DVC14
14 days
Vietnam, Cambodia
Discover the finest that Vietnam and Cambodia have to offer on a luxurious journey that begins in Hanoi and ends in Siem Reap. Beginning your tour in Hanoi, after which you will embark on an overnight cruise to the limestone cliffs and green waters of Ha Long Bay, you will begin your journey once again. Continue on to Hoi An, where you can experience the flavors of Vietnam with a tour of the city’s street food. In the following step, you will discover the complex Cu Chi tunnels that are located outside of Ho Chi Minh City, all while staying at the five-star Sofitel Saigon Plaza on your trip.
When you arrive in Cambodia, you should follow local guides and get lost in the temple complex of Angkor Wat. You should wander the grounds and uncover ancient mysteries around Ta Prohm. While you are exploring the wonders of these two countries, you will have the opportunity to enjoy a comfortable experience thanks to the services of a professional tour director in Vietnam, the inclusion of all internal flights, and excellent coach transportation throughout the trip.
Xin Chao! Welcome to Hanoi, Vietnam.
When you arrive, your driver will meet you in the arrivals lobby, holding a welcome signboard with your names, and transport you directly to your hotel in the city center.
After checking in, you will have time to unwind and adjust to the speed of Hanoi City.
Please be aware that your travel documents include a Visa-on-Arrival letter (unless otherwise specified). Please pack this in your carry-on luggage. Your Visa-on-Arrival letter must be handed to Customs upon entering the country.
Overnight in Hanoi City
Morning, you have breakfast at your hotel. Driver pick you up from 8:00 – 8:20 am. Begin your day trip from Hanoi with a visit to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and and Ho Chi Minh Museum and hear tour guide talk about the man who led Vietnam’s campaign for independence from French colonial rule. Just next door is Ho Chi Minh’s house on stilts and lying to one side of the Mausoleum is the One Pillar Pagoda, which lies in the campus of the complex. Continue your tour at Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature), the first Imperial University in Vietnam which was built in 1070. Then visit the Buddhist Tran Quoc Pagoda at West lake, and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of one of the oldest pagoda in Hanoi.
Have lun lunch local restaurant.
Afternoon, the trip continues with the Ethnology Museum, a unique museum of peoples in vietnam. Leave the Ethnology Museum, The bus takes you to Hoan Kiem lake. see the peaceful water, and visit Ngoc Son Temple.
And if it wasn’t enough for the second day, we will also attend a spectacular Water Puppet Show, or in the other hand, you can also join a bike tour around the Old Quarter… 36 streets of discovery and excitement!
Overnight in Hanoi
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
The guide will collect you from your hotel in the morning and drive you through the verdant Red River Delta countryside to the world-famous Halong Bay, where you’ll spend the night aboard a traditional Vietnamese junk boat. Your leisurely voyage will be set against an ethereal backdrop of limestone karsts and tropical islets that rise from the emerald waters of the bay. As soon as you arrive, you will be escorted to your junk boat, which will take you on a tour of the bay’s numerous limestone islets and caverns.
Following a sumptuous on-board lunch, you will have the opportunity to relax on the sundeck while taking in the serene beauty of the harbor. Sung Sot Cave, also known as “Grotte des Surprises,” is a natural wonder that you will discover later on. Gently glide past stunning limestone formations adorned with myriad stalagmites and stalactites. Keep cruising. Hidden coves, powdery beaches, and floating towns await you as you wind your way around the islands.. With so much free time, you may do anything you want onboard or explore the lovely Bay. Take a dip in the verdant seas or relax at the ship’s spa. You will set sail toward the overnight mooring spot as the day winds down. When the enchanted “blue hour” arrives, Halong Bay’s real, breathtaking splendor comes to light. Before indulging in a delectable dinner, you can take in a breathtaking sunset from the upper deck or witness the chef’s culinary demonstration.
I shall have the remainder of the evening to myself. Before you head to bed, unwind with a movie or go squid fishing with the crew.
Please take note that an extra night on board allows you much more time to unwind and enjoy the breathtaking scenery, therefore we strongly advise doing so if your schedule enables. Deeper into the Bay, away from the crowds, is where your boat will take you.
Overnight on board in Halong Bay
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Just as the local custom of Tai Chi gently eases you into your day, so does the practice itself. Take a morning class with a “Local Specialist” aboard a junk boat while taking in the breathtaking scenery. There are peaceful beaches in Halong Bay perfect for an early morning dip, and if you’re in the mood for some adventure, you can rent kayaks and paddle through the Dark and Bright Caves, taking in the glistening stone walls as you go.
While cruising back to port, you can enjoy a complete breakfast buffet after checking out of the accommodation. You will return to Hanoi by disembarking at around noon. After that get the car to the airport to take a flight to Da Nang. Upon arrival, you’ll be transferred to your hotel in Hoi An for an evening at leisure.
Overnight in Hoi An
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
A half day of relaxation awaits you, so get up early and be ready to take use of it before your evening tour of the city. In the morning or afternoon, you could want to participate in an activity that is not required of you.
During the evening, you will be accompanied by your guide as you make your way to the Japanese Covered Bridge, which was initially built in the 16th century. You may uncover the history of the region during the Iron Age by paying a visit to the Museum of Sa Huynh Culture, which is located nearby. The museum houses a collection of local relics, including an astonishing display of burial jars.
In the Tran Family Chapel, a family hall that dates back two hundred years, you may explore the architecture that was influenced by both Chinese and Japanese styles. Your journey will come to a close with a visit to the ancient Fujian Assembly Hall, which was built in the 17th century and later repurposed as a temple for the worship of Thien Hau, a strong Chinese sea goddess.
Follow the professional advise of your guide as you make your way through the streets of Hoi An and try some of the fragrant local foods, such as the hearty chicken noodle soup known as cao lau, the fresh banh mi, and the revitalizing Vietnamese coffee. Before you head back to your hotel, you will get the opportunity to sample some of the best things that Hoi An has to offer in terms of cuisine.
Overnight in Hoi An
Meals: Breakfast.
It would be great if we could get a close-up and personal look at the local fishing and cooking groups. As soon as you are picked up from your hotel in Hoi An, you will begin your journey to the neighborhood market, where you will shop for the ingredients you will need for the day. In order to prepare for the culinary lesson that will take place later, you need follow the guide and head to the village of Cam Thanh to purchase organic veggies. On the other hand, before we start this session, let’s go on our boat and go on a river tour. During this trip, we will get the opportunity to interact with local fishermen and have a firsthand experience of traditional net fishing. As you navigate the canals of the coconut palm paradise, you will also have the opportunity to paddle the one-of-a-kind bamboo basket boat that is traditional to Vietnam. By taking this tour, you will have the opportunity to gain a cultural perspective on the ways of life of both our farming and fishing communities.
You will then be able to enroll in a cooking lesson, during which you will learn how to prepare dishes such as deep-fried spring rolls, papaya salad with shrimp crackers, pork or fish cooked in a clay pot with steamed rice, and Banh Xeo, which is a rice pancake topped with fresh salad combined with seasonal fruit for dessert. It is now time for lunch.
Overnight in Hoi An
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
After breakfast, you will be picked up and driven to Da Nang Airport for a short flight heading south to Ho Chi Minh City, still called Saigon by the locals. It is the largest city in Vietnam and is located near the Mekong Delta.
Arrive and transfer to your hotel in the city centre for check-in.
Overnight in HCM City
Meals: Breakfast
Morning
After breakfast, the guide will drive you from HCM City to Ben Tre Town in the Mekong Delta, known for its rice fields, rivers, and scenery. The ‘rice bowl’ of Vietnam produces most of its fruit, rice, sugar cane, and coconuts.
The two-hour drive through lush farming terrain ends in Ben Tre, where you’ll take a motorized boat ride through the coconut grove on small channels. You’ll stop at local cottage industries to watch locals manufacture bricks and weave sleeping mats by hand throughout the boat voyage. Discover their inherited craft.
Walk through the village alleyways, stopping at local homes for fresh fruits and honey tea, and enjoy a Tai Tu music concert. Visit another studio where coconut sweets and a variety of coconut husk and fiber goods are created.
Next, take a small sampan through palm-fringed back canals, gliding pleasantly over hidden rivers with a huge diversity of tropical vegetation. The peaceful rural location is a wonderful break from HCM City’s hectic pace, which seems far away.
Meet locals while riding a motor cart (xe lôi) through hamlets, rice fields, coconut groves, and orchard farms.
Afternoon
After your scenic trip, your guide will take you back to Ho Chi Minh City.
Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
After breakfast, tour guide will meet you and bring you to Cu Chi, a tiny town northwest of Ho Chi Minh City famous for its network of deep tunnels that offered shelter and an efficient source of infiltration for the Viet Cong during the last years of the Vietnam War.
When you arrive, you will see a brief introductory film from the era before tunnel exploration, the most renowned battlefields in the world. Housed living quarters, storage chambers, makeshift hospitals, kitchens, etc. This concealed network of Viet Cong tunnels is thought to span to “hundreds of miles” overall length. Though originally somewhat limited, some areas have been enlarged for visitors and you have the chance to investigate portions of the system.
These tunnels will be hot and could be claustrophobic, therefore there is a choice if you like to see from above ground.
Sample some of the primary Viet Cong Soldiers’ cuisine alongside a cassava taste accompanied with sour tea. Following your visit of the Cu Chi Tunnels, return to the city with lunch at Ben Nay restaurant along the way.
Visit a few of Ho Chi Minh City’s main attractions for the rest of the day. Your tour will be customized to fit you, but we especially suggest seeing the Notre Dame Cathedral, the beautiful City Hall (Hotel De Ville), the old Opera House, the historic Rex Hotel, the Central Post Office, famous for its architecture, and Ben Thanh Market, where merchants showcase a great variety of products and handicrafts, appealing to all tastes.
Later visit the Reunification Palace and the touching War Remnants Museum for an enlightening, albeit sad, look into Vietnam’s military history and tragic past.
Before ending the day in great style with a sundowner at the summit of the Bitexco Tower, the highest structure in Vietnam, go to the atmospheric Jade Emperor Pagoda.
Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
After breakfast, you will be picked up at your hotel early this morning by a shared tourist bus to start your trip to Cambodia. You’ll stop at the Moc Bai Bavet border between Vietnam and Cambodia to get your visa processed (the cost of the visa is not included). Then you’ll keep going to Phnom Penh. This 230-kilometer trip can take anywhere from 6 to 8 hours, based on how long it takes to get a visa at the border.
When you get there, your tour guide will meet you and take you to the hotel. You have the rest of the day to relax or look around Phnom Penh.
Overnight in Phnom Penh
Meals: Breakfast
After breakfast, spend a half-day learning about the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. Visit the Killing Fields, where over 1 million people were killed, and the Genocide Museum, which houses relics from the time.
Start your tour in Phnom Penh, where you’ll meet your guide. Sit in the air-conditioned vehicle and listen to a presentation about Pol Pot and his government as you drive to the Killing Fields.
The bones and garment scraps left by the victims at the Killing Fields will let you appreciate the tragedy more fully. Visit the mass graves and the memorial stupa to pay your respects to those who have died.
Then return to the city center to visit the Genocide Museum. Learn more about the dictatorship and the people that were imprisoned. See the little chambers and cells where the prisoners lived, as well as historical photographs.
You will then have the opportunity to meet a few of the survivors. Hear their stories of what they went through and how they survived. At any time, you can ask your guide for further information.
At the end of the tour, your guide will take you back to the hotel.
Overnight in Phnom Penh
Meals: Breakfast.
Catch the big bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap today. Upon arrival, see your driver and go to your Siem Reap hotel for check-in. The rest of the day is your free time at leisure, so enjoy discovering this lively city at your own speed. We advise going out to find Pub Street and the famous night market. Stay overnight in Siem Reap.
Note: Riding the big bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap will cover 320 miles and take about six hours.
Optional: You could also fly from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap with Cambodia Angkor Air (about one hour of travel time).
Overnight in Siem Reap
Meals: Breakfast.
You’ll go on a full-day trip to Angkor Wat today. Before going to the Terrace of Elephants, marvel at the south entrance of Angkor Thom. Formerly a basis for the king’s great audience hall, this terrace also held the royal crematory.
Enjoy a set lunch at a nearby restaurant, then explore Ta Prohm Temple, which has been mostly unaltered since its discovery and still has a lot of mystery. Then you will witness Angkor Wat, the most renowned of all the temples on the plain of Angkor. Covering 81 hectares, the temple complex is roughly the same size as the Imperial Palace in Beijing. Emblazoned on the Cambodian flag, its unique five towers are. Art historians believe the 12th-century work to be the greatest example of classical Khmer art and building.
Later, return to the hotel for a night of relaxation.
Overnight in Siem Reap
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
This morning, as you take your final bite of breakfast, your journey comes to an unforgettable conclusion. After you have met your transfer, proceed to Siem Reap International Airport (SAI) to begin your travel to the next destination or back home.
We have you covered! We will email you as items in your order ship, or if there are updates on the status of your order. Can’t find the email?Click here to check the status of your order.
We have you covered! We will email you as items in your order ship, or if there are updates on the status of your order. Can’t find the email?Click here to check the status of your order.
We have you covered! We will email you as items in your order ship, or if there are updates on the status of your order. Can’t find the email?Click here to check the status of your order.
We have you covered! We will email you as items in your order ship, or if there are updates on the status of your order. Can’t find the email?Click here to check the status of your order.
+84.968.537.258
info@vietnamstridetravel.com
