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Highlights: Hanoi - Thay & Tay Phuong Pagodas - Hoa Binh - Halong Bay - Hue - Danang - Hoi An - Danang - Pleiku - Buon Me Thuot – Lak Lake - Nha Trang - Phan Thiet - Ho Chi Minh City – Siem Reap Sightseeing - Angkor Temples - sightseeing
Itinerary
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Day 1: Hanoi - Arrival
Our guide will pick you up at Noi Bai International Airport and transfer to hotel. Dinner at local restaurant.
Evening: Enjoy Water puppet show, the unique Vietnamese traditional art.
Day 2: Hanoi - Thay & Tay Phuong Pagodas - Hoa Binh - Hanoi
Depart from Hanoi to Thay Pagoda (30 km southwest), home of the art of water puppetry. Continue to Tay Phuong Pagoda to discover the wonderful collection of Buddhist statues dating back to the 17th century. Proceed to Hoa Binh. Visit villages of Muong & Dzao ethnic minorities. Return to the hotel in Hanoi
Overnight at Zephyr Hotel 4 star in Hanoi " Guaranteed Hotel"
(Breakfast inclusive)
Day 3: Hanoi City tour
A full day tour around city: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (closed on Monday, Friday and the whole months of October and November) and his former residence, One-Pillar Pagoda, Temple of Literature, Quan Thanh Temple and the West Lake. Continue to visit Army Museum, Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple, discover the Old Quarters during a 1-hour cyclo ride.
Overnight at Zephyr Hotel 4 star in Hanoi " Guaranteed Hotel"
(Breakfast inclusive)
Day 4: Hanoi - Halong Bay - Hanoi
Drive to Halong Bay (165 km east of Hanoi), listed as a World Heritage Area of outstanding natural beauty. “Dragon descending to the sea“ as it is known in Vietnamese, picturesque Halong Bay has more than 1,000 limestone islets rising from the sea, many of them containing beautiful grottoes. Enjoy a relaxing 4-hour boat trip through Halong Bay, fresh Seafood lunch is prepared and served on board. Drive back to Hanoi in the late afternoon.
Overnight at Zephyr Hotel 4 star in Hanoi " Guaranteed Hotel"
(Breakfast, Sea food lunch inclusive)
Day 5: Hanoi - Hue
Morning at leisure until transfer to Hanoi domestic airport for flight to Hue, the former Royal City of the 13 ruling Nguyen dynasties. Drive to visit the Imperial Citadel – a similar but slightly scaled-down version of the Forbidden City in Beijing and Tu Duc Tomb – It’s one the most beautiful works of royal architecture of the Nguyen dynasty. The tomb lies in a boundless pine forest, 8 km from Hue.
Overnight at Imperial Hotel 5 star in Hue " Guaranteed Hotel"
(Breakfast inclusive)
Day 6: Hue - Danang - Hoi An
Boat trip on the Perfume River to visit Thien Mu Pagoda, one of the oldest ancient architectural structures for religious worship in Hue, then depart to Danang. The scenic 4-hour drive via Hai Van pass offers spectacular views of mountains, the sea, idyllic beaches and villages. Visit Cham Museum on the way. We continue further South to the charming historic city of Hoi An. Known to early Western merchants, Hoi An was one of the major trading centers of Southeast Asia in the 16th century. Hoi An has a distinctive Chinese atmosphere with low, tiled-roof houses and narrow streets; the original structure of some of these streets is still virtually intact. Many of the houses were constructed of rare timbers and decorated with lacquer panels engraved with Chinese characters and pillars carved with ornamental designs. During a leisurely discovery tour on foot you will visit some of the historic merchant and community houses, places of worship and famous bridges.
Overnight at Golden Sand resort 5 star in Hoi An " Guaranteed Hotel"
(Breakfast & lunch inclusive)
Day 7: Hoi An - Danang - Pleiku
At leisure until transfer to airport for flight to Pleiku. Meet and transfer to hotel for check in. Afternoon visit Bana and Dektu ethnic minorities villages.
Overnight in Pleiku in standard guesthouse
(Breakfast inclusive)
Day 8: Pleiku - Buon Me Thuot – Lak Lake
Depart Pleiku for Buon Me Thuot famous for its coffee plantations. On the way, visit a Banar village, then drive to Lak Lake. Take a scenic boat ride on dugout canoes (02 persons per canoe), which brings you to a village of ethnic M'nong people. Elephant ride back to the land.
This beautiful spot is awakening to tourism offering authentic experiences of hill-tribe life, along with increasingly comfortable accommodation choices. Lak Lake covers 600 hectares in the rainy season, but shrinks to 400 hectares surrounded by rice paddies in the dry. It was once full of crocodiles, but these have long since found their fate as shoes, handbags and taxidermied monstrosities, Located on the mountainous road between Dalat (154km southeast) and Buon Ma Thuot (50km north), the surrounding countryside is stunning.
Overnight at the hotel in Buon Me Thuot
(Breakfast inclusive)
Day 9: Lak Lake - Buon Me Thuot - Nha Trang
Drive back to Buon Me Thuot for a short visit of the Ethnographic Museum, which is housed in a Palace of former king Bao Dai. Take the scenic road towards the coastal plains to Nha Trang with a short stopover at Po Nagar Cham Towers, built between the 7th and 12th centuries. Upon arrive in Nha Trang, transfer to hotel for check in.
The Cham towers of Po Nagar (Thap Ba, the Lady of the City) were built between the 7th and 12th centuries, although the site was used for worship as early as the 2nd century AD. To this day Cham, ethnic Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhists come to Po Nagar to pray and make offerings, according to their respective traditions. This site has a continuing religious significance, so be sure to remove your shoes before entering.
Overnight at Sunrise Beach resort 5 star
(Breakfast inclusive)
Day 10: Nha Trang - Phan Thiet
We travel southwards, passing lush rice fields, salt ponds and dragon fruit plantations and break the journey at Phan Rang to visit the 13th century Po Klong Jarai Cham Towers, perched high on a rocky hill surrounded by prickly pear cacti. After a photo stop at the fishing harbor of Phan Thiet, we visit a local home, where the famous Nuoc Mam (fish sauce) is produced. Another stop will be at the vast sand dunes at Cap Mui Ne, which have inspired numerous photographers for many years.
Overnight at Victoria Phan Thiet Resort 4 star
(Breakfast inclusive)
Day 11: Phan Thiet - Ho Chi Minh City
Morning, depart Phan Thiet for drive to Ho Chi Minh City and enjoy City tour in the afternoon. We begin our Saigon experience with an orientation walk along the city's historic boulevards, passing some of its most interesting sights.
We wander Saigon's wide and historic boulevards,visiting famous landmarks such as Dong Khoi Street (formerly Rue Cantina), Hotel de Ville, the former Presidential Palace and the lively Chinatown district - Cholon. A pedicab tour in afternoon will give to you the feeling of Hochiminh' daily life
Overnight at Windsor plaza 5 star in Ho Chi Minh "Guaranteed Hotel"
(Breakfast inclusive)
Day 12: Ho Chi Minh - Siem Reap Sightseeing
Take a morning flight to Siem Reap, meet our guide and transfer to hotel.
In the same morning, visit Prasat Kravan with its unique brick sculptures and Ta Prohm. One of the area’s most beautiful temples, Ta Prohm has been relatively untouched since it was discovered and retains much of its mystery. Its appeal lies in the fact that, unlike the other monuments of Angkor, it was abandoned and swallowed by the jungle, looking very much the ways most of the Angkor temples appeared when European explorers first stumbled upon them.
Visit Preah Khan temple. Built by the King Jayavarman VII, Preah Khan is, like Ta Prohm, a place of towered enclosures and shoulders-hanging corridors. Unlike Ta Prohm, however, Preah Khan is in a reasonable state of preservation and ongoing restoration efforts should maintain and even improve this situation. Continue your visits to Neak Pean, a fountain built in the middle of a pool and representing the paradisiacal Himalayan mountain-lake and visit the temple of Ta Som as well as Srah Srang (“The Royal Baths”), undoubtedly used in the past for ritual bathing.
Overnight at Angkor Century Hotel 4 star in Siem Reap "Guaranteed Hotel"
(Breakfast inclusive)
Day 13: Angkor Temples - sightseeing
This morning, start the tour to visit the most famous of all the temples on the plain of Angkor: Angkor Wat.
The temple complex covers 81 hectares and is comparable in size to the Imperial Palace in Beijing. Its distinctive five towers are emblazoned on the Cambodian flag and the 12th century masterpiece is considered by art historians to be the prime example of classical Khmer art and architecture. Angkor Wat’s five towers symbolize Meru’s five peaks - the enclosed wall represents the mountains at the edge of the world and the surrounding moat, the ocean beyond.
Visit the ancient capital of Angkor Thom (12th century). See the South Gate with its huge statues depicting the churning of the ocean of milk, the Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas, the Elephants Terrace, the Terrace of the Leper King and Bayon Temple (unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces of Avolokitesvara), until sunset.
Overnight at Angkor Century Hotel 4 star in Siem Reap "Guaranteed Hotel"
(Breakfast inclusive)
Day 14: Siem Reap Sightseeing
Morning, transfer to Banteay Srei temple (10th century), regarded as the jewel in the crown of Classical Khmer Art. 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.
Continue to visit Banteay Samre, one of the most complete complexes at Angkor due to restoration using the method of “anastylosis”. The name Samre refers to an ethnic group of mountain people, who inhabited the region at the base of Phnom Kulen and were probably related to the Khmers. No inscriptions have been found for this temple, but the style of most of the architecture is of the classic art of the middle period similar to Angkor Wat. The proportions of Banteay Samre are splendid. A unique feature is an interior moat with laterite paving, which when filled with water must have given an ethereal atmosphere to the temple.
Overnight at Angkor Century Hotel 4 star in Siem Reap "Guaranteed Hotel"
(Breakfast inclusive)
Day 15: Siem Reap - departures
Morning free at leisure until transfer for departure flight. End of services.
(Breakfast inclusive)
Trip inclusive:
+ Accommodation at 4 or 5 star hotel
+ English Speaking guide
+ Meals as indicated in the itinerary
+ All tours & transfers in private Air-Con car
+ Admission fees and permits where applicable
+ Vietnam visa processing fees
+ Flight tickets: Hanoi – Hue; Danang – Pleiku; Ho Chi Minh – Siem Reap; Danang – Pleiku; Ho Chi Minh – Siem Reap
Trip exclusive:
. Pre/post trip arrangement
. Travel insurance
. Meals not indicated
. Other personal expenses
. Tips and gratuities
. Other flights
. Visa stamping fee (required at airport upon arrival)
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