14 DAYS BEST OF VIETNAM & CAMBODIA

After having breakfast at the hotel. 8:00 the tour guide and shuttle bus will arrive to pick you up to join the Hanoi city tour. You will start the tour by visiting complex:

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Ho Chi Minh Museum. Enjoy the architectural and historical aspects of Uncle Ho’s final resting-place. Just next door is Ho Chi Minh’s house on stilts where he used to live in the past. Lying to one side of the Mausoleum is the One Pillar Pagoda, built by King Ly Thai To in 1049 the structure has become an important symbol for the people of Hanoi.

Continue to visit the Temple of Literature (Quoc Tu Giam) – Vietnam’s first University constructed in 1070. Its gardens and well-preserved architecture offer a relaxing glimpse into Vietnam’s past.

Have lunch at local restaurants. Proceed to visit the Ethnology Museum (Applied for Tue, Thus, Sat, Sun) or Bat Trang Ceramic Village (applied for Mon, Wed, Fri).

After that we will take you to Hoan Kiem Lake, see the peaceful water, and visit Ngoc Son Temple. Take an hour cyclo tour around the bustling old quarter to see ordinary life in Hanoi.

Overnight in Hanoi city.

Enjoy your breakfast at the hotel and get ready for Ninh Binh.

 Around 8:00  : Tour guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel in Hanoi Old Quarter Center heading to Ninh Binh, the world heritage site.

The trip starts in the Tam Coc area. Taking a rowing Tam Coc Boat Tours from Tam Coc wharf. The boat tour is arranged by local people with both hands and legs.
Visit 3 Magical Grottos: Hang Ca (First Grotto), Hang Hai (Second Grotto), Hang Ba (Third Grotto) during Tam Coc River Tour.
Relax with biking around Tam Coc in 30-45 minutes. If you travel during harvest season, you will see many rice fields in golden colors.
Enjoy special food at a local restaurant in Tam Coc. Learn how to make Vietnamese cuisine.
The tour guide will take you to Hoa Lu Ancient Capital, founded in 968, it remained capital until the early 11th century when Emperor Ly Thai To moved it to today’s Hanoi . Arriving in this beautiful mountainous landscape, you’ll walk 300m to the temples of the Dinh and Le Dynasty.
The last destination, Mua cave. The cave is compared with the “Great wall of China”. Here you walk 500 steps to reach the top of Mua cave then take a lookout of a splendid overview of Ninh Binh.
16:00: Relax and get ready for returning to Ha Noi.
 19:00 : You arrive Hanoi.

Overnight in Hanoi.

Enjoy your breakfast at the hotel and begin your journey to Halong Bay. Please check out the hotel before you leave.

Around 8:00 a.m: Our driver picks you up from the hotel and takes you through the Red River Delta where you can see the everyday life of the Vietnamese Villagers.

Upon arriving at Halong, board a traditional sailing junk and get greeted by the crew members.

Discover some of the treasures disseminated across the Bay of the Descending Dragon during the afternoon: fascinating caves, pristine beaches, picturesque floating villages, and fantastic rock formations rising up out of emerald water.

After having a delicious lunch on board, spend the rest of the time at leisure, wherein you can choose to attend our chef's cooking demonstration and try your skills in the art of traditional Vietnamese cooking.

Spend the rest of the evening on the sundeck of your cruise and admire the colors of the sunset painting the sky.

Later, have your dinner accompanied by a wide selection of wines and beverages (additional cost for drinks) along with various entertainment options like - movie night, squid fishing, etc.

You can also choose to enjoy your drink by sitting relaxedly surrounded by limestone rocks majestically springing out from silent waters in the night.

Overnight stay on the cruise at Halong Bay.

Start your day early with sunrise and join a Tai Chi lesson on Sundeck.

Start the day enjoying some delights with a light breakfast followed by a colorful brunch.

Continue exploring Halong Bay by sailing across its 2000+ islets and visiting some of its major highlights.

Spend the rest of the time at leisure until you reach back on the coast of Hanoi.

Around 14:30- 15:00: You arrive in Hanoi, your private driver sending you to the airport to take the flight to Danang.

Reach Danang, the most beautiful city in Vietnam and board your transfer to the hotel.

Complete the check-in formalities at the hotel and spend the rest of the day at leisure.

Overnight in Danang.

Around :00 a.m.: Our tour guide picks you up at your hotel lobby. Enjoy a ride to Ba Na Hills via cable car.

Spend your time in the most modern cable car in Southeast Asia, visit Dream Stream Cable Car Station, and admire the breath-taking view of Da Nang coastal city.

After finishing the first cable car, you will visit The Golden Bridge, which has the most exotic structure and is also one of the world’s most prominent pedestrian bridges, as highlighted by the British Guard newspaper, Le Jardin D’amourn (which consists of nine gardens), and Linh Ung Pagoda.

Sit on the 2nd Cable Car to visit the French Village, where you could enjoy street music, watch Art’s statue, Campanile, Nine Floor Goddess Shrine, Tombstone Temple, watch the Carnival Performance Show, Square Du Dome, etc.

Have lunch at the restaurant (Buffet).

Take the Lava Train from Sun Kingdom to many new attractions for check-in, such as Helios waterfall, Time Gate, and the Moon Kingdom. Join in Fantasy Park by walking in Fairy Forest, discovering Dinosaur Park, playing 5D Wild West, enjoying a 4D death race ride, watching 3D Mega 360 degrees, riding on a journey into the underground, entering Jurassic Park, challenging.

Freefall Tower, participating in an adventure in Horror House, and playing over 90 free games.

3:00 pm: Return to the cable car after leaving Ba Na Hills.

5:00 p.m.: Our minivan brings you back to your hotel.

 Overnight in Danang.

In the journey to discover the Vietnam, you will give yourself a try to become a

professional chef under our guidance. This is a great experience from going to the market

to choose food and prepare and try your hand at cooking Vietnamese cuisine.

08:30 am: Local guide picks up at the hotel.

- Go to market with our chef (about 30 minutes)

- We will have a chance to see and experience the noise as well as directly contact

sellers. In addition to this, we will show the ingredients for use in our lesson.

09:15 am: - Transfer to Cam Thanh village by car or boat on the way, you can explore the

beautiful views of the Vietnamese countryside, and see the water and coconut trees

growing together.

- Enjoy your time with basket boat rowing through the coconut jungle forest

11:00 am: Enjoy a welcome drink and take a rest at our restaurant, then join the

cooking class. Our chef will teach you how to cook some local food. After the lesson,

enjoy what you have cooked.

12:20 pm: Return to your hotel.

Your private driver is sending you to the airport to take the flight to Hochiminh city - the cultural and financial capital of Vietnam located in the Southern part of the country.

Reach Ho Chi Minh city and board your transfer to the hotel.

Complete the check-in formalities at the hotel and spend the rest of the day at leisure.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh city.

Enjoy your breakfast at the hotel and get ready by around 8 to 8:30 am to begin an interesting day of this tour.

A smooth one-and-half-hour bus ride through rice field scenery along National Highway 1 brings you to the beautiful rural district of Trung Luong.

On arrival at My Tho, after visiting Vinh Trang pagoda-  the biggest pagoda in the Mekong delta.

Take a leisurely cruise on the Tien River to view the four beautiful islands: Dragon, Unicorn, Phoenix, and Tortoise. Boats pass by the fish rafts along the Tien River, overlooking the Rach Mieu Bridge. Stroll along the village road, visit the orchard and enjoy seasonal fruit & honey tea to the sound of "Southern Vietnamese folk music"

- A folk art form from Southern Vietnam accredited by UNESCO in 2013 as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Riding a hand-rowed sampan through the Tan Thach canal. Then visit the coconut candy mill and take an amazing rowing boat trip along the small canal on a hand-rowed sampan under the shadow of the water coconut trees along natural canals.

Enjoy lunch at the local restaurant; Then the motorboat will take you back to the cruise. Meet on the bus and return to Ho Chi Minh City. This trip provides a fascinating insight into daily life in the Mekong Delta, and you are guaranteed to take home your private collection of beautiful memories.

Return back to the hotel for an overnight stay.

Overnight in Hochiminh city.

Breakfast at your hotel and take a flight from HCMC to Siem Reap in Cambodia.

You will be welcomed and greeted by our professional tour guide at Siem Reap airport and transfer to hotel (Check in : 2:00 p.m ). After check in, we take short walk along the road in front of the King’s Residence to see the Main Shrine, where the local people usually worship, with its statue of Yeay Teap, Preah Ang Chek and Preah Ang Chorm. Buying jasmine and lotus flowers to worship is very important for the Cambodians. We will also visit Artisans D’Angkor where young Cambodian are trained to learn how to do carving before visiting one of the city’s lively open market, Psar Chars, also called the “Old Market”, where anything and everything is for sale.

Overnight in a hotel in Siem Reap.

After breakfast at the hotel, visit the most famous of all the temples on the plain of Angkor:  Angkor Wat. The temple complex covers 81 hectares and is comparable in size to the Imperial Palace in Beijing. Its distinctive five towers are emblazoned on the Cambodian flag and the 12th century masterpiece is considered by art historians to be the prime example of classical Khmer art and architecture. Angkor Wat's five towers symbolize Meru's five peaks - the enclosed wall represents the mountains at the edge of the world and the surrounding moat, the ocean beyond. We continue to the  South Gate  (with its huge statues depicting the churning of the ocean of milk), the ancient capital of  Angkor Thom  (12th century),  Bayon Temple (unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces of Avolokitesvara), the Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas, the Elephants Terrace  and the  Terrace of the Leper King. We will end our day discovering Ta Prohm, one of the area's most beautiful temples. Ta Prohm has been relatively untouched since it was discovered and retains much of its mystery. Late afternoon, you will enjoy a Remork ride (commonly called Tuktuk) around the city and you will have a blessing ceremony by a Buddhist monk for the prosperity, happiness and safety for your trip. Overnight in a hotel in Siem Reap.

Overnight in Siem Reap

Note:  During the visit of the Bakan Tower of Angkor Wat Temple.

- Visitors are required to wear proper attire, covering shoulders and knees (no short, miniskirt or short trousers).

- Visitors have to be in the queue and waiting to climb up the Bakan Tower of Angkor Wat.

- Children under twelve years old are not allowed to climb up this tower.

- It will be closed on the Buddhist Sabbath Days, the Buddhist religious days (four days a month).

Breakfast at the hotel, we visit the floating village, located about 15 kilometers south of Siem Reap. We take a boat trip in a traditional wooden boat on the Tonle Sap Lake, the "Great Lake" of Cambodia, one of the largest in Asia. We spend the rest of the day visiting the "Chantiers Ecoles - Les Artisans d'Angkor" which provides training to young Cambodians in an effort to revive the ancient Khmer traditions of stone carving and wood sculpting. We take private vehicle to the capital city of Cambodia - Phnom Penh. On the way, we will have a chance to visit the ancient Naga Bridge. We also visit the stone carving workshop at Santuk district as well as a quick visit at the spider market.  Free at your own leisure.

Overnight in Phnom Penh.

Breakfast at a hotel. This morning we visit Independence Monument. From here we enjoy cyclo rides to the Royal Palace, built by King Norodom in 1866 on the site of the old town, and the Silver Pagoda. Located within the grounds of the Royal Palace, the Silver Pagoda is so named because of its floor, which is made up of 5000 silver tiles. The treasures found inside include a solid gold Buddha encrusted and weighing 90kilograms and a small 17th century emerald and SAK ADVENTURES Cambodia office: Sala Kanseng Village, Svay Dangkum Commune, Siem Reap City, Siem Reap Province,. Lunch at a local restaurant. Afternoon, we visit the National Museum, also called Musee des Beaux-Arts. A French archaeologist and painter, Georges Groslier, designed it in Khmer style in 1917. The museum contains a collection of Khmer art - notably sculptures - throughout the ages. We spend the rest of the time at Phnom Penh’s Psar Toul Tom Pong, known as the Russian Market, a great place to hunt for souvenirs, curios, and silks before heading to enjoy a one hour sunset cruise on the Mekong River.

Overnight in Phnom Penh.

Breakfast at a hotel.

We visit the Toul Sleng Prison Museum and the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek-both grim reminders of Cambodia's bloody past under Pol Pot. It is almost inconceivable to confront the nature of true evil here in this gentle land, but the Buddhist memorial at Choeung Ek, commemorates the 1.7 million victims of the 1975-79 Pol Pot regime. This excursion may prove distressing for some. It is, however, an important piece of this country’s historical and cultural puzzle.

Free time at your own leisure till departure transfer to airport. Thank you so much for traveling with us and hope you come back home with a heart full of unforgettable memories and experiences from your amazing Vietnam and Cambodia Tour.