Authentic Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh -> Ha Noi)
No. of day: 16 - Depart: Sun, Mon, Thu & Fri

DEPARTURE DATE: SUNDAY, MONDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY

(16 Days/15 Nights)

 

Day 1: Ho Chi Minh Arrival

Arrive at Tan Son Nhat International airport. Welcome by our driver with your name on board. Then transfer you to Ho Chi Minh center. Lunch/dinner at your account. Overnight at hotel in Ho Chi Minh city.

 

Day 2: Cao Dai Temple - Cu Chi Tunnel Full Day (B,L)

Breakfast at your hotel.

08:00 – 08:30 Our driver will take you to Tay Ninh - a province 95 kms South East of HCMC, close to Cambodia border. The Cao Dai Temple is like a Walt Disney fantasia of the East. Its exterior is decorated with multi-colored dragons of all shapes and sizes competing for space with a number of swastikas. Above the main entrance is the all-seeing holy eye, the symbol of the Cao Dai sect. The interior is just as engaging as statues of Jesus Christ, Buddha and the Hindu god, Brahma, stand side by side.

At about 13.00 pm, after lunch, will leave Tay Ninh and travel to Cu Chi. Once in Vietnam, you must visit this spot. This is where guerilla warfare optimized and exemplified. You’ll learn the clever design of the tunnels and the strategic use of trap doors. Even with B-52 bombers dropping 30-ton loads of explosive, turning the jungle into a pockmarked moonscape, 30 thousand American troops failed to conquered the area! You’ll have a chance to crawl around a portion of the 121 km long, multiple-layered tunnel. You’ll learn how thousands of guerillas managed to stay underground many days at a time, also their great technique to conceal smoke from their cooking. There’re a lot more to enjoy, even a chance to fire real AK bullets…17:30 Back to hotel. Dinner at your account.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh city.

Day 3: Saigon – Cai Be – Vinh Long – Can Tho (L,D)
7:30 AM: Depart for Cai Be around 3 hrs driving. On our dedicated bus you can see the green paddy fields stretching towards the horizontal. When you arrive Cai Be, you’ll board a motorized boat that takes you to the floating market and spend 1 hr there for an interaction that you’ll see no where else in the world.

Next, your boat will zigzag thru a maze of shadow canals to arrive at a great orchard where you can freely taste many famous tropical fruits of Vietnam and watch locals’ daily chores.

Then we will ride bicycles and roaming through a village to check out several rural shops or we can relax on a hammock for a short rest. We’ll see how coconut candy and crispy rice cake are made here (served free with premium hot tea.) After this, we will land on a marketplace and walk around to see how and what the poor rural people of Vietnam sell.

You are encouraged to interact with the vendors and see how friendly and respectful they are. You might also buy many interesting things for very little amount of money.

We spend about ½ hr here and then board our bus and travel to Can Tho.

Over night in Can Tho.

Day 4: Can Tho – Cai Rang – Chau Doc (B,L,D)
After breakfast, boarding a motor boat for a long distance trip to discover the area’s largest floating marketplace…on water! Then cruising through small channels to visit a rice noodle making village, a large rice mill. Then we’ll stop at Can Tho market and proceed to Saigon. Then a bus will take us to Chau Doc.

Over night in Chau Doc with floating hotel.

 

Day 5: Chau Doc – Sai Gon (B,L)
Early morning Breakfast by the Sunrise at Chau Doc busy floating market. And then visit Carven pagoda then the local rowing boats to the floating village and floating fish farms. The village of Cham, an Islamic minority people in Vietnam where’s the home of Cham weavers and the local mosque. After that, the beautiful cruise boat will take you to Sa Dec. The most enjoyable time and relax to take the sun bath. From here we get back to Saigon by bus.
Tour will arrive at 18:00 in your hotel. Dinner at your account.
Overnight in Ho Chi Minh city.

 

Day 6: Ho Chi Minh City Tour (B,L)

Breakfast at hotel. You will check-out & put your luggages at lobby of hotel. Then our driver & guide will pick you up at 08:00 – 08:30 to visit Ho Chi Minh city. We will visit Reunification Hall which was the residence of the President of the former South Vietnam until 1975. You will see many interesting things: formal meeting rooms, private bedrooms, war situation rooms 10 meter beneath earth’s level.

This address today still holds many important functions in HCMC. We have guide who speaks your language to tell you important historical facts about this building and some French colonial structures including the Notre Dame Cathedral (built in 1877), General Post Office, City Hall, War Crime Museum.

Afternoon: China touwn is the biggest Chinese community and Binh Tay market is wholesale market. With a stop for a while at a lacquer shop, you can buy some gifts for your friends, beloved relative. Drop off in the hotel at 17:00. Dinner at your account.

18h We will take you to Train Station. Your train will depart at 19h00. Overnight on train to Da Nang (schedule 19:00 – 11:50)

 

Day 7: Da Nang City Tour (L,D)

11:50AM Arrival in Danang. Pick-up guests for lunch – enjoying the Danang local food and check-in hotel. Cross the Thuan Phuoc Bridge to visit Son Tra Penisula  named as Monkey Moutain. Drive around the Son Tra peninsula to admire the beauty of the whole city below . Visit Linh Ung Pagoda and enjoying swwming at My Khe beach- classified as one of the most attractive beaches on earth. Dinner, enjoy the Viettamese traditional art show.

Overnight in hotel in Da Nang city.

 

Day 8: Marble Mountain - Hoi An ancient town (B/L/D)
Breakfast at hotel. Then visit Marble Mountains - named as 5 elements of universe and stone carving village of Hoa Hai. Depart for Hoian ancient town for lunch. Take a walking tour around the old sections (charming and wonderfully preserved, combining Chinese, Japanese and European influences), enjoy traditional music at 15:15 p.m. Explore Cua Dai Beach. Dinner at restaurant. Free to discover the “Hoi An ancient night”, get yourself back to the 17th century, relax and soak up the atmosphere. Then back to Da Nang city.
Overnight in Da Nang city.

 

Day 9: Hoi An - Hue Imperial City (B/L/D)
Breakfast and check-out. Leaving Da Nang for Hue Imperial City, through Hai Van tunnel, en route, stop-over for photos at the top of Cloud - Ocean pass, overlooking the scenic Lang Co fishing village. Luncheon and hotel check-in. Afternoon, visit the Imperial Citadel - The grand palace of the last dynasty of Nguyen and Goddess-heavenly pagoda. Dinner at restaurant and take a dragon boat trip to enjoy Hue folksong on Perfume river.
Overnight in hotel in Hue city.

 

Day 10: Hue – Ha Noi City Tour (B,L)

06:00 Breakfast at hotel.

06:45 We will pick off you to Hue airport, take a flight which depart at 08:00 depart to Ha Noi capital.

09:10AM Arrival in Ha Noi. Pick up to hotel in Ha Noi city. Put your luggages there, then you will join Ha Noi City Tour. Continue to visit the Quan Thanh Temple ( Taoist dating from the Ly Dynasty ) and Buddhist Tran Quoc Pagoda on West lake ( One of the oldest pagoda in Vietnam ). Lunch there.

 

PM : After lunch proceed to visit the Literature Temple and Quoc Tu Giam. Vietnam’s first university constructed in 1070, it’s gardens and well-preserved architecture offers a relaxing glimpse into Vietnam"s past. Then visit Bat Trang pottery village. After that, we will take you past Hoan Kiem Lake to see the peaceful waters and visit Ngoc Son temple. For the end of the tour, visit by coach trip along the Hanoi Old Quarter.  Free for shopping until 15:30. Then enjoy Water Puppet show which is a tradition that dates back as far as the 11th century CE when it originated in the villages of the Red River Delta area of northern Vietnam. Back your hotel around 17h00 (Note: if you want to visit Vietnam Ethnology Museum, you can pay more US$ 4.00/person only). Dinner at your account.

Overnight in your hotel.

 

Day 11: Ha Noi - Hoa Lu – Tam Coc – Ha Noi (B,L)

Breakfast at hotel. Then you will check-out and put your luggages here, too.

AM : 08:00 - 08:30. Our guide & driver will pick you up at your hotel in Ha Noi Old Quater, then leave by coach to Hoa Lu (2.5 hrs). Visit the historic capital of Viet Nam and the famous ancient temples of Le and Dinh Dynasties.  Bus transfer or cycle for an hour on picturesque quiet roads through villages, rice fields, rivers and rocky outcrops to Tam Coc (12km) for lunch.

PM :  Boat trip to visit Tam Coc to see the beauty of the karst formations as you pass along their base and row into one of the many caves carved through the limestone. Drive back to 49 Hang Be street, Hoan Kiem Dist, Ha Noi city at 18:00PM. Dinner at your account.

20:00 Our driver will transfer you to train station for departure to Sapa ( schedule: 21:15 - 06:15 ). Overnight on train at the A/C soft sleeper cabin.

 

Day 12: Lao Cai – Cat Cat – Sin Chai Villages (B,L,D)

06:15 Our driver will pick you up at Lao Cai Station then transfer to Sa Pa town. You will have breakfast at local restaurant. After that you will check in hotel subject available before 12h00 o’clock. After lunch trek to Cat Cat and Sin Chai villages of Black H"Mong tribe. Enjoy the waterfall in Cat Cat and beautiful scenery along the way. Back to hotel for dinner and enjoy the night in Sa Pa town .

 

Day 13: Lao Chai – Ta Van Villages – Lao Cai Station (B,L)

After breakfast you will check out and leave your luggage in the hotel, get ready for the trip. Trek down to Lao Chai village to visit the Tay and Day tribes then keep going along the bottom of the Sapa valley to get to Ta Van village which is supposed to be the most beautiful one in the area. Have a picnic lunch on the way. You go back to Sapa by motorbike/jeep. Back to Lao Cai Station by our car, then dinner at your account.

Overnight at the A/C soft sleeper cabin to Ha Noi (schedule: 20:15 - 04:30).

 

Day 14: Ha Noi – Ha Long (B,L,D)

04:30AM Pick you up at the Station, transfer you to 49 Hang Be street, Hoan Kiem Dist. Have breakfast at your account.

08:00 Our driver & guide will leave Ha Noi for Ha Long City by a modern bus. Get on luxury junk boat and enjoy a welcome drink and lunch of savoury local sea food. Check into your cabin and start cruising around the bay to see the amazing karsts with different formations: Lion, Tea Pot, Toad, Dau Nguoi (Human Head) islet, and then stop for a walk through the Sung Sot cave "Amazing Cave" There will be plenty of time for kayaking, swimming and sunbathing (If weather permitted) after the boat anchors at a clean calm sea. Enjoy a wonderful sunset dinner in our beautiful restaurant before retiring to the comfort of your cabin. Dinner and overnight on Boat.

 

Day 15: Ha Long – Ha Noi (B,L)

07.15: Cakes, fruits, tea and coffee will be served. Continue the cruise through Halong Bay.
09.30 - 10.30: Enjoy the lunch after you pack your things and leave the cabin.
11.30 - 12.00: Sail back Ha Long pier and take a van back to Hanoi.

16:15 Arriving in 49 Hang Be street, Hoan Kiem Dist, Ha Noi. Free time there with dinner at your account.

Overnight in Ha Noi city.

 

Day 16: Ha Noi Departure (B)

After breakfast, you will get free time until your flight depart. Our driver will pick off you 2.5 hours before departure time.

Tour end here.

 

 

NOTE:  All rates are in US$ per person, valid until 31st Oct 2013.

Included:

+ Airport transfer

+ A/C tourist car during Group Tour

+ Boat trip in Ha Long Bay, Hoa Lu – Tam Coc, Mekong Delta

+ Train ticket Ho Chi Minh – Da Nang, Ha Noi – Lao Cai – Ha Noi

+ Flight ticket Hue – Ha Noi

+ Accommodation (twin sharing or triple)

+ Meals as indicated: B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D= Dinner

+ English speaking guide

+ Engtrance fee

 

Excluded:

+ International flight ticket

+ Visa arrangement

+ Drinks, travel insurance, other meals

+ Tips & personal expenses.

 

* Children rates:
+ Free of charge for children under 4 years sharing bed with parents.
+ Surcharge 50% rate of adult for children (5-11 years) sharing bed with parents.
+ Over 11 years is adult's rate.
* The itinerary can be changed due to weather, tide levels and operating conditions.

* Special request (diet or vegetarian, …) should be sent before your departure date.

 

 

 

Area Standard (2*) Superior (3*) Deluxe (3*+ or 4*) VIP (5*)
Hanoi Orchid, Stars Royal Orchid, Hong Ngoc, Lucky 3 Maison, Serenade, Sunway Melia, Sofitel Plaza
Hue ThanhNoi Asia, Ngoc Huong HuongGiang Imperial, SG Morin
Hoian Thanh Binh Indochine, Lotus Hoi An, Vinh Hung Victoria, Golden Sand
Saigon Le Le, An An Liberty 3, 4 Kim Do, Oscar Legend

(The hotel/ flight may be changed up to its availability. It will be confirmed after getting your deposit/ payment)

 

Price

Tour ClassJoin group
( USD)
Standard
885
Superior
1145
Deluxe
1530
VIP
1970

Last updated by manhtien on February 22, 2013 at 4:41 pm (GMT+7)