All the highlights of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos on the Indochinese peninsula in a 18-day tour.
Day 1: Arrive Ho Chi Minh City (D)
Meet at Tan Son Nhat international airport. Transfer to hotel. Dinner. Night in Ho Chi Minh City.
Day 2: Ho Chi Minh City - Mekong - My Tho (B/L)
Drive to visit My Tho Town in Tien Giang Province, one of 11 provinces in the Mekong Delta. Boat trip on Mekong River to visit farmer's house and garden. Lunch on an islet in the river. Visit bee-raising farm, coconut-candy enterprise. Drive back to Ho Chi Minh City. Stop at Long An Town to visit a Cao Dai Temple, a strange religion in the South of Vietnam. Night in Ho Chi Minh City.
Day 3: Ho Chi Minh City Tour - Da Nang - Hoi An (B/L) flight
AM: Visit Reunification Palace and War Museum. Cathedral, Ben Thanh Market, Dong Khoi Street for shopping. Lunch to be arranged in nice restaurant. Take flight VN 245 ( 18: 40 -20: 00 ) to Da Nang. Pick up and transfer to Hoi An Town. Dinner and overnight at hotel in Hoi An.
Day 4: Hoi An (B/L)
Visit Hoi An - an old trading town, some 30km from Da Nang. Visit Hoi An: Japanese Covered Bridge, Tan Ky Old house, Assembly Hall Chinese. Phuc Kien Pagoda, Hoi An Museum and Market. Lunch at restaurant. Overnight in Hoi An.
Day 5: Hoi An - Da Nang - Hue (B/L)
Transfer to Da Nang - Hue. Visit Marble Mountain and enjoying sea/sun bathing in China beach. Spend time in taking photograph from HaiVan Pass (the pass of Sea and Cloud) LangCo beach enroute. Dinner in Hue with Hue specialty. Pick up and transfer to hotel.
Day 6: Hue - Hanoi (B/L/D) Flight
AM: Boat trip to visit Thien Mu Pagoda, Tu Duc & Khai Dinh tombs. Visit Imperial Citadel in the afternoon. The tour ends by shopping at Dong Ba Market. Transfer to the airport for flight to Hanoi VN 246 ( 18h35 - 19h45 ). Pick up and tranfer to hotel. Dinner at the restaurant. Overnight at hotel in Hanoi.
Day 7: Hanoi - Hoa Lu - Tam Coc (B/L)
AM: depart for Hoa Lu - Ninh Binh, considered as the Bay of "Halong bay in Land", famous for the beauty of its landscapes, cruising on boat through the rice paddies in Tam Coc surrounded by high cliffs and explore the pagodas inside the caves and Bich Dong temple. Return to Hanoi. Overnight at hotel.
Day 8: Hanoi - Halong Bay - Catba Island (B/L/D)
Drive to Halong Bay, 180km to the North-East of Hanoi, one of the World's Natural Heritage. It takes you 3, 5 hour for driving. Boat trip on the bay (5 hours) to visit typical islands and caves. Lunch on boat. Enjoy the landscape of the immense bay with 5, 000 islets. Bathing at a beach at The Titop Islet. Check into hotel in Cat Ba islands. Dinner and night in Catba island.
Day 9: Catba Island - Hai Phong City - Hanoi (B/L)
Drive to visit Catba National Park. Bathing at Cat Co Beach. Lunch at the restaurant. Then get hydrofoil to Hai Phong City during 90 minutes. Arrive Hai Phong city. Pick up and transfer back to Hanoi. Night in Hanoi.
Day 10: Hanoi City Tour (B/L)
AM: 08: 00 Visit Ngoc Son temple, coach trip along the Hanoi Old Quarters, pass by Dong Xuan market then continue to the Old Citadel. Stop for visiting Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Museum, One Pillar Pagoda. Continue to visit the Quan Thanh Temple and Tran Quoc Pagoda. Lunch.
PM: After lunch proceed to visit the Ethnology Museum, continue to visit the Literature Temple and Quoc Tu Giam. Enjoy Water Pupet Show. Overnight at hotel.
Day 11: Hanoi - Vientiane (B/L) flight
AM: Transfer to the Noi Bai airport for the departure flight to Vientiane. On arrival at Wattay Airport by VN840, you are met and transferred to our centrally located hotel. A city tour acquaints us with the major sights of the capital. We visit the sacred Wat Sisaket the oldest temple with thousands of miniature Buddha statues and the former royal temple of Wat Prakeo previously housed the famous Emerald Buddha Image. On the way to the famous and sacred structure of That Luang Stupa, we stop to take some pictures of the imposing Patuxai Monument, which is well known as Vientiane’s own Arc de Triumph, sunset by Mekong riverside. Overnight in Vientiane.
Day 12: Vientiane - Luang Pra Bang (B/L) flight
A short morning flight to Luang Pra Bang, which is perhaps the best-preserved traditional city in South East Asia. The tranquility and charm of this town with its splendid natural scenery and cultural sights make it one of the most delightful places to visit in Laos. On arrival, we start seeing the impressive stupa of Wat Visoun, the shrine of Wat Aham, Wat Mai, we then climb up to the top of Phousi Hill for an enjoyable exploration of the sacred, gilded stupa as well as a beautiful sunset view of the city and the Mekong River. From there, we explore Street Night bazaar, where you can find the lovely collection and handmade textile by local and hill tribe people surrounding Luang Pra Bang. Overnight in Luang Pra Bang.
Day 13: Luang Pra Bang – Pak Ou Caves – Luang Pra Bang (B/L)
After breakfast, we enjoy a short-guided tour seeing the city’s oldest temple of Wat Sene and the magnificent Wat Xieng Thong with its roofs sweeping low to the ground, which represent the classical architecture of Luang Pra Bang temple. We then embark on a cruise upstream on the Mekong River, which also gives us a beautiful view of the tranquil countryside as well as an interesting visit to the mysteries of the Pak Ou Caves, crammed with thousands of gold lacquered Buddha statues of all shapes and sizes. Along the way, we stop at the village of Ban Xang Hai, where they make the local rice wine. On return, we also have time visiting Ban Xangkhong, Ban Xienglek, villages of Jute Sar paper hand making, known for its hand made paper quality. Overnight in Luang Pra Bang.
Day 14: Luang Pra Bang - Vientiane (B/L) Flight
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 the last sovereign, and the Central market are not to be missed. Today, we visit these sights before catching a flight back to Vientiane. After checking into hotel, we transfer out to see the Buddha Park, a blend of Buddhist and Hindu sculptures created by mystical monk on parkland located by the Mekong River and the impressive Friendship Bridge. A view of the spectacular sunset over the Mekong River is the perfect way to finish the day. Overnight in Vientiane
Day 15: Vientiane - Siem Reap (B/L) Flight
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for flight to Siem Reap. Pick up and transfer to hotel. Visit "Great City" of Angkor Thom, visits include the famous Bayon Temple, Phimeanakas Temple within the Royal Palace enclosure, Baphuon Temple, the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King. Afternoon is dedicated to visit the most famous & magnificent Angkor Vat temple.
This architectural masterpiece was constructed in the 12th century and covers an area of about 210 hectares.With many galleries with columns, libraries, pavilions, courtyards and ponds full of water, carved low-reliefs about Ramayana Story and day-to-day life at the time of Angkor's construction.
At the end of afternoon enjoy the sunset on all the temples, with spectacular views over Angkor Wat.
Day 16: Visit Angkor Wat (B/L)
AM: Breakfast at the hotel. Morning visit of a selection of temples, including the Royal City of Preah Khan with impressive sculptures, Neak Pean built on a small circular island, Ta Som, East Mebon, Preah Rup.
Afternoon we will continue our visits to the Thommanon temple, Ta keo, one of Angkor's great temple mountains. Ta Prohm with a part of the jungle, Banteay Kdei, Srah Srang a Royal bathing place, Prasat Kravan with unique brick sculptures. We will visit Les Chantiers Ecole, a handicraft center located in the center of Siem Reap. Les Chantiers Ecole was founded in 1992 and its aim is to revive that ancient Khmer art. This organization gives young people the opportunity to learn the art of stone, wood carving, and silk weaving.
Day 17: Siem Reap - Banteay Srei - Roluos (B/L)
In the morning we will visit the enchanting Banteay Srei. It appears that the temple was designed to leave no space undecorated, and the fine carvings in pink sandstone are quite unique. The second visit will be to Banteay Samre, with elaborate architecture and exceptional carvings, and we will visit of a local village. Afternoon, we will see the earliest temples of Angkor area a the Roluos group. The three Roluos temples have been in years 877 to 889. They are the Bakong Temple Mountain with beautiful carvings on the false doors and lintels, the funerary temple of Preah Ko, and Lolei Temple.
Day 18: Siem Reap - Departure (B)
Breakfast at hotel. Visit Tonlesap lake if time permits. This is the largest permanent fresh-water lake in South East Asia and flows into Tonle Sap River, joining the Mekong in Phnom Penh. We will see a fishermen's "floating village" with floating schools, floating police station, etc. It is same as a big village floatting on the lake, and can move from place to place following water levels and currents. Transfer to the airport for departure flight.
