Day 1: Saigon arrival (D)
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Saigon is a fast growing city, which is changing day by day and recognized by high buildings and big roads. The ongoing changes in economy have given the city a really cosmopolitan and dynamic character.
Upon arrival at Saigon’s Tan Son Nhat Airport, our guide and driver will welcome you and transfer you to your hotel. Tonight, there a romantic dinner with 2 –hour cruising on Saigon River and starting your great moments together in Vietnam.
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Day 2: Free day (B)
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Free day at leisure. You can stroll around the city or enjoy spa treatments for couples at hotel.
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Day 3: Saigon –Can Tho with Bassac Classic (B, L, D)
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At 7:30 hours, picked up at the hotel and driven straight to Can Tho. Boarding at Ninh Kieu pier at noon, start to get acquainted with friendly crew, receiving information of the ship and then check into the cabins. Departure downstream of the Hau River and touring near Tra On floating market. Lunch on board while en route.
Branching into Nicolai canal, towards the Mang Thit and Co Chien Rivers. Rest on the upper deck or enjoy the open bar in scenery of rice fields, sugar cane, woods on the near banks.
Visit of a village on the banks of river Mang Thit, an opportunity to appreciate the way of life and hospitality of the local inhabitants. Visit of the orchard or rice fields nearby.
Boarding back, complimentary drink as a welcome back on board. Open bar and rest on the deck enjoying the sunset. The crew will serve dinner while the Bassac is cruising Mang Thit River towards her anchorage point for the night.
The Bassac sets anchor for the night on river Mang Thit.
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Day 4: Cai Be –Saigon (B, L, D)
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06:30 Departure towards Cai Be. The passengers take their breakfast while enjoying the scenery on the banks. The Bassac crosses Co Chien River then branches into Cho Lach canal for 30 minutes through the traffic of sand and rice barges, in a scenery of fruit drying facilities and wooden ship building yards.
Arrival in Cai Be, check-out and boarding of a local boat for a tour of Cai Be floating market and handicraft. Transfer back to Saigon and drop off at your hotel.
Tonight, we enjoy a local seafood dinner. After dinner, we continue to a famous tea salon presenting the creations of a Vietnamese fashion designer Si-Hoang. Si Hoang is known for inventing the “modern” Vietnamese Ao Dai (traditional Vietnamese dress), by making it more fitted to the modern life without removing its traditional gracefulness. In an unforgettable atmosphere, enjoy floral scented tea, traditional music and a fashion show of Vietnamese Ao Dai and ethnic costumes, all designed or restored by Si Hoang. Transfer to the hotel for your relaxation.
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Day 5: Saigon –Mui Ne (B)
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At 9am, we spend a 4- hour journey to Mui Ne, which is famous with romantic and unique wedding photos. Checking in hotel, you are free for relaxation.
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Day 6: Mui Ne (B)
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In the morning, you will be transferred to the famous Poshaknu Cham Towers, one of the masterpieces of Cham Empire which flourished during the 8th century. These Hindu towers are on a small hilltop that overlooks the entire town. Surely we can not miss Ong Hoang Building and especially the enormous Sand Dunes for impress and artistic pictures.
Rest of the day, you can enjoy the resort facilities or water sports available.
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Day 7: Mui Ne –Dalat (B)
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After breakfast, we are on 5 to 6 –hour journey to Dalat, a very popular honeymoon destination for Vietnamese local people. After check –in in your hotel, you then can be free to walk leisurely around the city, drink coffee at local uphill restaurant, riding horse around the lake while enjoying this peaceful city.
In the evening, our guide picks you up for a dinner out.
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Day 8: Dalat from north to south (B, D)
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Today, we embark on the city tour to the most wanted places of Dalat.
East:
• Dalat railway station: remarkable with its architecture and its old steam locomotive. If wish, you can take the 7km train ride to Trai Mat through vegetable farms.
• Linh Phuoc Pagoda: 9km east from the center, the most colorful decorated temple of dalat, caved with tens of thousands of beer bottles and broken china wares.
North:
• Lat Village: visit Lat houses and study Lat culture.
South:
• Robin Hill: at 1650m, we will get the whole view of Dalat. And take a cable car to Tuyen Lam Lake, the nicest lake of Dalat
• Truc Lam Zen Monastery: the largest Zen Monastery of Vietnam
West:
• Bao Dai Summer Palace, where the last Emperor of Vietnam stayed and ruled his Vietnam from 1949 to 1954
• Crazy house: display proper art, architecture, different imagination.
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Day 9: Dalat with biggest falls (B, L, D)
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In the morning, we will drive out the highway toward Saigon for visits at Gouga and Pongour Waterfall, one of the biggest falls of the central highland. Back to Dalat for lunch, you can stop over at Chicken Village if desire.
In the afternoon, after lunch, we will take a drive to Lam Dong Museum housed in a lovely French style villa. Then we head to the Valley of Love, where you can take one –hour horse riding for nice photos. If time allowed, we can also pass by the XQ embroidery house nearby and enjoy the traditional music performance.
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Day 10: Dalat –Nha Trang (B)
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Today we have an early breakfast and then take another 6 –hour journey to Nha Trang. Upon arrival, you can relax at the beach or enjoy hotel facilities.
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Day 11: Nha Trang half day boat trip (B)
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Our guide will meet you at your hotel and then take a short drive to Cau Da Port for a visit at The Oceanographic Institute, which was built in 1922 to study the diverse marine life in this area. After that, we continue our trip with a boat cruise to Hon Tam Island, where we are free to enjoy different types of water sports such as Jet Ski, parasailing, volley-ball (your own account).
Leave Hon Tam, we boat to visit Tri Nguyen Aquarium, discover the “Gost” boat and study of sea creatures. Boarding our boat back to Cau Da port, our waiting vehicle will transfer us to hotel. Rest of the day you are free at leisure.
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Day 12: Nha Trang –flight to Danang (B)
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We say goodbye to our guide and take a morning flight to Danang. In Danang, we take another transfer to Hoi An. Overnight in Hoi An.
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Day 13: Hoi An (B)
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Today you can see the vestige of the mix combination of Chinese and Japanese architecture as well as traditional cultural values. In December, 1999 Hoi An is declared a Unesco World Heritage site.
Come to Hoi An, you will discover by yourself interesting proper character through walking tour to visit:
• The historical & cultural museum of Hoi An
• Phuoc Kien Chinese assembly hall
• Japanese Covered Bridge
• The typical oldest house of Phung Hung
• Enjoy a lively traditional music art performance & handicraft workshop
Besides, Hoi An is known as an ideal destination for shopping with a HUGE concentration of tailors. Skillful tailors are willing to make any piece of clothing in any design and in any fabric to fit you. Leaving places of interest, you will have free time for shopping and test your bargaining skill.
Rest of the time you can have cheerful time at Cua Dai beach. It is now time for swimming or walk leisurely on the sands.
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Day 14: Tra Que Village (B, L)
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At 9am, ride a bicycle to a local farm in Tra Que Village. Introduction to the history of the village, the cultivation of the vegetables as well as discovering about the use of vegetables in traditional Vietnamese medicine.
You will take a trip around the vegetable garden and join the farmers in preparing the land and fertilizing it with seaweed from the local lake. Continue doing activities such as: raking, sowing, watering greens, picking greens and many more gardening activities. Then spend the rest of the morning working the land in the time honoured way before break to prepare lunch with a local family. Your lunch will consist of many local delicacies including ‘tam huu' spring roll, Banh xeo or the local pancake of the people from the middle region
After lunch and the exertions of the morning, take an even more traditional Vietnamese post-prandial nap before learning how to harvest and wrap the vegetables.
Around 15.00, bid farewell to your host family before riding back to Hoi An, on the way back stop at Nhat tomb and Ba Le well. The tour finishes at 16h00.
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Day 15: Hoi An –flight to Hanoi (B, D)
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Today we take a flight to Hanoi. Upon arrival, we embark on city tour with Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum (outside) and “House on stilt” at the same area with the Presidential Palace and the famous One Pillar Pagoda. We also make a visit to the Temple of Literature – the first university of Vietnam, which is now dedicated to Confucian worship and “Hanoi Hilton” –a nick name given by US pilots during the war.
In the evening, we enjoy the water puppet show before a western dinner at elegant Press Club Restaurant.
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Day 16: Cooking Class (B, L)
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At 07.45, the guide will pick you up at your hotel and transfer to Hang Tre where we start a cyclo trip through the legendary streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter to Cho Hang Da (Hang Za Market) - in the event of rain it may be necessary to transfer by taxi.
Then our itinerary is followed:
08.20: Enjoy a market tour around Hang Da Market, one of only 3 retail markets remaining in Hanoi that operates in a traditional style.
09.00: A transfer from Hang Da Market to Highway4 restaurant, 575Kim Ma Street for the cooking class
09.15: Welcome drinks at Highway4; kit out in chef outfits, receive menu booklets.
09.30 -11.30: Cooking class. We will learn 3 dishes: Sycamore Nut Salad, Vegetarian Spring Rolls and Tofu sauteed with Seasonal Vegetables. Our chef will explain us step by step to prepare foods. Then you can practice and demonstrate your skill at the same time. During the class, you will taste all your products.
11.30: Lunch - feast on the dishes you have just prepared and get an introduction to Vietnamese dining style
12.30: End of program. We transfer back to hotel.
Rest of the day, you are free to explore Hanoi.
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Day 17: Hanoi –Halong Bay with Emeraude Cruises (B, L, D)
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Enjoy a refreshing cocktail upon boarding the Emeraude around noon at the Emeraude Pier. After checking in, have lunch at the restaurant.
Cruise among hundreds of islets to discover unspoilt pockets of Halong Bay and its remote, floating fishing villages. Kayak or swim from the vessel’s stern deck. At the Hang Trong anchorage, whet your appetite with an onboard cooking demonstration.
After sunset, enjoy dinner at the restaurant, before retiring to your cabin for a good night sleep or join the crew and learn squid fishing.
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Day 18: Halong Bay –Hanoi (B)
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Wake up the next morning at sunrise, practice Tai Chi on the sundeck, feel the early morning salt water scent; bask in the early sun rising from behind the mountains.
After an American buffet breakfast, check out at around 09:30 am and disembark at Emeraude Pier. Arrive back to Hanoi by noon.
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Day 19: Trip concluded (B)
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A transfer to Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport for your flight home.
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