Vietnam – Laos Family Tour from Sai Gon 16 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.

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.

Depart Saigon and drive south to Ben Tre, a province of Mekong Delta and is famous for its tropical fruit gardens and traditional handicrafts made of coconuts. Your first stop is a brick kiln to see how the locals still use traditional methods to make the bricks. Then board on your private boat and start cruising to My Long craft village, stop at local house to see how to make rice paper. Then continue to cruise coconut jungle to visit local coconut workshop to learn how coconut candy and coconut souvenirs are made by hand. Back on board for another short cruise to a small family-run mat workshop.

Afterward, get on tuk-tuk (or take a bike ride of 3 km) and travel along the narrow shady village roads to a tropical garden of a fruit farmer, enjoy a walk around his orchard. Chat with the farmer whilst tasting fresh seasonal fruits in his garden. Continue your leisure sight-seeing until reaching a charming local restaurant for lunch with Mekong specialties. After lunch, have a short break before getting on sampan for rowing through the idyllic water palm creek. Arrive at your main boat and cruise back to Hung Vuong Pier where your driver awaits for a drive to Can Tho. Arrive in Can Tho at your hotel where you will be free at leisure this evening.

Wake up early this morning for a more unique experience of the real Mekong Delta. A trip to Can Tho would not been considered finished if you miss the famous Cai Rang floating market. Board a local boat at Ninh Kieu pier and explore the colorful Cai Rang floating market, where many boats laden with fruits, vegetables and fish jostle for trade. Sellers advertise their wares by crying out across the waters or tie their goods to a tall pole attached to their boat so that buyers can see from a distance what is being sold. This memorable experience makes for many excellent photo opportunities. Relax and enjoy the cruise back to the hotel where we will freshen up before we check-out and return to Saigon. Lunch will be enjoyed at a local restaurant along the way (own account)

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.
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.

Our FARMING & FISHING LIFE TOUR provides you with a close-up and intimate exposure to both the local farming and fishing communities. The photo opportunities are endless.

Tour guide meets you at your hotel, cycle to a local farming village traveling along picturesque country roads (Bus or bike are option to choose to go). Share in the daily work life of local farmers – hoeing and a soil, watering veggie at an organic herb garden, riding water buffalo in the field and enjoy the freshest air of the countryside beauty. Board boat and cruise to the mouth of the river where it meets the Cua Dai Sea

Learn and try your hand at local traditional fishing techniques using round and cast nets. Learn to paddle the strange and unique Vietnamese bamboo basket boats. Explore the now tranquil coconut-palm flanked waterways of a past war and hear of the extreme conditions endured by soldiers on both sides. Have a relaxed fun with catching beautiful purple crabs on bamboo basket boat. Learn how to make an origami creations from reeds of palm leaves such as grasshopper , birds, ring, sunglass ,bracelets….etc Visit a local water coconut palm village, take a walk around the village and have some tea and snack with local talks.

Back on-board our boat, enjoy lunch and cold beer or soft drink. Return to hotel by coach.

Hoi An – highlight of any tour to Vietnam – is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique heritage site.

Day free to cycle through rice paddies in the countryside of Hoi An ancient town, shop for souvenirs among the antique shops and art galleries, or just sit at sidewalk cafes and soak up the atmosphere of this quaint town. Or relax on the white sandy beach of the famous Cua Dai Beach. Overnight in a Hoi An hotel.

After breakfast, 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 and Marble Mountain – a well-known pilgrimage site with peaks, caves, tunnels and temples.

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.