HIGHLIGHTS OF INDOCHINA – 15 DAYS/ 14 NIGHTS - From: 1,004$

Start the journey with Ho Chi Minh City - the previous capital of French Indochina, has another name called Saigon. Your local guide will pick you up at the airport and helps you check in the hotel. The room is at your disposal from 13:30. The balance of day is free at your leisure. Have meals by yourself. Stay overnight at the hotel. 

Our first destination in the Ho Chi Minh City trip is Cu Chi, which has the unbelievable tunnel network built by Vietnamese fighters during the war between Vietnam and America. Depart to Ho Chi Minh City in the afternoon. Then move on a city tour of the previous capital of French Indochina, once known as Saigon. Historic witnesses involve the Old Saigon post office, Notre Dame Cathedral, Opera House and China Town with its charming Thien Hau Pagoda and Cho Lon Market. Have meals by yourself. Stay overnight at the hotel. 

Today we will transfer to Ben Tre in the Mekong Delta (130km - 2.5 - 3 hour driving). You will be gathered at the Phong Nam brick kiln, where bricks are still painstakingly man-made. Board a boat, sail along the Chet Say river (a branch of the Mekong) and visit various workplaces which will shows you how the economy in this land works, one of those is coconut activated charcoal factory where coconut shell is put into high heat kiln to make coconut charcoal; a coconut processing workshop, where you can taste fresh coconut and see people turned this versatile nut into food and other products.

Then the boat will cruise through the small channel, find out the daily life of people. Then you will stop at a peaceful village to have a short walk and discover the Delta village life, come over a mat weaving house, where straw mats are woven using a hand loom – or even weaving yourself before boarding your xe loi (a kind of motorized rickshaw) or driving into the village to see lush farm, rice field and vegetable plan  before stopping at a local house to have a mouth watering lunch, including some specialties from this area like elephant-ear fish and river shrimp, and drink some cold drinks or beers. Next, we will board a sampan and enjoy the view from small canals. Then we take boat back to Pier, back to the main road to move to the splendid resort in Cai be town. Check in your room and spend the night at leisure. Have dinner on your own. Stay overnight at the hotel.

Enjoy your breakfast, begin your exploration to Cai Be colorful floating market, which cruise among local barges full of fruits and vegetables... Boarding further, your sampan will help you know about some local home factories to ficd out traditional rice paste making, rice popcorn, coco candies, and longans drying process. Afterwards, return to the hotel to check out and depart to Ho Chi Minh City Airport where you will take a brief flight to Danang. You will be welcome by local guide on arrival and transfer to your hotel in Hoi An. Have meals by yourself. Stay overnight at the hotel. 

Enjoy the morning with a relaxing cycle trip (transport by cyclo or by private vehicle are also the options) from the  surroundings of Hoi An to a peachful farming village located on Tra Que Lagoon’s banks (3 miles or 15 minutes riding cycle from Hoi An). Tra Que Village has many kinds of unique fragrant herbs, which is very well-known in the area. Share the daily work of planting and watering vegetables with the local people. You can even learn some local recipes before eating those dishes for lunch. Then depart to Hoi An town, verified by UNESCO as a World Heritage site by its special well-preserved old streets and homes. Then you will have a chance to discover the ancient cobblestone streets of the town with over two-century-old Chinese houses. Sites include the Japanese Bridge, the Chinese Temple, and Phung Hung Chinese-style trading house. Have dinner on your own. Stay overnight at the hotel.

Enjoy the leisure time in the morning until you are moved to the airport for the flight to Hanoi. Room in Hoi An is at disposal until noon only. After landing Hanoi airport, your local guide will welcome you and help you check in the hotel. Have a quick rest and start the trip of Hanoi’s traditional 36 streets in the Old Quarter and the Hoan Kiem Lake vicinity with ancient Ngoc Son Temple. Have meals on your own. Stay overnight at the hotel.

Spend your whole day exploring this capital city, involving Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (open all the weeks excepting Monday and Friday), the traditional stilt house and the One-Pillar Pagoda. Then you will visit the first university of Vietnam - the thousand-year-old Temple of literature. In the afternoon, Ethnology Museum will be our next destination (closed on Monday) and one of the most unique pagoda of Hanoi. In the evening, you will watch the traditional water puppet show. Have meals on your own. Stay overnight at the hotel.
Remark: Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum closes from 08 September to 08 November for annual maintenance.

In the morning, depart to Halong Bay, you will see large rice fields in the Red River Delta on the flight and reach Halong Bay at noon. Enjoy the landscape on a charming boat for an overnight cruise on Halong Bay and have meals with scrumptious seafood. Stay overnight on board. 

Set the alarm clock to see a spectacular dawn over the bay. Have breakfast on board and back to the pier at noon and return Hanoi Airport for the flight to Luang Prabang - an UNESCO Heritage City. You will be welcome on arrival and taken up to your hotel for check in. The evening is free at leisure. Have meals on your own. Stay overnight at the hotel. 

Option: Tak Bat - the morning ritual of the Luang Prabang local

From around 5.30 to 6.30am in the morning, your guide will take you to Vat Nong temple to watch the Tak Bat ceremony (procession of monks). In the ceremony, devoted local people  stand on the sidewalk bearing food in their arms which they offer to the monks as they walk by in a procession of orange robes. Be drawn deep into the culturally significant moments as they replace a peaceful and respectful ambiance with no words exchanged between the monks and the local people making the offerings. As a guest who see the rituals, you should not  wear revealing clothing and take photos from a distance to show your respect.

Visit this city found on the left bank of the Mekong River. Previously a religious capital, Luang Prabang showcases more than 100 temples, considered amongst the most beautiful in Laos. In particular, you will discover:

Vat Xieng Thong or Temple of the Royal City - a wide range group of holy buildings and the most charming temple in Luang Prabang.Vat May - built at the end of the 18th century, a capped sanctuary featuring a five sided roof surmounted by three parasols.Vat Visoun - the most ancient temple in Luang Prabang with its the windows made from wood inspired by the Vat Phou‘s Khmer Temple.The Royal Palace, known as the National Museum today.At the end of the afternoon, climb Mount Phousi Mount to admire the sunset and then discover the H’mong Night Market on your way back to your hotel. Have meals on your own. Stay overnight at the hotel.

Move to the pier in the morning and board a cruise along the Mekong River. Discover the sacred caves of Pak Ou, which maintain hundreds of Buddha statuettes. Then go to nearby village and have a mouth watering home-cooked lunch. Return to Luang Prabang and transfer to Khuang Sy Waterfall on a road bordered by villages and rice fields. Time is allocated to swim in the waterfalls (weather permitting) before travelling back to Luang Prabang . Back to your hotel in Luang Prabang in the afternoon. Have dinner on your own. Stay overnight at the hotel.

Have a short rest until you are transferred to airport for onward flight to Siem Reap. You will be welcomed at the airport and taken to the hotel for check in with remainder of day is free at your leisure. Have meals on your own. Stay overnight at the hotel.

Today you will discover the incredible temple of Angkor Wat, a world heritage site with soaring towers and extraordinary bas reliefs. It is one of the most amazing man made monuments in the world, erected in the 12th century (1112-1152) in honour of Vishnu. In the afternoon, leave for Banteay Srei where a most impressive jewel of Khmer art exists. Erected in the 10th century, this small pink sandstone temple known as the Citadel of Women maintains some remarkable sculptured lintels in very good condition. On the way back, visit the ancient Ta Prohm Monastery (also nicknamed the Jungle Temple) where immense branches have taken root in the stones. Beyond this impressive vegetation you will find some splendid sculptured Devatas. Meals on your own. Overnight at the hotel.

Start the morning by the trip to Kompong Kleang (40 km - 1 hour driving). All the local houses are on piles offering an exceptional natural environment offering impressive views of floodplains, rice fields and water views as far as the eye can see. Then board a boat over the channels to a large lake where Vietnamese people live when they are removed from their homes because of the seasons. Have a picnic lunch in a home of a villager after you be back to the village. In the afternoon, you will visit Angkor Thom (the Great City) beginning by the south gate and the famous Bayon of the 12th and 13th centuries which is dedicated to Buddhism and composed of 54 gigantic towers featuring 216 smiling faces of Avalokitesvara. Then, visit the Elephant Terrace and the raised Leper King Terrace, built in the 12th century. Dinner on your own. Overnight at the hotel. Have dinner on your own. Stay at the hotel overnight.

Free time at leisure until you are transferred to the airport for your flight. The room is at your disposal until noon time only. Meals on your own. End of the service.