14 Days The Pearl of Indochina

Day 1

Arrive at Hanoi / Noi Bai International Airport by flight ... (Please kindly advise us of the arrival flight). Pick up at the airport and transfer to your hotel in Hanoi for check in (Check–in time is 14:00 hrs; early check–in is at surcharge). Rest of the day is at leisure.

Accommodation at hotel in Hanoi

Meals included:

None

Day 2

Breakfast will be at the hotel.

Starting at 8:30 AM, our tour guide and driver will pick you up from your hotel. Begin by visiting the Tran Quoc Pagoda, a serene site nestled along the shores of West Lake. From there, transfer to the Ho Chi Minh complex, where you'll explore the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the revered final resting place of Uncle Ho (President Ho Chi Minh), and his stilt house, where he lived between 1958 and 1969. Move on to the distinctive One Pillar Pagoda, an architectural gem in the middle of a square lake. The journey continues to the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first college dedicated to Confucian principles.

Enjoy Lunch at a local restaurant

In the afternoon, choose one of the city's museums for further exploration, including options like the History Museum, Ethnology Museum, or the historically significant Hoa Lo Prison, once famously known as the "Hanoi Hilton." Return to the downtown area for a break by Hoan Kiem Lake. Wrap up the day with a cyclo tour through the Old Quarter, renowned as the 36 streets. This lively district is home to countless small businesses and shops, providing ample opportunities for exploration and capturing memorable photographs.

Accommodation at hotel in Hanoi

Meals included:

Breakfast at the hotel

Lunch at local restaurant

Day 3

Breakfast at your hotel.

Morning departure for Ha Long Bay, we will go through the scenic countryside. The wondrous Ha Long Bay is truly one of Vietnam's most impressive scenic sights.

11:30 – 12:00: The crew members of  Lotus D’Orient cruise will welcome you at our waiting lough No.28 A, Tuan Chau Marina, Quang Ninh.

12:00 – 12:30: Get on Tender Boat to Lotus D’orient  Cruise and enjoy Welcome drink, meet the captain, crew to get a brief introduction about cruise and safety guidelines. Complete check-in procedure.

13:00 – 13:15: Enjoy Vietnamese seafood and vegetarian lunch, while cruising in the magnificent Halong bay - Lan Ha Bay, admiring the fascinating rock formations in the bay.

15:00 – 15:30: Visiting Tra Bau area where has known as an area famous for its unspoiled, poetic natural beauty and attractive seascape of Lan Ha Bay. This is the best time for kayaking to discover the truest beauty of the limestone islands.

Immerse yourself in the emerald, green water of the bay or enjoy the cool atmosphere on Lotus D’Orient sundeck.

17:30 –18:30: Joining us for Cooking demonstration to learn how to make one of the most famous Vietnamese cuisines, the spring rolls. Or reach the top deck of the cruise where the guests can admire the magnificent sunset over the Gulf of Tonkin.

Enjoy Happy Hour time – BUY ONE GET ONE FREE at the bar. It is an ideal time for photography enthusiasts to capture the greatest moment of sunset over Lan Ha Bay.

19:00: Dinner is served at the restaurant. After dinner, you can join the squid fishing program at the main deck or relax on the sundeck and sip the exotic cocktails and drinks at the sky bar (with surcharge)....

Overnight on cruise 

Note: the itinerary of Halong will be changed based on which cruise you choose and depending on the weather without prior notice.

Meals included:

Breakfast at the hotel  

Lunch and Dinner on Cruise

Day 4

6:00-6:30: Begin the day full of energy with the Tai Chi session and enjoy the sun just rising up beyond the horizon. 

6:15 -7:00: Have breakfast. Morning view of bay’s landscape with a cup of tea or coffee.

7:00:  You will join the tour of Cat Ba World Biosphere Tender boat. It takes 30 minutes to transfer from Gia Luan to Trung Trang – one of the most impressive caves in Cat Ba island, Vietnam by car transfer. The limestone cave has thousands of stalactites in various shapes, offering geological values with a typical cave ecosystem.

9:30: Back to Gia Luan Habor by bus transfer, then our tender boat drops you off to the main boat, you can have a quick showing packing your luggages and check carefully all the belongings before checking out your cabin.

10:00: Check-out from the private cabin and enjoy a fantastic cruise on the bay for room service. Complete check-out procedure. Enjoy lunch at the restaurant while the cruise is returning to the harbour.

11:00: You take the Tender boat back to Tuan Chau port. Return to Hanoi

Accommodation at a hotel in Hanoi

Meals included:

Breakfast/Brunch on Cruise

Day 5

Breakfast at the hotel. Enjoy your free time then catch your flight to Luang Prabang.

Welcome to Luang Prabang, a tranquil town with its gleaming temple roofs, fading colonial architecture and stunning mountain backdrop has been claimed by UNESCO to be “the best preserved traditional city in Southeast Asia”. You are greeted by your guide and driver at the airport for your transfer to the hotel.

Pay a short visit to the Night Market – a great place for wandering, offering a lovely variety of handmade textiles crafted by local and hill-tribe people, along with street food, knick-knacks and friendly banter.

Overnight in Luang Prabang

Meals included:

Breakfast at the hotel

Day 6

Set off after breakfast for a visit of the Morning Market where, together with the guide and local host lady, we pick all ingredients needed for our upcoming cooking class. Today, we will not take part in a regular tourist-oriented cooking class. We will instead drive a little outside Luang Prabang center to a small village where you will join your hands to cook some major dishes. You will experience how typical Laos dishes such as Laap Laos, Orlam soup and papaya salad are cooked. The food is then brought to a local temple to offer for the monks’ lunch, and as part of this ritual, your name will be asked for a blessing chant. Later, join in an open talk about Buddhism in Laos with monks. We will also have the chance to have further exchange with the community before returning to Luang Prabang for a light lunch with the left food you will have cooked

Afternoon: explore the city highlights including The National Museum, housed in the former Royal Palace, showcases many treasures of Laos' royal past and features the Prabang, the sacred Buddha image for which Luang Prabang was named.

Our next stop at the most reputed and beautiful temple of the city, Wat Xieng Thong – Luang Prabang's largest and most splendid temple, is best known for its impressive Tree of Life mural depicting the Buddhist story.

We then get to the pier. Cruise across the Mekong River to reach Ban Xieng Mene. Countinue walking through lush green gardens, where you can enjoy listening to birds singing and appreciate the pureness of a Lao village as you stroll to Wat Long Khoun. Get your heart pumping as you climb up 123 steps to Wat Chomphet, where you will be rewarded with stunning scenic views of Phousi Mountain and the city of Luang Prabang from the other side of Mekong River.

Overnight in Luang Prabang

Meals included:

Breakfast at the hotel

Lunch at a local restaurant

Day 7

Optional: We have the possibility this morning to wake up very early to go witness the Tak Bat ceremony, when the monks process along the streets of the town to receive the daily alms from locals

After a short transfer to the outskirts of the town, in a tranquil setting made of ricefields and lush green trees, we discover the importance of bamboo in the Laotian culture. Spend the morning learning about several aspects of the local culture, from crafts to music and food. We will have a chance to learn from a skillful craftsman and to enjoy a hands-on cooking class. We will then dine on the food we have prepared.

This afternoon, we drive out through beautiful landscapes of rice fields, hills and villages. You will stop to visit an ethnic minority village to learn about their traditions and culture. Continue to Kuangsi Waterfall, where water tumbles over tiered limestone formations into crystal clear pools, ideal for escaping the heat. Between cooling off in the pools, you can also explore the lush forest setting around the falls. A short walk brings you down to the abrupt waterfall where you will have time to swim or simply relax by the water’s edge. Overnight in Luang Prabang

Meals included:

Breakfast at the hotel

Lunch at a local restaurant

Day 8

Located 25 km upriver from Luang Prabang right on the river bank at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Ou Rivers, Pak Ou Caves are a well-known Buddhist pilgrimage site with many statues and statuettes of the Buddha in the traditional Luang Prabang style.

You will go by boat to Pak Ou Caves, enjoy splendid natural scenery along the way and observing local fishermen and daily activities along the river. Pak Ou Caves, locally called Tam Ting, are filled with thousands of gold lacquered Buddha statues. The caves are noted for their miniature Buddha sculptures. Hundreds of wooden Buddhist figures take many different positions, including meditation, teaching, peace, rain and reclining (nirvana). Lunch on your own account

On the way back, you will also have opportunity to visit the local riverside villages of Ban Xanghai, a popular stop-over producing some special varieties of Laolao, the local rice wine. Second stop at Ban Xang Khong, known for its handmade paper and weaving craft

Dinner at your own account and Overnight in Luang Prabang

Meals included:

Breakfast at the hotel

Day 9

Upon you arrive at Siem Reap International airport will welcome by tour guide.

In the afternoon, We excursion to visit the floating village of Chong Khneas, located 10

kilometers south of Siem Reap. Take a traditional wooden boat for a ride on the Tonle Sap Lake, the "Great Lake" of Cambodia, one of the largest in Asia and flows into Tonle Sap River, joining the Mekong in Phnom Penh. We will explore the different of Khmer, Muslim and Vietnamese floating households and the floating markets, fisheries, clinics, schools, basketball course, pigsty and other boatloads of tourists. It is same as a big village floating on the lake, and the "village" move from place to place following water levels and current.

Then visit Les Artisans D’ Angkor and see their stone and wood carving workshops where the artisans are taught to use traditional Khmer techniques.

In line with its mission to produce fine Arts & Crafts objects, Artisans d’Angkor has set up a silver plated workshop in order to demonstrate this know-how and encourage the revival of this Cambodian heritage Wood and stone carving, The art of stone carving goes back to the glorious epoch of the Khmer empire and its monumental constructions that gave rise to the Angkor temples. Like the work of craftsmen from previous centuries, stone carving is done on sandstone. Artisans d’Angkor mainly uses sandstone from Siem Reap province.

Dinner will be at local restaurant & overnight at hotel in Siem Reap

Meals included:

Breakfast at the hotel

Dinner at a local restaurant

Day 10

Breakfast will be at hotel.

In the morning, we will visit the South Gate (with its huge statues depicting the churning of the ocean of milk) the ancient capital of Angkor Thom (12th century) and visit Bayon Temple (unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces of Avolokitesvara),the Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas, the Elephants Terrace and the Terrace of the Leper King and visit the fabulous Ta Prohm Temple, embraced by the roots of enormous fig trees. Ta Prohm (pronunciation: prasat taprohm) is the modern name of the temple at Angkor, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, built in the Bayon style largely in the late 12th and early 13th centuries and originally called Rajavihara. Located approximately one kilometre east of Angkor Thom and on the southern edge of the East Baray, it was founded by the Khmer King Jayavarman VII as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university.

Unlike most Angkorian temples, Ta Prohm is in much the same condition in which it was found: the photogenic and atmospheric combination of trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings have made it one of Angkor's most popular temples with visitors.

UNESCO inscribed Ta Prohm on the World Heritage List in 1992. Today, it is one of the

most visited complexes in Cambodia’s Angkor region. The conservation and restoration of Ta Prohm is a partnership project of the Archaeological Survey of India and the APSARA (Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap).

In the afternoon, Wat Thmei (New Wat) The wat contains a unique glass-walled stupa

containing the bones of victims of the Khmer Rouge. Some of the bones were recovered from a nearby well while others are the remains of soldiers who died on a nearby battlefield. 500m west of the road to Angkor about 1.5km north of town. Then continue to visit the 7th world heritage, Angkor Wat a unique and stunning blend of spirituality and symmetry, an enduring example of man's devotion to his Gods. It is the largest and undoubtedly the most breath taking of the monuments of Angkor and it is widely believed that it is the largest religious structure in the world until sunset.

Overnight in Siem Reap

Meals included:

Breakfast at the hotel

Day 11

Breakfast will be at hotel.

In the morning, we will drive to visit the Banteay Srei, the beautiful ‘Women’s Citadel’.

Located 37 kms. From Siem Reap town, this was Cambodia's last major Khmer temple to be re-discovered. This temple has the best engravings among all the ruins and was used in the film ‘Lara Croft Tomb Raider’. Then the way back, you can visit local village called “Preah Dak Vilage”. Preah Dak Village is a famous and popular place for souvenirs such as objects and arts. Visitors can discover beautiful places and natural life mixed with souvenirs shops. Most things are handmade. It is located in the east of

grand circuit at Angkor on the communication road to Phnom Kulen in the North. Then we will stop and visit to Banteay Samre built in the third quarter of the 12^th century.

In the afternoon, explorer to grand circle: Preah Khan temple, built by the King

Jayavarman VII and, like Ta Prohm, a place of towered enclosures and shoulder-hugging corridors. Ta Som temple, East Me Bon, is a large temple-mountain-like ruin, rising three levels and crowned by five towers.

Jayavarman IV, a usurper to the throne, moved the capital from Angkor to Kh Ke in

928AD. Sixteen years later Rajendravarman II returned the capital to Angkor and shortly thereafter constructed East Mebon on an island in the middle of the now dry Eastern Bary. The temple is dedicated to Shiva in honor of the king’s parents. Then move to the major Pre Rup temple, built by Rajendravarman II in late 10th century. Architecturally and artistically superior temple-mountain. Beautiful carved false door on upper level, as well as an excellent view of the surrounding countryside. Richly detailed well-preserved carvings, particularly on the lintels. Traditionally believed to be a funerary temple, but in fact the state temple of Rajendravarman II.

Overnight in Siem Reap

Meals included:

Breakfast at the hotel

Day 12

Breakfast at the hotel. Enjoy your free time then catch your flight to Saigon. 

Overnight in Saigon

Meals included:

Breakfast at the hotel

Day 13

Breakfast will be at the hotel.

Morning drive to Cu Chi Tunnels – the network of over 200 km of tunnels became legendary when they played a vital role in the War. In their heyday, the tunnels were functioning underground cities including numerous trap doors, specially constructed living areas, storage facilities, weapons factories, field hospitals, command centers & kitchens.  

After a short introduction video showing how the tunnels were constructed, you will have a chance to crawl into a short section of the tunnels to feel the oppressive narrowness and heat inside. 

Back to Ho Chi Minh city, and start city tour at the Reunification Palace, the witness of the fierce Vietnam War ended in 1975. The grand building today is a Museum and Hall of official receptions. Nearby the Palace are the Notre Dame Cathedral (view from outside only), built between 1877 and 1883 and colonial-styled Central Post Office, one of the city’s major landmarks. 

Shopping at Ben Thanh market, then back to hotel and take rest. 

Accommodation at hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.

Meals included:

Breakfast at hotel

Lunch at a local restaurant

Day 14

Breakfast will be at the hotel.

At 8:00, leave your hotel and head to My Tho, where you'll see vibrant countryside scenes and picturesque rice fields along the way. When you arrive, hop on a boat for a Mekong River tour, stopping at villages (islets) to discover local life. Visit a coconut candy workshop, learn how it's made, then stroll through the village and take a horse-drawn carriage ride to try fresh honey and seasonal fruits while enjoying traditional folk music.

Next, take an adventurous boat ride through palm-fringed creeks to Turtle Island, a beautiful natural spot. Have a tasty traditional lunch with a specialty of the Mekong Delta – Deep fried elephant ear fish and other local dishes.

In the afternoon, return to Ho Chi Minh City. If you're interested, make a stop to visit Vinh Trang Pagoda, a stunning ancient pagoda in the Mekong Delta.

Transfer to Tan Son Nhat International Airport for your departure flight back home.

Meals included:

Breakfast at hotel

Lunch at a local restaurant

14 Days The Pearl of Indochina

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Package price for 4–star 

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