From Vietnam to Cambodia through Mekong River 16 days (ATD-M06)

Upon arrival at Hanoi International Airport, you are greeted by your tour guide and driver and then taken to your hotel by private transfer. You might like to visit Hoan Kiem Lake, a short walk from your hotel. It’s beautifully lit up at night.

Overnight in Hanoi

After breakfast you will leave the busy streets of Hanoi behind, bound for the serenity of Halong Bay where you will discover the UNESCO World Heritage-listed landscapes. The limestone karsts and tropical islets rising up from the emerald waters provide an ethereal backdrop for your leisurely cruise.

Once there, you’ll be welcomed aboard your traditional-style Vietnamese Junk boat, each with its own individual route, to begin your cruise around the bay’s rocky islands and hidden caves.

After lunch on board, you will take a small boat transfer to the Tien Ong Cave and Cua Van Fishing Village, whose residents still live in traditional floating houses.

Return to your Junk boat for a cooking demonstration with the chef or enjoy a mesmerising sunset on the top deck before enjoying a scrumptious dinner and a peaceful overnight stay in this UNESCO-listed natural wonder.

Note: If your time permits, we would highly recommend an additional night on board which gives you a lot more time to relax and take in the amazing landscape. You’ll get to cruise deeper into the Bay where it’s more beautiful and less crowded. 

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight on board in Halong Bay

The graceful practice of Tai Chi eases you into your day as is the local custom. Join a ‘Local Specialist’ on the deck of the Junk boat for a morning class in exquisite natural surrounds. You’ll have time for an early morning swim at one of Halong Bay’s quiet beaches and, if you’re feeling energetic, a brisk walk to catch one last view of scenic Halong Bay before your drive to Hanoi.

You will be at your leisure until the driver picks you up from your hotel and transfer you to the railway station to take the night train to Hue.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight on train (soft sleeper cabin with AC)

Arrive in Hue by late morning, you will be picked up by your private driver and transferred to the hotel for leaving luggage (check-in time is normally from 14.00).

After breakfast at the hotel, you will embark on a city tour exploring Hue’s famous royal tombs, illustrious examples of the Grand Dynasty’s past, and garden houses. First, you visit Minh Mang’s tomb that is located in a tranquil setting of gardens and ponds. The next stop is the Emperor Khai Dinh Mausoleum, considered one of the most beautiful and picturesque works of architecture of the Nguyen Dynasty. You will visit a local workshop where you can see how incense sticks and traditional conical hats are made. After that get back to your hotel where the balance of the day is free at your leisure.

Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight in Hue

After breakfast, you will continue exploring Hue. Your day will start with a short visit to Thanh Toan Village, where we can see the lively morning market. This is where the locals come to buy their daily food. Nearby are the 300-year-old Thanh Toan bridge and a Cultural Museum where you can visit and talk to the locals.

Take a traditional dragon boat trip on poetic Perfume River, stop to visit Thien Mu (Celestial Lady) Pagoda. This iconic seven-story pagoda is regarded as the unofficial symbol of the city, overlooking the River. You will also see the Austin car which took Monk Thich Quang Duc to HCMC, where he famously set himself on fire in 1963 as a dramatic protest against the unfair treatment of Buddhists by the Diem regime. The photo of his self-immolation is one of the most well-known images of the war.

Continue on to the Hue Royal Complex, former home to the Nguyen Dynasty, the last Monarchy of Vietnam from 1802 – 1945. You will explore the ancient Citadel which contains the former Imperial Palace and the Forbidden Purple City.

For lunch, it will be your choice of one of below options:

Option 1: Taste Hue local food, special cake such as Banh Beo, Nam, Loc…(water fern cake, steamed rice pancake with shrimp and rice dumpling cake ) made by rice flour.  And try Bun Bo Hue (Hue beef noodle soup) in Dong Ba Market, where you can see a lot of ingredients for food, and explore the local life.

Option 2: Feast on a vegetarian meal prepared by nuns at Dong Thuyen Pagoda, a temple located on the top of a hill with a fantastic view. Visit the kitchen to see how your meal is prepared in a wood-burning stove, then dig into your food in the company of the nuns who made it. Take the opportunity to learn about Buddhism or just get to know your friendly hosts

After Lunch, you will drive south to Da Nang and Hoi An. During the trip, you will enjoy one of the most scenic drives over Hai Van Pass, where you can stop to enjoy the spectacular coastline, Lang Co Beach and Da Nang city. Reaching Da Nang, you will stop to climb up the Marble Mountain, a cluster of five hills made from limestone and marble in Da Nang. It’s also a well-known pilgrimage site with peaks, caves, tunnels, and temples all just waiting to be discovered. Reaching the summit, where you can enjoy spectacular panoramic views.

Continue to drive to Hoi An. From the 16th to the 18th century, Hoi An was a thriving international commercial port. Today it is a quaint riverside town popular with tourists for its eclectic architecture, tailor shops, and cafes.

Arrive and check into the hotel nearby Hoi An Ancient Town. Spend the rest of the day at leisure.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight in Hoi An

A charming town, Hoi An is perfect for you to spend a day wandering around, exploring things by yourself. You can choose to relax at An Bang beach, 5 km away from the Old town. The optional experience below can be your choice.

After breakfast, you will check out and be driven to the airport for a short flight to Ho Chi Minh City (also known as Saigon).

Upon arrival, you will be picked up by your driver and transferred in a private vehicle to your hotel for check-in.

After a short rest you will embark on a guided tour visiting the city’s major top attractions;

Notre Dame Cathedral was constructed between 1863 and 1880 by French colonists. It is a famous Romanesque cathedral in Southern Vietnam. Notre Dame Cathedral is also in the center of the Paris square, France.

General Post Office is one of the oldest buildings in Ho Chi Minh City. It was built between 1886 and 1891, based on Gustave Eiffel’s design, a famous French architect and has become the busiest post office in Vietnam. Here you can send postcards, buy stamps and books, change money, buy souvenirs and enjoy the elegant architecture. At first sight, visitors may feel they are seeing an old 20th-century railway station in Europe!

Reunification Palace (formerly known as Independence Palace) has stayed in the mind of many generations. It is a famous historical building that went through the two wars. It displays many pictures, weapons, and other artifacts in the basement under the palace.

War Remnants Museum is the most popular tourist attraction in Ho Chi Minh City. The atmosphere inside the newly-renovated museum is quiet and hushed. The museum shows the horrors and the effects of war on the people. Especially, the victims of the chemical of Agent Orange and the tiger cage display of Vietnam.

Jade Emperor Pagoda or Phuoc Hai pagoda was built by the city’s Cantonese community at the beginning of the 20th century. This is one of the most attractive pagodas in the city, dedicated to various Cantonese divinities, in a mixture of Taoism and Buddhism styles.

End your day with a short visit Ben Thanh Market. These vendors sell a variety of products, such as seafood, vegetable, daily tools, clothes. You can find everything in a genuine Vietnamese market at affordable prices.

Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight in HCM City

After breakfast, we will travel over 80 kilometers to the legendary Cu Chi Tunnels, which was built by the Viet Cong in the war battles for the South of Vietnam. The tunnels are a sobering insight into the dedication of the Viet Cong who lived almost entirely underground in the narrow and claustrophobic tunnels, for up to 10 years!

Upon arrival, you will have a chance to watch a brief video that will introduce you to the Cu Chi tunnels, followed by a walk through the reserve. In this walk, you can see the Secret Entrance to the tunnels, workshops for the handmade weapons, the clinic bunker, the commander bunker, the meeting bunker and the kitchen bunkers, which are all open and above ground. Nearby is a chilling exhibition of the traps and weapons used during the war. You can also experience the Cu Chi tunnels by crawling inside to see how difficult life must have been, and discover the 3 levels underground. Additionally, the small replica displayed outside will give you a perfect example of what the interior looked like.

For those who do not like the claustrophobic atmosphere, you will not have to crawl into these tunnels! The small replica displayed outside will give you a perfect example of what the interior looked like.

Finish the tour and return to your hotel in the city. The remainder of the day will be free at your leisure.

Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight in HCM City

After breakfast, you will depart for a two-hour drive to Ben Tre Town, in the Mekong Delta, popularly known as the “rice bowl” of Vietnam, and is famous for its vast rice fields, orchard farms, coconut trees, numerous waterways, and beautiful landscapes.

Upon arrival you will embark on a motorized boat trip around the scenic Ben Tre River, viewing various local industries along the way. During the boat ride, you will stop to visit the small local factories where bricks and sleeping mats are made. Take a leisure walk along the village lanes visiting the local homes to try dry fruits, taste honey tea while enjoying a local Tai Tu music show. Continue to visit a coconut mill workshop where the local delicacy of coconut candy is produced and a range of coconut husk and fiber products are skillfully handcrafted.

You next take a small sampan boat through palm-fringed back canals, gliding peacefully along the hidden waterways surrounded by an immense variety of tropical plants. The quiet, rural setting is a welcome and restorative retreat to the frenetic buzz of Ho Chi Minh City which seems far, far away.

Enjoy sitting in the back a Motor Cart (xe lôi) passing rice and vegetable orchard farms while meeting with local people. Then head to a local restaurant for a simple lunch, after which you will be driven toward Can Tho city, located in the heart of the Mekong Delta.

Arrive and check into the hotel. The rest of the day is free at your leisure. You can stroll around the town, enjoy the sunset or visit Can Tho night market for some fun shopping.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight in Can Tho

After having breakfast, embark on a leisurely boat trip to explore the picturesque tributaries of the Lower Mekong River, visit Cai Rang floating market which is the liveliest in the whole Can Tho City. Stop at a local workshop to see how vermicelli soup is made. Wander around the village and meet the friendly local people and see a “Monkey bridge” – A bridge was built by only one stem of bamboo.

After lunch at a local restaurant, you will continue to Chau Doc to visit Tra Su Bird Sanctuary. You will take a boat to explore the arrays of splendid canals deep in the forest, watching storks, cranes, and other tropical birds. End your day with a short visit to Sam Mountain and the Cave pagoda. Here you will enjoy a lovely sunset watch and then transfer to Nui Sam Lodge for check-in.

Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight in Chau Doc

Depart early in the morning for a 4-hour boat ride to Phnom Penh. A stop will be made at Vietnam & Cambodia border for clearing immigration and completing visa formalities and then continue to Cambodia.

Upon arrival in Phnom Penh, you’ll be welcomed by the local guide and driver and transferred to the hotel for check-in.

Phnom Penh was once considered as one of the most beautiful cities in the Orient and, despite its recent turbulent history, it still retains a colonial charm. Cambodia’s capital is a bustling city, majestically located at the confluence of the mighty rivers of the Mekong and Tonlé Sap. Wide tree-lined boulevards and many colonial-era buildings reflect the glorious days and add to the allure of the city, where Asian and Western traditions meet in a fascinating way.

After a short rest, meet your tour guide again and embark on a guided tour to the most remarkable sights of Phnom Penh.

First, you will head to Wat Phnom Temple, the founding place of the city on a small hilltop. Then continue along the riverfront to the Royal Palace. This palace dates back to 1866 and houses the Silver Pagoda, named for the over 5,000 heavy silver tiles that cover its floors. Its original name is Wat Prakeo, meaning Temple of the Emerald Buddha. In this temple, view a collection of Buddhas in gold, silver, crystal, and bronze.

The next stop will be Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, one of the hundreds of detention and interrogation centers created all over Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge who gave the former high school the sinisterly innocuous name S-21 where countless thousands of Cambodians were ruthlessly processed until they were dead.

Late in the afternoon, head to the riverside area of Phnom Penh, a pleasant French style promenade that is great for people viewing. In the early evening (and morning) various activities take place include exercise classes, Khmer dancing and plenty of snacking on local food. You can participate in a Khmer dance class which is a lot of fun for all! Have dinner at one of the many great restaurants at the riverfront.

Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight in Phnom Penh

After breakfast and check out take a scenic 5-hour bus ride from Phnom Penh to Siemreap. The bus will stop at Street Side Restaurant for a restroom and where you can find your own meals or snack before continuing on to Siemreap.

Arrive Siem Reap around midday and check into the hotel. The remainder of the day will be free at your leisure. You can stroll around the old town, visit the Pub Street and Siem Reap night market.

Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight in Siemreap

*** Note: Those who are not interested in the road trip, flight Phnom Penh – Siemreap can be arranged with a surcharge

Start your day by a guided tour to the ancient city of Angkor Thom, the last capital of the Great Khmer Empire under the reign of Jayavarman VII. This city is surrounded by an 8m high wall, drawing a perfect square. Enter the city through the ancient South Gate, an impressive stone gate carved with Elephants and four giant faces. On each side of the entrance path – a row of 54 gods or demons is holding the sacred Naga snake.

Continue on to the incredible Ta Prohm temple, built in the mid-12th to early 13th centuries. Ta Prohm is unique in that it has been left largely as it was found overgrown by jungle trees and vines, with many parts of the temple crumbling to the ground.

Lunch at a local restaurant.

In the afternoon, you will visit the legendary Angkor Wat. Inside the temple, the walls are covered with stone carvings and bas-reliefs depicting Hindu mythology and the wars Suryavarman II fought during his reign. Angkor Wat is well known for the more than 2,000 Apsara dancers decorating the temple.

End the day with a beautiful sunset view from the top of Phnom Bakheng hill. Once the sun has set, you will head back to town.

Time is on your own in the evening.

Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight in Siemreap

After breakfast, you will embark on an interesting boat trip on Tonlé Sap Lake (Kampong Phluk area), where you will have the opportunity to learn about life on the lake. Tonle Sap is South East Asia’s largest freshwater lake with its size varying greatly depending on the season, as it swells to about four times its size during the wet season. Continue your boat trip to visit Kampong Phluck, a village where you will see houses on stilts that are submerged when Tonlé Sap Lake swells. On the way, you will pass floating houses and impressive flooded forests, portraying life on the water.

Return to Siem Reap town for lunch and to rest for a while.

In the afternoon, you will be taken on a drive through the countryside to a local village, a beautiful small farming village where life revolves around the seasons and family, located approximately 15 minutes outside of Siem Reap. Here you will be taken on an incredible walking tour through the village and the local community, learning about their simple way of life, meet local people and you will probably want to chat with them or help them with gardening works or help grow vegetables in the gardens. The village tour guide will explain to you about Cambodian daily lifestyle, customers, cultures, and superstitions. You will also stop at a local pagoda for an intimate monk blessing (water blessing), wishing you good health and a safe journey – a very special experience!

This is a wonderful village tour that provides a lot of photo opportunities and local experiences. End of the trip, you will enjoy seasonal fruits & fresh coconut juice at a host family’s house before transferring back to the hotel. The rest of the day will be on your own.

*** Note: Today we recommend you to have proper clothes if you want to join the monk blessing at the local temple.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight in Siemreap

Your private transfer greets you at the hotel after breakfast and escorts you to Siem Reap International Airport where you board your flight home or travel on to more adventures, we will help you with the planning.

Meals included: Breakfast