way under the guidance of friendly and skilled hosts. Today, you will have an opportunity to practice all production steps including whittling bamboo into splints and bending them into a frame, cutting fabric to size and gluing it to the frame to complete a lantern. The host family will present you the meaningful souvenirs what you made with your own hands when saying goodbye. After lunch time, discover the charm of Hoi An recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, 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. Your sightseeing will include the 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. Return to your hotel. Read more

Hoi An

Your guide meets you at lobby of hotel and then you bike to a family planting Tra Que vegetable that has been very famous for a long time. Arrival this village, we are welcome by hospital farmers, are showed to hoe land, thrust, cultivate, plant vegetables, seed and pick up seaweeds to manure or gather planted vegetables together with farmers. You then together make special meals from Tra Que vegetables, then talk, relax & read on bamboo beds or hammocks in the quiet atmosphere. In the afternoon today, we go fishing so as to be attached to each other in unforgettable impression or bike to Cua Dai beach or relaxing. Read more

Hoi An

Free at leisure until transfer to Da Nang airport for flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Flight time is approximately 1.5 hours. Meet your driver for an airport transfer with a private vehicle and guide. The transfer distance is approximately 30 minutes After that, a city tour to visit 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 and the Reunification Palace which was the former residence of the President of South Vietnam until end of April 1975. Last, stop for shopping at the French-built Ben Thanh Market which dates back to 1870 and whose main entrance clock tower has become a city’s symbol. Read more

Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnamese cuisine is going to famous in the world so today let us take you on a quick adventure into the wonder world of Vietnamese cuisine. Begin the morning with a delightful wander around Ben Thanh market with your cooking instructor, an experienced local chef. He / she tell you about a real shopping experience, provide you with knowledge on ingredients an how to select the best in local market. We then transfer to the Cookery Center with bags full of vegetables, tropical fruits, meat and exotic herbs and seasonings, you will then start practice cooking the Vietnamese way. The chef definitely will share her / his secrets with you from recipes to techniques of processing the ingredients, mixing them in the right balance and cooking them into fine dishes. You might be surprised to find out how much you can do in making typical main dishes, drinks and desserts. After finishing, sit back relaxed and enjoy your self-cooked lunch feeling accomplished. Afternoon take a city tour to visit the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, a neo-Roman cathedral built over 130 years ago by the colonial French with materials entirely imported from Marseilles and stained-glass windows from Chartres. Next, visit Sai Gon Post Office, a fine colonial building which was designed and built in the early 20th Century by the famous French architect Gustave Eiffel. Last, move to 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. Read more

Ho Chi Minh City

Today, meet with your hotel to transfer about 136 km to Vinh Long, a riverside town in the vast Mekong Delta, the world’s largest delta. Embark a boat cruise to lively Cai Be floating market where sellers and buyers bargain and exchange goods from their boats. Proceed through a fascinating maze of shady canals to Hoa Binh Phuoc Island. Beautiful landscape of zigzag canals, lush vegetation, peaceful villages and activities of rural life will make you a delightful sight. There on the island, visit some local farmers’ homes, interact with warm-hearted hosts and learn about their trades of bonsai gardening, tile and ceramic production and rice paper and coconut candy making. After tour, we transfer back to Ho Chi Minh Afternoon, drive to Can Tho & check in and free at leisure. Read more

Can Tho

Morning, we depart Ninh Kieu wharf by shuttle-boat where you can see bustling activities along Can Tho riverbanks. Particularly, you may know how local people go fishing with plenty of fish traps and how they transport passengers as well as products by the waterway. When we approach Cai Rang floating market, the selling activities are reappeared in the past using a traditional “offering pole” exchanging consumer goods hanging on the pole for Mekong fruit and vegetables with local sellers. In order to understand more about lifestyle over here, keep on going into the small creeks called Rach Nho in which the Southern countryside can be seen clearly before cruising back to Ninh Kieu Wharf. End of day, our guide & driver will transfer back to Ho Chi Minh City. Free in the rest of day. Read more

Ho Chi Minh City

Meet our guide & driver at the hotel lobby then transfer to Ho Chi Minh airport for flight departure.