Discovery Vietnam Tour 15 days

Hanoi capital is one of the most visited of the Vietnam popular destinations, is the beautiful capital city of Vietnam, sprawling in the banks of the Red River with French colonial heritage. Throughout the thousand years of its eventful history, marked by destruction, wars and natural calamities, 

The tour is split into a morning and afternoon schedule, with a tasty lunch in between! At 8a.m there will be a pick up from your hotel.

Ho Chi Minh Complex: Completed in 1975, the complex includes Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, the Presidential Palace, House-on-Stilts, and the Ho Chi Minh Museum.

The Temple of Literature: Originally built as a temple to Confucius, this is the site of Vietnam’s first University dating back to 1070. Inside are the stone steles mounted on the backs of turtles, inscribed with names of Vietnam best scholars. The temple highlights the importance that Vietnamese society place then and now on education. LunchMuseum of Ethnology: This museum is widely acknowledged as the best in the country and has an extensive display dedicated to Vietnam’s 54 Ethnic minority peoples.

Ngoc Son Temple and Hoan Kiem Lake: The Ngoc Son temple is set on a tiny island on the Hoan KiemLake, its history dating back to the 13th century.

One hour Cyclo Tour through the Old Quarter: Also known as the 36 streets, this bustling area of narrow streets is home to literally thousands of small businesses and shopkeepers.

Ninh Binh situated 100 km south of Hanoi. There are plenty of well-known landscapes like the capital city of Vietnam under the Dinh & Le Dynasties between 968 and 1009 AD, The Ha Long inland Tam Coc, Phat Diem stone church, Cuc Phuong national Park, Van Long preserve area  and recently years we can explorers many caves in Trang An natural reservation complex and Bai Dinh pagoda.

8:00 AM and depart for Ninh Binh province. Enjoy a pleasant 2  hour drive to Trang An natural reservation complex. Have short break before join a 2hours rowing boat to explore temple and caves of Ha Long inland. All temples were built in island and layback on mountain, all five caves were water cave where rowing boat going through under the mountain. Return to the bus after boat trip.

Lunch will be served in a local restaurant with some local special dishes.

In the afternoon, upon arrival at the Buddha prayer place in Bai Dinh pagoda, you will be explained why it has such an important place in Vietnamese Buddhism. It’s not only the new biggest pagoda in Viet Nam with 500 La Han statues, the biggest bronze Buddha statue with 10 meters in height, 100 tons in weight but also a new destination for pilgrims to come to pray and admire the religion successful.

Return back to Hanoi to take night train to Lao Cai. Overnight on train.

Arrive early in Lao cai at 06 00 am, we get picked up by private car for our drive up the spectacular Sapa pass, which is 1300 m high, 33 km long. The car ride uphill takes a little over an hour giving you a glimpse of the stunning vistas and impressive rice terraces.

After breakfast, we take a walk to Cat Cat Waterfall to visit Black H’Mong minority people. Picnic lunch at a waterfall and this is a chance to see the hydroelectric power station established by the French.

Then, we continue trek to visit SinChai villages. Return to Sa Pa for a shower and a rest.

Overnight in Sapa.

Walk to Lao Chai village of Black Hmong people and Ta Van village of Day people. We have a picnic lunch along the way. Back to Sa Pa then take private car to Laocai for night train back to Ha Noi.

Overnight on train (private wooden 4-berth sharing cabin with air conditioner)

08:00 – 08:30: Pick-up at hotel and start the 3 hour-and-a-half drive to Hong Gai Tourist Wharf, check in Oriental Sails JSC’s private waiting hall – The OS Lounge.

12:30 – 13:00: Embark on cruise by transfer boat. Listen to cruise briefing and receive room key.

13:00 – 15:30: Enjoy lunch on cruises further along the limestone islands of Bai Tu Long Bay, heading to Vung Vieng fishing village – one of the largest fishing villages in Halong Bay to see the life of local fishermen.

2 choices for tourists:

Option 1: Discovery local daily life: Take a bamboo rowing boat trip around Vung Vieng

OR

Option 2: Go kayaking by yourself at Ban Chan island.

17:30 – 18:00: Return to cruise and have bath then relax as the sun starts to set.  Enjoy the Happy Hour at the bar and on the sun deck

19:00: Dinner is served. Socialize with other guests, night squid fishing or just laze around. Singing and dancing activities are available till 22h00. Overnight on board at Cong Do Area

06:30 – 07:00: Start your day with Tai Chi exercise on the sundeck.

07:00 – 09:00:  Catch morning view of seascapes with a cup of tea or coffee, have breakfast while cruising toward Thien Canh Son Cave. Visit Thien Canh Son Cave – the medium size and less visited cave in Bai Tu Long Bay

09:30: Check-out room. Luggage can be delivered to the reception area.09:30 – 11:00: Head back to the Harbor. Have early lunch on board. Disembark  at around 12h00.

Hoi An is a small town in Central Vietnam famous for its wooden houses,family chapels, Assembly Halls and for its silk shops. In the morning, take a private car from Hoi An Town to My Son Holy Land, a World Heritage, 50 km southwest of Hoi An. Located in a lush valley, My Son was a capital and religious center of Cham people, now remaining with red brick towers and sanctuaries. My Son, considered to be in the same league as some of Southeast Asia’s greatest archaeological sites, including Angkor in Cambodia, Bagan in Myanmar, Ayutthaya in Thailand and Borobudur in Indonesia. These towers and sanctuaries was built from the 7 to 13 centuries.

Back to Hoi An for lunch. After the relax, it is light excursion to go around tiny town of Hoi An for city tour: 400 years old Japanese Bridge, 300 years old Chinese temple, 200 years old Vietnamese former merchants’ house. Tour end at about 16.30 pm

Overnight in Hoi An

Visit Hoian you will see how craftsmans make a lantern and have a chance to enjoy making the lantern and keep it as a souvenir. You will have great time to discover the daily life of handicraft house – in Hoi An Town and Tra Que vegetable Village.

Depart at your hotel at 9:00 am, biking to Tra Que Vegetable Village, experience a day of living and working with the local farmers in this village. A tour of the organic vegetable and herb gardens can include some time working in the field if you like, or merely observing and learning about the system and the fresh ingredients.

Upon returning to the house, we were all treated to an herbal foot massage followed by a session of cooking various local dishes als such as: Tam Huu Spring Roll, Banh Xeo or the local pancake of the people from the middle region.

Then you will ride by bicycle to the home of a craftsman in the old streets in Hoi An Town. Where you will discover the daily life of Hoi An people and see how they make a lantern. You will have a chance to enjoy making the lantern and keep it as a souvenir. Biking back to your hotel.

Overnight in Hoi An

Our guide will come to meet you at hotel and depart to Hue city; on the way stop for seeing Non Nuoc stone carving village, where the local skillful sculptors create many marble products which are exported to many countries worldwide.  We drive across the spectacular Hai Van pass and the scenic fishing village of Lang Co. Have lunch at a local garden in Hue.

We start with a visit the Imperial Citadel, which is a walled fortress and was intended to be a copy of Chinese Emperors’ Forbidden City in Beijing, China. After access the Ngo Mon Gate, we will take in the Purple Forbidden City. The Forbbiden City was reserved for the Nguyen royal family from the 18th century until the mid-1900s. Unfortunately, American bombing in 1968 in response to a communist takeover of Hue flattened most of the city. As we can see, only a few buildings are survived such as the Thai Hoa Temple, Can Thanh Temple, The Mieu, and Hieu Lam Cac, but all the remains make a well worth visit.
Leave the Imperial Citadel we drive along the bank of Perfume River to Thien Mu Pagoda. Here we visit the 7-storey octagonal tower, a symbol of Hue. Afterwards, we transfer to your hotel in Hue.

Overnight in Hue

Free till transfer to airport for taking your flight to Ho Chi Minh City.

Upon Arrivel, pick up & transfer to hotel. The rest of time at leisure

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh.

Leaving Saigon we drive through pleasant countryside before arriving at Cu Chi. Before entering the tunnels we watch a short introductory video showing how the tunnels were constructed. We then spend the next hour exploring the maze of tunnels. Also on display are various mantraps and the remains of an American tank as well as numerous bomb craters made by 500 pound bombs dropped by B52 bombers.  We then drive back to Ho Chi Minh City arriving at approximately 1pm. After lunch, we start to visit Ho Chi Minh City:

Notre Dame Cathedral and Old Post Office: Built between 1877 and 1883 this is one of the best examples of classical French colonial architecture. Remarkably every stone used in its creation was shipped from France to Vietnam.

The Reunification Palace: This is one of the most important buildings in the city. Here on April 30^th 1975 the ‘American War’ officially ended when tank number 843 of the North Vietnamese Army crashed through the gates of what was, at the time the residence of the President of the Republic of Vietnam.

War Remnants Museum: Formerly known as the Museum of American War Crimes, this is a poignant display of the futility of war. Some of the black and white photography in the ‘Requiem’ exhibit is particularly touching, dedicated to both foreign and Vietnamese journalists and photographers who perished during the conflict.

Ben Thanh Market: This bustling market is very popular with tourists, primarily due to its central location.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City

Start with our 2-hour drive to Cai Be, where we board our private boat for a cruise through the busy Cai Be floating market. We then make a stop to visit some local cottage industries such as the coconut candy workshop, learn how to make puffed-rice, puff-corn, or witnessing the process of making rice paper.

Continue with our cruise through the maze of the criss-cross cannals of An Binh island, we land at Mr. Ba Kiet old house. Here we can enjoy devouring the fresh tropical fruits of the Delta, while having a short traditional music show performed by local artists. Lunch at a local garden restaurant. After lunch, we have a short walk around the island to see how the people here make their living and enjoying their life. We carry on to a Nursery garden, where you can see most of the Delta fruits seedlings. The final point of visit will be a Brick & pottery kiln.

Docking in Vinh Long, we go for 1 hour drive to Can Tho. Overnight in Can Tho

7.30AM: We leave the hotel, board a motor boat along the Mighty Mekong River to Cai Rang floating market, the largest of its kind, where a colorful display of boats carrying juicy fruits and vegetables gather for daily exchanging.

Then we continue the cruise & walk on a quiet country road to take in the magnificent scenery and get close to the locals as they go about their daily routine, visit a Noodle Factory.

After lunch, drive back to Ho Chi Minh City

Arrive back Ho Chi Minh in the afternoon.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City

Free at your leisure till  our private car will transfer you to Tan Son Nhat International Airport for your departure flight home.

End of services.