Vietnam Uncovered

Starting from	R22 990
Package Validity	Set departure dates JUL 2016 - APR 2017
Duration	13 days
Destination	Vietnam
Starts in	Ho Chi Minh City
Ends in	Hanoi
Age Group	This is a group tour for ages 18 - 38 years

{tab Description}

- Internal flights Ho Chi Minh City - Nha Trang - Danang - Hanoi
- 10 nights hotel accommodation
- 1 night accommodation in a homestay
- 1 night accommodation aboard a junk boat
- 12 breakfasts, 5 lunches & 5 dinners
- Touring by air-conditioned coach
- Assistance of a tour guide & driver
- Touring & sightseeing of all sites as per itinerary

 

{tab Day 1}

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Arrive in Ho Chi Minh City, home to 10 million people & 4 million motorbikes (you do the ratios). Tonight prepare yourself for a food explosion, we're headed downtown - secluded from the touristy areas & straight in with the locals. Pop up restaurants are prominent here & all disappear come sunrise. Hint: now's the time to bust out the (perhaps too courageous) tick list for weird foods that you don't recognise, e.g. anything fried that looks delicious. Vietnamese favourites like banh mi baguettes & new triumphs like rice paper pizza will have you licking your chops. Get sweet soup dessert (because life's too short not to) from one of the street vendors. Feel very acquainted now that you've had your first date with Vietnam.

Included today: Street eats tour

Meals: Dinner.

{tab Day 2}

Ho Chi Minh City

Early to rise for your Cu Chi tunnels tour. Hear stories of what life was like for the soldiers who endured the war in the tunnels, today they are seen as a testimony to Vietnamese resiliency. Back in HCMC, stroll towards the Saigon River to check out the Municipal Theatre once used to shelter French citizens, then stop at the Reunification Palace & the War Remnants Museum.

Included today: Cu Chi tunnels

Meals: Breakfast & lunch.

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Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh Long

Arriving in Cai Be - known for its iconic floating markets - hop on your own boat to peruse the boats teeming with fruit, vegetables & goods. Continue along the maze of canals to Vinh Long, stopping for lunch at a bonsai gardener's home. Jump back on the boat & stop at a local family's home for the night.

Included today: Mekong Delta Homestay

Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner.

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Vinh Long to Ho Chi Minh City

Wake up to another morning in the land of pho & snake wine, cruise to Vinh Long & then transfer to the main town of My Tho & visit the Indian Palace-resembling Vinh Trang pagoda.

Included today: Visit My Tho (Mekong Delta hub)

Meals: Breakfast & lunch.

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Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang

Today you're heading horizontally to Nha Trang, Vietnam's most popular seaside resort town. Rest up at the white powdery beaches or go searching for some fruit markets. Either way you're winning.

Included today: Flight to Nha Trang

Meals: Breakfast.

{tab Day 6}

Nha Trang

Spend your free day lazing on Nha Trang - kite-running, windsurfing & scuba diving mecca. Or go all out with a full day private boat tour to the Tri Nguyen Aquarium, Hon Mun Island, Hon Tam Island & Lang Chai fishing village. Dinner sorted: you can find plenty of fresh seafood caught in the morning served at dinner. A king crab costs about $8 (um, winning) & can be shared between 2 (although don't).

Meals: Breakfast.

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Nha Trang to Hoi An

Fly upwards to Hoi An - known for its well-preserved ancient town, the architecture is a reflection of the city's multicultural history - a mix of styles & eras from French colonial buildings & Chinese shophouses, to Vietnamese tube houses & the Japanese Covered Bridge (complete with Buddha). Oh & did we mention it's channeling canals like no one's business? Make friends with her soon, she's popular.

Included today: Flight to Danang

Meals: Breakfast.

{tab Day 8}

Hoi An

Day two in this cultural melting-pot mecca. Hire a bike in the countryside & get to know the outskirts, enrol in a cooking masterclass conducted by a local chef or stare in awe at the 2 century-old Tan Ky House - a vision in Japanese influence, Chinese poems inlaid with mother of pearl, & carvings throughout. Hoi An also has you covered food-wise - from fried green sentinel crab cakes on Bach Dang street in the afternoon, to crispy savoury crepes, shrimp spring rolls & fried pork bread, you'll be rolling out like Violet Beauregard. Don't forget black sesame sweet pudding for dessert.

Included today: Free day

Meals: Breakfast.

{tab Day 9}

Hoi An to Hue

Drive along the Hai Van Pass, one of Vietnam's most beautiful stretches & into former imperial capital Hue. Then a half day tour with a trip to the ancient walled citadel housing the former Imperial Palace. Afterwards, visit the former Nguyen Dynasty emperor Tu Duc at his Royal Tomb - a smooth operator, with a total 104 wives & countless concubines at the time of his death.

Included today: Hai Van Pass & Hue tour

Meals: Breakfast.

{tab Day 10}

Hue to Hanoi

Fly up the South China Sea coast as you take on the big city capital of Hanoi, with Southeast Asian, French & Chinese influence seeping through its architecture, food & culture. What's not to love: the chaotic Old Quarter's where it's at for markets, with the streets handily arranged by trade. There are small temples scattered throughout the city honouring a legendary horse (because horses are cool), as well as the indestructible Dong Xuan market for street food. Dinner is at Koto - an acronym for 'Know One Teach One', a restaurant that provides training & life skills to street children. By eating here you're sponsoring a trainee's new uniform or replacing cooking equipment. Wherever the money gets spent, know you're doing a good thing. Fist bump.

Included today: Flight to Hanoi & Dinner at Koto

Meals: Breakfast.

{tab Day 11}

Hanoi to Halong Bay

Leave the bustle of the city in your dust as you make for Halong Bay. A day of paddling around on boats is what the doctor ordered. Stop: lunch time. Board a small tender boat for L'Azalee (all big boats should have names), a restored junk, & explore the jade water of Halong Bay over lunch. Swim & kayak around the limestone karsts this afternoon. Return back to L'Azalee just in time to watch the sunset from the top deck before tucking in to the bay's freshest seafood for dinner.

Included today: Overnight boat to Halong

Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner.

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Halong Bay to Hanoi

This morning board a tender for Surprise Cave. Breath in as you think you're entering the smallest cave on earth, & then feel a mix of mild relief & awe as it opens up to a massive chamber of limestone formations resembling a lost city.

Meals: Breakfast.

Included today: Hanoi Street Eats tour

{tab Day 13}

Hanoi

One last bowl of pho then it's all over red rover.

Meals: Breakfast.

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