THE OCEANS MEET & CULTURES COMBINE

Welcome on arrival in Hanoi. Drive to our selected hotel in the town. Take rest after journey.

Enjoy a full day tour of Hanoi. Your guide will be happy to personalise your programme, however we would recommend sites such as Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, One Pillar Pagoda and a stroll around Hoan Kiem Lake. For many the Temple of Literature is a highlight worth lingering over. Built in 1070, this complex of atmospheric halls, pavilions and courtyards is dedicated to Confucius and scholars. Of special note are the 82 remaining steles of stone shaped like turtles which are elaborately carved with the names of candidates that sat the Royal examinations. A walking tour through the Old Quarter will provide another fascinating insight into the character and history of the city, before moving on to Dong Xuan Market with its bustling stalls and brisk trading of day-to-day local goods.

After lunch, consider visiting the very popular Ethnology Museum or the central Hoa Lo Prison, nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton by American POW’s during the war. Alternatively your guide will be happy to discuss alternative places of interest that you may wish to consider.

In the evening we recommend staying in and around the Old Quarter where there is a large selection of excellent restaurants and cafes to choose from. There is also the amazing ‘street-food’ such as Pho to be found on every corner!

Stroll the city on your own. Meet our driver in the evening and transfer to Hanoi train station, take an overnight train to the border town of Lao Cai and the gateway to Sapa.

Upon arrival in Lao Cai train station, get picked up and transferred for breakfast at a local restaurant and then visit one of the most colorful minority markets which we suggest:

Morning drive to Y Linh Ho from where you will start a walk into the Muong Hoa Valley below, passing through some of the stunning rice paddy terraces that the region is so well known for. You will stop at several spots that offer panoramic views of the valleys below and you are also likely to pass many H’mong people. Thanks to the linguistic skills of your guide, you will have the opportunity to interact with them and learn more about their way of life.

Having returned to Sapa for lunch, in the afternoon take a trail heading out of town. Passing through beautiful gardens and lush pine forests you will soon arrive at the Black H’mong ethnic minority village of Matra. During the afternoon you will also be able to visit a local school and the Catholic church of Taphin if our time permits. At leisure in the town before your transfer to Lao Cai Train Station for the overnight train back to Hanoi

We are getting back Hanoi early in the morning that is on time to visit Quang Ba flower market. Unlike most other wet markets in Vietnam, this pre-dawn flower market has a more peaceful, tranquil atmosphere, and life only seems to flow by in a slower pace. The market attracts a lot of florists and flower-lovers from all over Hanoi, is a must-visit site of the city. Though it is active throughout the day, the best time to visit the market is breaking dawn. Just come here to enjoy the smells of earth and the scent of fresh flowers in the morning dew. Leaving the market, we get checked in small hotel for a short rest and breakfast before the journey to Halong Bay.

Arrival and be welcomed on board, set sail through Bai Tu Long bay while seafood lunch is served. Rest your eyes on the azure waters of this magical bay, where thousands of sculpted limestone islands rise from the waves like dragons’ teeth, passing picturesque area around Mat Quy islet, Am islet. Mid-afternoon, get to Cua Van fishing village and enjoy a pleasant bamboo boat row to through the village with a museum and a school among floating homes. Visit Tien Ong cave then back  on board to enjoy sunset cocktails and canapé.

After breakfast, transfer to your day – trip boat with private crew and cruise to the bay’s most untouched areas. Enjoy swimming on quiet beaches, visiting water tunnels, fishing villages or kayaking. Lunch served on board by your private chef. Return to the mother boat for the night.

See the Surprise Cave, the largest and most beautiful cave in the bay. Wander through the narrow opening to where the cavern opens up with stunning rock formations lit up with colourful lights. Cruise back to Halong pier and return to Hanoi for flight to Da Nang and onwards transfer to Hoi An.

Free at leisure till the transfer to Danang airport for your flight to Saigon. Get the picked up and check in hotel on arrival. The rest is on your own.

A one day excursion will begin after boarding a luxury wooden boat, the Mekong Queen, with a visit of the Cai Be floating market (the earlier visit the more boats found), where you can observe the busy trading activities of local traders with several kinds of agricultural product from one boat to another. You then continue the cruise to a local factory to visit and learn how pop rice, pop corn, rice paper and coconut candies are made. You also have an opportunity to taste these products served with hot green tea. Returning to the boat to take a 50 minute excursion to Dong Hoa Hiep Island and discover the beautiful and peaceful sceneries together with the typical life of the region a long the Mekong River. Stops and visits can be made during the excursion.

A 10 minute walk through a local village and fruit gardens, you will be able to stop at a local family scaled Longan process factory, where you have another opportunity to take photo of and interact with the so friendly and hard working local people before coming to an old Mandarin house, built hundred years ago and it is where at least four generations of the family have been living. A so delicious Vietnamese lunch will be served by the owner, Mrs.Kiet.

Returning to the Mekong Queen by walking or taking a small rowing sampan for another one hour and a half cruise through to Vinh Long, the capital town of Cuu Long (nine Dragon) province. You then visit another local house where you have a short walk through his nursery garden and enjoy several kinds of tropical fruit in the Mekong Delta and taste snake wine …. Getting back to the boat to cross the Co Chien River, one of the 2 branches of the Mekong, called the upper one to Vinh Long Pier where you get on board your vehicle for a drive back to Saigon.

After breakfast, join us with the city highlights at which the sites recommended as the Reunification Palace, formerly South Vietnam’s Presidential Palace, which remains largely untouched since the day Saigon finally fell to North Vietnamese troops in 1975; Notre Dame Cathedral and the Old Saigon Post Office offer visitors a glimpse of a French Colonial past, with the latter being design by Gustave Eiffel himself. For most a visit to the War Remnants Museum, formally known as the Museum of American War Crimes is high on the list, and although it can be quite a chilling experience, the various exhibitions offer an insight into the suffering of the Vietnamese people during recent conflicts…….Finish the visit and we drive to the airport for the flight out to our next destination in SiemReap.

Experience the local “tuktuk” to explore Angkor…..you will firstly visit the monumental magnificence of Angkor Thom – last capital of the Khmers, with its Elephant Terrace, the Terrace of the Leper King and the stunning Bayon temple. This 12th century masterpiece lies at the very centre of Angkor Thom and is an archaeological wonder of symmetry and grandeur. The exterior gallery walls have extensive bas-reliefs but the highlight is the faces, more than 200 of them, silent but with the famous half-smile playing on their lips. PJ de Beerski wrote of them; Godliness in the majesty and the size, mystery in the expression.

In the afternoon, you will visit Angkor Wat, the largest temple in the world, with a volume of stone equaling that of the Cheops pyramid in Egypt. It is unlike all the other Khmer temples in that it faces west, and is inspired by 12th Century Hinduism. Its symmetrical towers are stylized on the modern Cambodian flag. Conceived by Suryavarman II, Angkor Wat took an estimated 30 years to build. It is generally believed to have been a funeral temple for the king. It has been occupied continuously by Buddhist monks and is well preserved. Intricate bas-reliefs surround Angkor Wat on four sides. Each tells a story. The most celebrated of these is the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, which is located on the east wing. In it the Naga serpent, is twisted by demons and gods to spurt out the elixir of life. Enjoy the sunset and get back hotel lately in the afternoon.

After breakfast, our team will take you to visit the  Banteay Srei – one of the most unusual and widely recognisable temples of Angkor. Built largely of red sandstone, it is covered with elaborate and deeply carved decoration. All the buildings are miniature in scale and it is this, along with the beautiful carvings, that have made it such a popular temple…..Return and get a truly spa experience at Bodia Spa .  Bodia Spa Siem Reap also known as the “Cambodian Cocoon” is a spa uniquely designed using only natural and local resources to allow for its smooth curves and relaxing atmosphere. Bodia Spa is known as the most interesting and highest quality day spa in the region; with its 21 luxury & individual treatment’s rooms equipped with rain showers, it is well designed for relaxation of the mind and body.

Late afternoon, you will be picked up by our guide and transferred to the Tonle Sap Lake. Not far from the impressive Angkor Complex lies the huge Tonle Sap Lake. It is one of the world’s most productive bodies of fresh water. In the wet season, the Tonle Sap Lake swells to 12,000 km². During the dry half of the year, the lake on the contrary shrinks to as small as 2500 km², draining into the Tonle Sap River. Each year, millions of fish come to spawn in the seasonally flooded forest surrounding the lake, attracting a myriad of water birds as well as people, who have settled in villages along the shores and who live with the rhythm of the water. This ecosystem has been classified as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1997. You will be driven 15 km South of Siem Reap where you will take a private boat and discover the floating village of Chong Khneas as well as the wildlife of the lake. Champagne and fruits on board for a unique sunset on the Lake…..Get back and enjoy dinner at one of the best tables in town.