Vietnam – Laos Discovery Tour 14 days

Upon your arrival at Tan Son Nhat airport, your tour guide and driver will greet you and escort you to your hotel, help with your check-in. The rest of day is for your relax.

Optional tour – Ho Chi Minh Vespa Tour: Experience as local people with a Vespa and escorted by a driver, visiting the city landmarks that give you a view of the city unlike anything on your Vietnam tour. Take a peek at the history, the streets and the sights that most visitors never even hear about or see. You will pass through the Chinese district of Saigon, stop to see a sweet smelling flower market and visit a breathtaking yet hidden Buddhist pagoda, Saigon Opera House & Post Office which were designed by Gustave Eiffel.

In the morning, drive outside of Ho Chi Minh City to visit the incredible Cu Chi Tunnels. The Cu Chi Tunnels are an underground labyrinth of passageways, used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War (or “American War” as it’s referred to here) as protection against American air raids. Those inclined are invited to crawl through selections of the tunnels to better understand what life was like for the Vietnamese soldiers during wartime.
In the afternoon, back to Sai Gon for a visit to the 19th century ‘Notre-Dame’ Cathedral, the beautiful Central Post Office which are fine examples of classical French colonial architecture. Continue with a tour of the former Presidential Palace (Reunification Palace), now preserved as a museum. After that, we finish the day by visiting the War Remnants Museum and the bustling Ben Thanh Market.

Today we will start our exploration of the Mekong Delta, a major rice producing area. This must be one of the most fascinating riverine deltas in the world. After breakfast, drive to Cai Be in the heart of the Mekong Delta. On arrival, we will make a boat trip to the Cai Be floating Market, visit villages and meet the people of the Mekong Delta. Along the way, stop at a candy factory and orchard garden, where you have an opportunity to listen to traditional music. Enjoy a relaxing lunch at a riverside restaurant, then cross the river by motorized boat to visit some fluvial islands and explore the countryside by bicycle. Then, get on pier at Vinh Long and drive to Can Tho for the night.

In the morning, we make the boat cruise to see the Cai Rang floating market (the nicest one with heaps of rowing boats), truly highlights of any Vietnam Tours where you will enjoy the beautiful scenery and see the daily activities of the locals who live along the Mekong canals. Then venture deeper into the country-side, passing traditional houses made of wood and palm leaves as you observe the activities of the local people. Return to Can Tho then drive back to Saigon, arriving in the late afternoon. Enjoy the rest of the day on your leisure

Enjoy some leisure time in Ho Chi Minh City before transferring to the airport for your internal flight to Danang. Upon your arrival at Da Nang airport, your tour guide and driver will greet you and escort you to Hoi An (about half an hour drive), help with your check-in in hotel.
Then, take a beautiful bicycle ride from your hotel to Tra Que vegetable village. Upon your arrival, enjoy cold towels & welcome drink before starting your farming tour using Vietnamese traditional hat and farmer’s clothes and taking part in farming activities such as: picking up seaweed, digging, land boarding, making beds and watering. After farming tour, soak foot, relax by some herb in Tra Que vegetable garden and enjoy a light food. We will also visit to the rice paper making village where you will be introduced and learnt how to wash the rice, soak the rice and grind the rice by traditional methods. At the end of your trip, join an interesting cooking class.

After this, take a walk in Hoi An town with visit the former merchants’ homes, the 400 year-old Japanese Covered Bridge, Phuc Kien Pagoda.

After breakfast, Visit to My Son Holy land in the morning, once the spiritual capital of Champa Kingdom that dominated South East Asia for nearly a thousand years and occupied most of the central parts of Vietnam from 2nd century to 16th century with very rich in history and culture.
In the afternoon, leave Hoi An for Hue, the last imperial capital of Vietnam, well-known for magnificent architecture, pagodas and royal tombs laid in small villages and surrounding hills and one of the most popular cities for all the Vietnam Tours. En route have a look at the famous Danang Beach and visit Cham Museum which contains the finest collection of Cham sculpture in the world.

Upon arrival, check in hotel and enjoy your free time.

After breakfast, spend an entire day touring the Vietnam’s former ancient capital. Start the day with a visit to the Imperial Citadel, home to the Imperial City and Forbidden Purple City – once the Emperor’s private residence. The Imperial Citadel gives you a better understanding of the beauty of Vietnamese Royal architecture and culture. Then we will take a beautiful dragon boat trip along Perfume River and visit to Thien Mu Pagoda – one of the most popular attractions in Hue. In the afternoon, continue on your tour with the visit to King Ming Mang and King Khai Dinh tombs which are the most beautiful works of royal architecture of the Nguyen dynasty.

Enjoy some leisure time in Hue before transferring to the airport for your internal flight to Hanoi. Upon your arrival at Hanoi airport, your tour guide and driver will greet you and escort you to your hotel, help with your check-in.

Then, Enjoy the food tour experience with a first visit to one of the local markets in the city to see all different kinds of food that used for a Vietnamese breakfast, lunch, dinner and understand more about life of Vietnamese.
Secondly, we walk to explore everyday life of Hanoian, try some more different dishes which are very special, popular and preferred such as: Banh Ran – Sticky rice pancake; Bun Cha – Hanoi Style Vermicelli with Grilled Pork; Hanoi grilled pork in stick; Banh My Pate – Stuffed French Baguette; Bia Hoi – Draught beer; Trung Vit Lon – Fertilized duck eggs; Egg coffee…
Finally, we will try Cha Ca – Fried Fish which is considered as one of the best dishes to try while you are traveling in Hanoi. This unforgettable Hanoi food tour will take about 4 hours and you will end the trip at your hotel.

After breakfast, you have a full day today to explore Vietnam’s charming capital. With its wide tree-lined boulevards, French colonial architecture, peaceful lakes and ancient oriental pagodas, Hanoi is an eclectic mix that offers something for everyone. Visit Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum and his personal residence, the One Pillar Pagoda and the Tran Quoc Pagoda. End the morning with a visit to the Museum of Ethnology (or Women Museum, History Museum, Hoa Lo Prison or Army Museum)
In the afternoon, visit the Temple of Literature, the first University for the sons of mandarins. Followed by a visit to Ngoc Son Temple nearby Hoan Kiem Lake. Enjoy a one-hour rickshaw sight-seeing tour around Hanoi Old Quarter for great fun. Then, watch a traditional water puppet show in the late afternoon. Back to your hotel, free at leisure and overnight in the hotel of Hanoi.

Note: please note Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum is closed on Monday and Friday and most of museums are closed on Monday.

We start at 8.00 A.M for the 3.5 hour drive (170 km) through the Red River Delta, which offers plenty of chances for taking photos of Vietnamese farmers tilling the vast green paddy fields. Stop at half way for taking a short break. Arrive at Halong City, check in and board your junk, enjoy approximately 24 hours journey in the amazing bay: a natural wonderland composed of jutting limestone islands and sparkling turquoise waters. Savor a gourmet lunch of fresh seafood onboard as we sail out into the mystical bay. In the afternoon, enjoy some activities in the bay, or just spend some time relaxing on board (Possibility to swim in the bay if weather permits). Dinner is served on board.

Note: Visits or activities will be slightly different depending on each junk’s itinerary. Your tour guide will be replaced by a local guide on board during your cruise.

Awake early and participate in Tai Chi on the top deck or simply relax and enjoy the sunrise over the bay’s towering islands. Enjoy a morning cup of coffee or tea, and a light breakfast before setting out to explore nearby islands by rowboat. Return to the junk then take advantage of the sundeck and admire the amazing rock formations of Bai Tu Long Bay as we navigate back to Halong City. Have brunch on board the boat before returning to Halong pier. Our guide and driver will meet you at the pier then drive back to Hanoi Airport for your flight to Luang Prabang (Laos). Arrival in Luang Prabang and transfer to our hotel for check-in.

Today, we enjoy a short-guided tour seeing the city’s oldest temple of Wat Sene and the magnificent Wat Xiengthong with its roofs sweeping low to the ground, which represents classical Laotian architecture. We then embark on a cruise upstream on the Mekong River, which also gives us a breathtaking view of the tranquil countryside as well as explore the mysterious Pak Ou Caves, two linked caves crammed with thousands of gold lacquered Buddha statues of various shapes and sizes left by pilgrims. Along the way, we stop at the village of Ban Xanghai, where they make the local rice wine. On return, we take a short drive to Ban Xangkhong, a village well known for its silk weavings and for its Saa (jute) Papermaking and Ban Phanom, a small village known for its hand weaving.

An optional early start gives you the fantastic opportunity to participate in the daily morning rituals of saffron-clad monks collecting offerings of Alms (ubiquitous sticky rice) from the faithful residents. This tradition is very unique in Laos, being the only Buddhist nation still preserving the procession.

From there you will visit the morning Phosi Market, where you will see such diverse offerings as dried buffalo skin, local tea and saltpeter among the chickens, vegetables and hill-tribe weavings. Laos is also known for its traditional crafts, and today you will visit local villages of Lao ethnic minority groups at Ban Ouay, Hmong Village, Ban Ou, Laoloum Village and Ban Thapene, Khmu Village, then drive to the beautiful Khouangsi Waterfall where you can cool off with a refreshing swim in the turquoise pools or walk along the forest trails. We return to the city by late afternoon to observe the sunset at Wat Phabath.

After breakfast, we visit 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 to the last sovereign. The tour ends after your transfer to the airport for departure. Good bye and see you again.