Authentic Indochina Vietnam – Cambodia – Laos 18 days

Upon your arrival at Hanoi airport, your tour guide and driver will greet you and escort you to your hotel, help with your check-in. The rest of day is for your relax.

After breakfast, you have a full day today to explore Vietnam’s charming capital. With its wide tree-lined boulevards, French colonial architecture, peaceful lakes and ancient oriental pagodas, Hanoi is an eclectic mix that offers something for everyone. Visit Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum and his personal residence, the One Pillar Pagoda and the Tran Quoc Pagoda. End the morning with a visit to the Museum of Ethnology (or Women Museum, History Museum, Hoa Lo Prison or Army Museum). In the afternoon, visit the Temple of Literature, the first University for the sons of mandarins. Followed by a visit to Ngoc Son Temple nearby Hoan Kiem Lake. Enjoy a one-hour rickshaw sight-seeing tour around Hanoi Old Quarter for great fun. Then, watch a traditional water puppet show in the late afternoon. In the evening, transfer to the railway station for your overnight train to Sapa.
Note: please note Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum is closed on Monday and Friday and most of museums are closed on Monday.

After breakfast, we start for the 3.5 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. Stop at half way for taking a short break. Arrive at Halong City, check in and board your junk, enjoy approximately 24 hours journey in the amazing bay: a natural wonderland composed of jutting limestone islands and sparkling turquoise waters. Savor a gourmet lunch of fresh seafood onboard as we sail out into the mystical bay. In the afternoon, enjoy some activities in the bay, or just spend some time relaxing on board (Possibility to swim in the bay if weather permits). Dinner is served on board.
Note: Visits or activities will be slightly different depending on each junk’s itinerary. Your tour guide will be replaced by a local guide on board during your cruise.

Awake early and participate in Tai Chi on the top deck or simply relax and enjoy the sunrise over the bay’s towering islands. Enjoy a morning cup of coffee or tea, and a light breakfast before setting out to explore nearby islands by rowboat. Return to the junk then take advantage of the sundeck and admire the amazing rock formations of Bai Tu Long Bay as we navigate back to Halong City. Have brunch on board the boat before returning to Halong pier. Our guide and driver will meet you at the pier then drive back to Hanoi Airport for your flight to Danang. Upon your arrival at Da Nang airport, your tour guide and driver will greet you and escort you to Hoi An (about half an hour drive), help with your check-in in hotel. The rest of day is for your relax.

After breakfast, Visit to My Son Holy land in the morning, once the spiritual capital of Champa Kingdom that dominated South East Asia for nearly a thousand years and occupied most of the central parts of Vietnam from 2nd century to 16th century with very rich in history and culture. In the afternoon, drive back to Hoi An with visit the former merchants’ homes, the 400 year-old Japanese Covered Bridge, Phuc Kien Pagoda and the colourful riverside market. Then enjoy some leisure time in the ancient town.

After breakfast, leave Hoi An for Hue, the last imperial capital of Vietnam, well-known for magnificent architecture, pagodas and royal tombs laid in small villages and surrounding hills and one of the most popular cities for all the Vietnam Tours. En route have a look at the famous Danang Beach and visit Cham Museum which contains the finest collection of Cham sculpture in the world.
Upon arrival, after check in hotel you will enjoy a visit to the Imperial Citadel, home to the Imperial City and Forbidden Purple City – once the Emperor’s private residence. The Imperial Enclosure houses many palaces and temples within its walls. Later on, absorb the energy, sounds and odors of the bustling Dong Ba Market.

After breakfast, spend an entire day touring the Vietnam’s former ancient capital. Start the day with a beautiful dragon boat trip along Perfume River and visit to Thien Mu Pagoda – one of the most popular attractions in Hue. In the afternoon, continue on your tour with the visit to King Ming Mang and King Khai Dinh tombs which are the most beautiful works of royal architecture of the Nguyen dynasty. After the tour, transferring to the airport for your internal flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Upon your arrival at Tan Son Nhat airport, your tour guide and driver will greet you and escort you to the city, help with your check-in in hotel. The rest of day is for your relax.

In the morning, drive outside of Ho Chi Minh City to visit the incredible Cu Chi Tunnels. The Cu Chi Tunnels are an underground labyrinth of passageways, used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War (or “American War” as it’s referred to here) as protection against American air raids. Those inclined are invited to crawl through selections of the tunnels to better understand what life was like for the Vietnamese soldiers during wartime.
In the afternoon, back to Sai Gon for a visit to the 19th century ‘Notre-Dame’ Cathedral, the beautiful Central Post Office which are fine examples of classical French colonial architecture. Continue with a tour of the former Presidential Palace (Reunification Palace), now preserved as a museum. After that, we finish the day by visiting the War Remnants Museum and the bustling Ben Thanh Market.

Today we will start our exploration of the Mekong Delta, a major rice producing area. This must be one of the most fascinating riverine deltas in the world. On arrival, enjoy a boat cruise on the Mekong river through the Long, Lan, Qui and Phung Islands. Stop on the way to visit a fish farm, My Tho’s Floating Market and then continue the cruise on through the Xep Canal. Disembark and see a traditional local house made of coconut wood and leaves. Enjoy delicious, fresh, local fruit and traditional live music. Then visit the local coconut candy workshop where you can see the local people produce coconut candy – one of special local products.
After lunch, drive back to Ho Chi Minh City. On the way, visit Vinh Trang pagoda, a unique pagoda in Vietnam mixture of Vietnamese, Chinese and Cambodian architecture.

Free time at leisure until our tour guide escorts you to the airport for your flight to Phnom Penh. Arrival at Phnom Penh airport. Meets our tour guide and transfer to hotel down town.
Depending on the time of your arrival we may take a full day city tour or half day city tour of Phnom Penh visiting Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. We also visit to National Museum where we would see the world’s most wondrous collection of Khmer sculpture. Continue to Wat Phnom where the Khmers prefer to pray for luck. Welcome dinner at local restaurant with local delights. Back to hotel for overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. Today we take an excursion to Tonle Batie, which is 40 km from Phnom Penh, visiting to a pair of old Angkorian-era temple of Ta Prohm and Yeay Poev. In the afternoon, we visit the harrowing Tuol Sleng Museum before continuing to the Killing Field of Choeung Ek where prisoner from Security Prison 21 were taken for execution. It is grim afternoon, but essential for understanding just how far Cambodia has come in the intervening years. Back to hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel and transfer to airport for a short fly to Siem Riep. Upon arrival in Siem Riep we head to our hotel down town for check-in. The rest of the day we visit to the world wonder of Angkor Wat. We first visit to Southern Gate of Angkor Thom and the unique temple of Bayon. It is a collection of 54 gothic towers decorated with 216 coldy smiling, enormous faces glaring down from every angle. We continue to the Baphoun temple, which would have been one of the most spectacular of Angkor’s temples in its heyday. Moving on to the Terrace of Elephants and Terrace of the Leper King. Complete the day with sunset watching from Phnom Bakheng Hill. Back to the hotel for overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. Today we continue to the enchanting temple of the Banteay Srei, the jewel in the crown of Angkorian art. Banteay Srei means ‘Citadel of the Women’ and it is said that it must have been built by a women, as the elaborate carvings are too fine for the hand of a man.
In the afternoon, we visit the Banteay Samre, which dates from the same period as Angkor Wat. The temple is in a fairly healthy state of preservation due to some extensive renovation work. After here we continue to visit the monuments of Rolous, which served as Indravarman I’s capital. The temples were built by the Khmer and mark the beginning of the age of Khmer classical art. Back to the hotel for overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. Today we continue to discover Angkor Wat. In the morning we visit the fabulous Ta Prohm embraced by the roots of enormous fig trees and gigantic creepers. Visit to Pre Rup temple, East Mebon temple, and Neak Poan temple.
In the afternoon we visit to Krovan temple, Royal Bath of Srah Srang and Banteay Kdei temples. Back to the hotel for overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. We take a short bus ride to Tonle Sap Lake. Board a motored boat and enjoy a cruise past a floating village. Visit to local schools in the floating village. Back to the town and enjoy free time to shop in local market. Transfer to Siem Reap International airport for flight to Luang Prabang.
Upon arrival, you will be met and transferred to hotel. Luang Prabang has been claimed by the UNESCO to be ‘the best preserved city in South East Asia’. During our time here, we visit the impressive stupa of Wat Visoun and the shrine of Wat Aham, Wat Mai; we then climb up to the top of mount Phousi for an enjoyable exploration of the sacred, gilded stupa as well as a panoramic view of the city at sunset and the Mekong River. From there, we explore the Night Market, where you can find a lovely selection of handmade textile made by local and hill tribe people surrounding Luang Prabang.

Today, we enjoy a short-guided tour seeing the city’s oldest temple of Wat Sene and the magnificent Wat Xiengthong with its roofs sweeping low to the ground, which represents classical Laotian architecture. We then embark on a cruise upstream on the Mekong River, which also gives us a breathtaking view of the tranquil countryside as well as explore the mysterious Pak Ou Caves, two linked caves crammed with thousands of gold lacquered Buddha statues of various shapes and sizes left by pilgrims. Along the way, we stop at the village of Ban Xanghai, where they make the local rice wine. On return, we take a short drive to Ban Xangkhong, a village well known for its silk weavings and for its Saa (jute) Papermaking and Ban Phanom, a small village known for its hand weaving.

An optional early start gives you the fantastic opportunity to participate in the daily morning rituals of saffron-clad monks collecting offerings of Alms (ubiquitous sticky rice) from the faithful residents. This tradition is very unique in Laos, being the only Buddhist nation still preserving the procession.
From there you will visit the morning Phosi Market, where you will see such diverse offerings as dried buffalo skin, local tea and saltpeter among the chickens, vegetables and hill-tribe weavings. Laos is also known for its traditional crafts, and today you will visit local villages of Lao ethnic minority groups at Ban Ouay, Hmong Village, Ban Ou, Laoloum Village and Ban Thapene, Khmu Village, then drive to the beautiful Khouangsi Waterfall where you can cool off with a refreshing swim in the turquoise pools or walk along the forest trails. We return to the city by late afternoon to observe the sunset at Wat Phabath.

After breakfast, we visit The National Museum at the former Royal Palace, which displays a lovely collection of the artifacts reflecting the richness of Lao culture dating from the days of the early kings right through to the last sovereign. The tour ends after your transfer to the airport for departure.