Overview
Day 1: Arrival at Ho Chi Minh City/Vespa Adventure (L, D, G)
Day 2: Ho Chi Minh City/Cu Chi Tunnel by speed boat/Hanoi (B, L, D, G)
Day 3: Hanoi/Hoa Lu/Tam Coc/Hanoi (B, L, D, G)
Day 4: Hanoi/Ha Long (B, L, D, G)
Day 5: Ha Long Bay/Hanoi Departure (B, L, D, G)
Itinerary
Arriving at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City at 7.10am, you’ll be met and driven directly to your hotel.
(Check in time 14.00, early check in can be arranged with a supplement)
You’ll visit the Museum of War Remnants provides a very partial, but riveting, perspective of the ‘American War’: not for the squeamish!
After lunch, you’ll also call in at the . It’s one of the best Taoist temples in Vietnam, with superb effigies, remarkable carved panels of the descent to Hell and somewhat incongruous terrapin and tortoise sanctuaries.
In the evening, at 18.00, you’ll then be picked up at hotel for Vespa tour. Your first stop is to Café zoom to "watch the world goes by" (quoted by The Lonely Planet) and enjoy cocktail and appetizer (inclusive) before adventuring into favourite local eating spot. You’ll experience the nightlife of Saigon the way locals do, all from the back of a vintage Vespa scooter. Then the tour will continue to a hidden Vietnamese-style coffee shop to have a taste of Vietnamese music (live) as a local. Your overnight stay will be in Ho Chi Minh City.
• The tour will start with a ride to part Chinatown and then heading to District 4 through busy streets and alleys to see the night life of locals and enjoy street sea- food and cold drinks, places that foreigner won't be found. Leaving district 4 to district 3 the tour pass through downtown district 1 to take in the sights on the way to Banh Xeo, specialty of Saigon, and southern food with the locals.
After breakfast, at 09.00 your guide will meet you at your hotel lobby and drive you to board your speedboat at Ho Chi Minh City’s central pier. Within just 15 minutes cruising, you’ll begin to see the riverbanks transition from city buildings to lush jungle. Fresh pastries and local fruits will be served with Vietnamese coffee on the boat, as your guide explains some of the rural traditions and unique aspects of riverbank life. You will arrive at the Cu Chi Tunnels much earlier than people traveling by car, and will thus be able to enjoy the site while it is quiet. Explore the Byzantine maze of underground passages, chambers, rooms and booby traps used by both the Vietminh and the Viet Cong to suddenly materialize as if from nowhere, launch a lightning ambush, and vanish with equal rapidity. You’ll be back Ho Chi Minh City by speedboat.
You’ll be driven directly to the airport to take your flight to Hanoi (17.45-19.50).
Arriving Hanoi, you’ll be driven to your hotel. You’ll be free for leisure until you are driven to local restaurant for dinner. You’ll spend the night in Hanoi.
In the morning, you’ll be picked up to travel to Tam Coc (three caves), a peaceful valley among limestone ‘karst’ hills. There, you’ll be rowed along a gentle river between paddy fields and through the caves. On the way, you’ll be in a racing to find treasure. The more treasure you find the more opportunity you will be a winner.
On the way back, you’ll disembark for a pleasant stroll (about 2km) through the rural scenery to Thien Cave to have lunch (private area) with traditional music.
After lunch, you’ll take a short distance Ox-cart from Thai Vi temple to the bridge. Your car will be waiting to take you to Mua cave.
Hike up entrance zigzags with a 476-step trek to the pagoda at the top of the hill to see spectacular views where the tour boats go on the Ngo Dong River
In the late afternoon, you’ll return to Hanoi for dinner. You’ll spend the night in Hanoi.
After breakfast, you’ll leave for Ha Long Bay, one of the most spectacular UNESCO World Heritage Sites and the world’s largest marine limestone ‘karst’ landscape. There you’ll board Au Co cruise that takes you first through Bai Tu Long Bay while your on-board lunch is served. At Cua Van Fishing Village, you can kayak through the floating village or ride on sampans rowed by the villagers. Returning to the boat, you’ll have some time to relax, and later you can join a cooking demonstration for Vietnamese traditional dishes. Relax after dinner (dinner is served in cave or on the beach). The cruise will anchor in a quiet location for your overnight stay.
• Cua Van Floating Fishing Village is the largest of 4 floating fishing villages on the bay. Please note that kayaking is optional upon request, and at an extra charge.
• For your two-day Ha Long excursion, you'll board the Au Co Cruise which has an impressive external steel structure. It’s based on innovative and luxurious Oriental design. The boat has 32 Luxury Cabins and Suites including 14 Deluxe cabins, 2 Grand Deluxe cabins, 12 Executive cabins, 2 Long Quan Suites, and 2 Au Co Suites. She can accommodate a maximum of 70 people.
• The ship is a remarkable 55.29m in length and 10.43m in width. Each of her 32 spacious cabins has its own private balcony or terrace, allowing unparalleled private views of the surrounding seascape. Each of the cabins and suites is tastefully appointed with timber floors, handcrafted wooden mosaic furniture and elegant interiors. Each cabin features individual climate-control thermostats, telephone, MP3 speakers, in-cabin refrigerator, coffee/tea maker, safe box and hair dryer. The luxurious bathrooms are extremely well appointed with deluxe bathroom amenities.
You’ll awake to the fresh air of the bay, and can take a swim or enjoy a Tai Chi session on the large sundeck (beginners welcome!) After a light breakfast of pastries and tea or coffee, you’ll Visit Surprise cave –the most beautiful cave in the Bay. After that, you’ll return to the junk and enjoy brunch while cruising back to the main dock at 10.30, and around noon you’ll leave for Hanoi.
Arriving Hanoi, you’ll visit the Temple of Literature, the first university in Vietnam dating back to the 11th century. You’ll visit Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum (outside only) then cruise ride around the Colonial and Old Quarters (1 hour) on a cyclo to discover the city’s architectural mixture of French colonial style, social realism (mostly public buildings - designed or influenced by the USSR), pagodas and communal houses with many Chinese features, merchants’ residences, ‘tube’ dwellings, modern buildings and vernacular houses.
You’ll have a dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant until you are driven to the airport to take your departure flight in the evening.
(Check out time 14.00, late checkout can be arranged with a supplement)
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Package name: Highlights of Vietnam Incentive Tour 5 days 4 nights