Highlights of Vietnam and Cambodia 15 days

Transfer to the spectacular UNESCO World Heritage site, Halong Bay.

• Your cruise will navigate to Bai Tu Long Bay, a well-selected route away from the main tourist circuit. Get ready to experience the bay’s treasures and enjoy your time away from the crowd on a traditional wooden boat.
• Adventure within the fantastically formed Thien Canh Son Cave and be fascinated by the formations of the bay.
• Participate in kayaking, swimming or relax on the white sand beach of Hon Co Island.
• Taste skillfully prepared local seafood and settle into your cabin while the boat anchors for the night.

Highlight experience: Escape the crowd and relax in the Bai Tu Long Bay

For the final day in the bay, you will adventure through activities that become memories:

• Delight in breakfast with an astonishingly enchanting view under the morning sun
• Help the local people replace the soft float by plastic float to protect the environment in Halong Bay
• Visit the Vung Vieng fishing and pearl farm via a rustic row-boat
• Dive and dip into the refreshing bay
• Indulge in lunch and appreciate the local ingredients used to craft the dish
• Return to the port in the early afternoon to travel back to Hanoi

Highlight experience: Breakfast in breathtaking surroundings

Begin the journey by unraveling Vietnamese culture, history, and religion in the capital of Vietnam with Hanoi’s highlights:

• Ho Chi Minh complex which includes the mausoleum for the nation’s hero-Ho Chi Minh, his modest former residence, the Presidential Palace, and the One Pillar Pagoda
• The Temple of Literature, a fine example of traditional Vietnamese architecture founded in 1070 by Emperor Ly Thanh Tong, and dedicated to Confucius to honor literary scholars. Vietnam’s first university was also established here in 1076
• The museum of your choice either the National Fine Arts Museum, the Ethnology Museum, or the Vietnamese Women Museum

Settle into an evening flight from Hanoi to Hue. Arrive and be welcomed by our guide at the airport and be transferred to your arranged accommodation.
Highlight experience: Explore Northern Vietnamese historical and traditional culture

The cultural and geographical center of Vietnam, Hue has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the ancient relics, historical monuments, and fine continuation of imperial traditions. Discover Hue, Vietnam’s former capital, built by the Nguyen Dynasty:

• Stroll through the Imperial Citadel
• Visit Thanh Tien village – a village that has been crafting paper flowers for 400 years
• Experience a conical hat and incense-making village
• Have a look at the mausoleum of Khai Dinh, the final emperor’s resting place
• Explore the Thien Mu pagoda – the symbol of Hue city
• Admire the garden-style homes at An Hien

Highlight experience: Make traditional Vietnamese conical hats

Take a drive to Hoian via the Hai Van Pass, known as “the pass in the clouds”, which offers spectacular views.

Take in a breath of fresh air that is the riverside port town of Hoian:

• Stroll through the delightful trading port and see the remaining century-old buildings in Hoian
• Appreciate Hoian’s narrow alleys, charming homes with wooden balconies, fascinating architectural features, beautiful temples, and the famous covered Japanese Bridge
• Visit a lantern factory where you can make your own lantern
• Discover the historic port of Hoian, that is lit up at dusk by hundreds of beautifully colored lanterns that create spectacular photo opportunities

Highlight experience: Make your own illuminating lanterns

• Seize the day and really immerse yourself in the ancient grandeur of Hoian.
• Tread well-worn trading paths and note the multitude of cultural architectural influences; Chinese, Portuguese, French and more!
• Saunter around this “living museum” and breathe in the fresh riverside air.

Highlight experience: Free time in Hoian

Settle into an evening flight from Hoian to Saigon. Arrive and be welcomed by our guide be transferred to the center to experience the expanding cosmopolitan city.

Saigon (currently Ho Chi Minh city) varies from the rest of Vietnam due to its modern flair. Various cultures mesh together to create a colourful city with foreign influences:

• The War Remnants Museum houses a history of locals’ perspectives of the American/Vietnam War
• The old Presidential Palace is where victory was declared after years of fighting and is preserved as found with vehicles still in the garages
• The Notre Dame Cathedral and Old Saigon Post Office are both magnificent displays of French architecture

Highlight experience: Discover Saigon’s various architectural beauty

Move from Saigon and head for the rich, fertile lands of the Mekong Delta region and its extraordinarily busy inhabitants:

• Wind along narrow waterways on a local sampan and observe productive rice fields, fruit orchards, and historic buildings
• Visit a rice popcorn factory and an ancient colonial house in Vinh Long
• Travel by road to Can Tho, the largest town and trading center in the Mekong Delta

Highlight experience: Explore rural life in the Mekong Delta region

Start the eventful final day in the Mekong Delta full of vibrant opportunities:

• Journey to the colorful Cai Rang floating market and Ba Cong fruit orchard to taste their fresh products
• Visit the 100-year-old Binh Thuy Ancient House to appreciate the historic workmanship and architecture
• Admire the lush vegetation and active life of the local people along the riverbanks
• Close the Mekong Delta trip by wandering Can Tho’s bright market.
• On the return journey to Saigon visit either the Vinh Trang Pagoda or Cao Dai Temple.
• Arrive in Saigon in the late afternoon.

Highlight experience: Taste fresh fruits and other products from the floating market

• Enjoy a free morning to explore Saigon on your own before the transfer to the airport for flight to Siem Reap
• Arrive and be welcomed by our guide and be transferred to your arranged accommodation

Highlight experience: Free time in Siem Reap

Arriving in Angkor Wat, you will rove among the ruins of the world’s most famous Hindu temple complexes, built for gods, and fit for kings.

• Gaze upon the fascinating Buddhist monastery of Ta Phrom, where the jungle threatens to reclaim all stone structures, in time.
• Visit the three-tiered Baphuon (a temple in honor of another Hindu deity, Shiva) with its spectacular layered structure.
• Pass through the Terrace of the Elephants, once a viewing platform for kings.
• See the Terrace of the Leper King with its beautiful carvings of gods, nagas (semi-divine serpents), and dancers.
• Visit the Royal Enclosure and its small temple, Phimeanakas. These ruins are particularly significant as they date from the 10th century.

Highlight experience: Exploring the ruins of Angkor Wat

• Be dazzled by Banteay Srei, a Hindu temple dating back to the 10th century. Called “the citadel of women”, its stone has a marvellous pink hue and is very well preserved.
• Come face to face with the meticulously restored enclosed temple of Banteay Samre, complete with carvings of lions and nagas (semi-divine serpents)
• Return to Angkor Wat and get a sense of true history in the Buddhist sites patronised by King Jayavarman VII, including the Angkorian monastery of the “sacred sword”
• Leave behind the crowds of tourists and view the less-appreciated, but newly restored Ta Som temple.

Highlight experience:Advance to an off-the-beaten-track site, an hour away from Angkor Wat, encountering stunning Cambodian countryside, and uncovering more temples

Inhale the fresh air at the edge of Tonle Sap, the largest lake in Asia. Then, go back to where it all started, and view some of the earliest temples in Siem Reap, heralding the start of Khmer architecture.

• Cruise past floating villages and note the bamboo houses on stilts, specially designed to avoid flooding.
• Try your hand at fishing using local techniques!
• Prepare to be dumbfounded by incredibly intricate sandstone carvings at Temple Lolei.
• Visualise the first Angkorian capital city, by gazing at the remains of Bakong Temple, which was the city’s focal point for worship and rituals.

Highlight experience: Become acquainted with the Roluos Group, and its three main temples, dedicated to Shiva

Free time until transfer to the airport for your departure flight.