Trails of Vietnam

TRIP HIGHLIGHTS:

• Discover Hanoi – the capital of Vietnam, enjoy the cyclo (rickshaw) ride & watch the fun water puppet show.
• Stay with the hill tribe people in Mai Chau, Interact with the minorities in the Central highlands.
• Experience the magic of Halong Bay, Enjoy the traditional junk boat with scrumptious meals on board.

⇒ Tour grade: Moderate (customizable)
⇒ Trip code: VA01 (private tour/ what is it?)
⇒ Trip duration: 21 day/ 20 nites
⇒ Destinations: Hanoi - Mai Chau - Halong - Hue - Hoi An - Kontum - Dac Lak - Nha Trang - Saigon - Mekong
⇒ Meals included: 20 breakfasts, 7 lunches, 3 dinners (Allow extra Meal budget minimum $20US/per day)
⇒ Transport: Private Car, Bus, Cyclo (rickshaw) Flight, Junk Cruise, Overnight train, Mekong boat.
⇒ Accommodation: 14 night in hotels, 1 night on Junk Cruise (Halong), 3 nights in local homestay
⇒ Tour guides: English speaking tour guides (other languages are available upon request with different service rates).

TOUR INCLUDES:

• Accommodation based on twin shared room at selected hotels with daily breakfast
          Check-in time at all hotels is 14:00 and check-out time at all hotels is 12.00.
          Early check-in and late check-out is subject to availability with surcharge.
  
• Meals, drinks and other those mentioned in the itinerary (B= Breakfast, L= Lunch, D= Dinner).
• Profestional English Speaking tour guide or other languages upon request.
• Tours and transfers as mentioned by private air-conditioned vehicle.
• Sightseeing fees and permits during guided time.
• Domestic flights from Hanoi – Hue, Da Nang- Saigon.

TOUR EXCLUDES:

• Travel Insurance (Compulsory).
• Other flight tickets.
• Visas and airport departure tax.
• Meals, drinks and other those mentioned in the itinerary.
• Laundry, telephone calls and expenditure of a personal nature.
• Tips and gratuities.

► Why Choose Indochina Pioneer

► What they say... (See more comments from some of our past travellers)

Shelley Wild from Canada
The itinerary was as described in your literature, allowing us to see many, many interesting and beautiful sites and sights in  Vietnam. As well, we were introduced to the good work Indochina Pioneer. I was and am most impressed by your endeavours. I would like to give Tuyen our tour guide the most glowing of reports.  It was he who made Vietnam vividly alive for me.  It is because of Tuyen's introducing me to Vietnam that I plan to visit it again in the future. With many thanks to Tuyen and to Indochina Pioneer for a terrific time in Vietnam.
 

Contact Person: Steven Quinn E-Mail: sales@indochinapioneer.com Call Us: +84 43715 3627 | Fax: +84 43715 3626 Customize this tour | Hotline: +84 983 145 799

• Download Dossier
• Get Adobe

• Destination Information
• Travel Guide
• View Tour Map

BRIEF ITINETARY:

Day 1   :   Hanoi - Arrival
Day 2   :   Hanoi full-day City tour
Day 3   :   Hanoi – Mai Chau homesay
Day 4   :   Mai Chau - Hanoi
Day 5   :   Hanoi – Halong Bay cruise
Day 6   :   Halong – Hanoi – Overnight train to Hue
Day 7   :   Arrive in Hue
Day 8   :   Hue City tour
D   ay 9   :   Hue – Drive to Hoian
Day 10 :   Hoian free day
Day 11 :   Hoian
Day 12 :   Hoian – Kon Tum
D   ay13  :   Kon Tum
Day 14 :   Kon Tum – Dac Lac
Day 15 :   Dac Lac –Nha Trang
Day 16 :   Nha Trang
Day 17 :   Nha Trang – Flight to Saigon
Day 18 :   Saigon – Cu Chi tunnels
Day 19 :   Saigon – Mekong Delta
Day 20 :   Mekong – Saigon
Day 21 :   Departure

DETAILED ITINERARY:

(N.B): Please note that all of our trip are privately designed. So that price includes the following hotels, activities, and transport, and visits to attractions are by private car and guide unless otherwise stated. Your guide will pick you up from lobby of your hotel in the morning. The guide will confirm the pick-up time the day before. If you prefer to start next day's trip earlier or a little later, please feel free to tell your guide.

Day 1:  Arrival Day.
Upon arrival in Hanoi, transfer to your hotel. The rest of the day is free to explore this dynamic city.
Stay overnight in Hanoi

Day 2: Hanoi (B, L)
In the morning we visit the Ho Chi Minh Complex including the One Pillar Pagoda, the former leader’s house on stilts and his Mausoleum. This is followed by the Temple of Literature, site of Vietnam’s oldest university and the impressive Museum of Ethnology. We take lunch at a local restaurant to sample some exotic Hanoi cuisine. The afternoon will be filled with Ngoc Son Temple and the Hoa Lu Prison – originally built by the French and now a museum and better known to many as the ‘Hanoi Hilton’ where several prominent American pilots were interred including former US Presidential candidate John McCain. In the evening we watch a performance of the renowned Water Puppet Theatre before returning to our hotel.
Stay overnight in Hanoi

Day 3: Hanoi - Mai Chau (B, L, D)
We depart the capital and drive (approx. 2 hours) to the hill tribe village of Mai Chau and our local homestay. Here we will be the guests of a local family in their traditional stilt house and are provided with a comfortable dormitory and bedding for the night. In the afternoon, we have a 2 hour walk in and around our White Thai village allowing us to discover life in rural Vietnam. In the evening why not join in with a traditional dance show performed by the Thai.
Stay overnight Mai Chau homestay

Day 4: Mai Chau - Hanoi (B)
After breakfast we bid farewell to our host family and drive back to Hanoi. Arrive Hanoi at mid day, check into hotel upon availability. In the afternoon we explore Hanoi’s vibrant Old Quarter by cyclo (approx. 1 hour) leaving enough free time to stroll around the narrow streets and nearby Hoan Kiem Lake.
Stay overnight in Hanoi

Day 5: Hanoi - Halong Bay (B, L, D)
Today we drive east out of Hanoi for stunning Halong Bay (approx. 4 hours) with an interesting stop at a charity centre en route. Upon arrival at the bay we board our sailing junk to visit some of islands and limestone caves with the option of swimming or kayaking before anchoring for the night. Dinner is served on board.
Stay overnight on cruise ship

Day 6: Halong Bay – Hanoi - Hue (by overnight train) (B)
In the morning we continue to explore the vast bay stopping at Man's Head Island and Tortoise Island as well as Luon cave via a sampan. After an early lunch on the junk our bus will return us to Hanoi where there will be free time until we take the overnight train to Vietnam’s former Imperial capital Hue. (Approx 13hrs).
Overnight on train

Day 7: Hue (B)
Upon arrival we transfer to our hotel where there is an optional breakfast. In the afternoon we have a guided tour of the Royal Citadel former home to the Nguyen Dynasty from 1802 – 1945. In the evening there is the option to dress up and enjoy a Hue ‘Royal Banquet’.
Stay overnight in Hue

Day 8: Hue (B, L)
In the morning, we have a motorbike tour to see Hue and its surrounds in greater detail including Thanh Toan village with its morning market as well as the tomb of Emperor Tu Duc and ‘Bunker Hill’. We also stop at a local Monastery for a vegetarian lunch cooked and served by the Buddhist nuns. Later we have the chance to see how incense sticks and traditional conical hats are made in a local workshop. We end the day with a dragon boat ride on the Perfume River to the Thien Mu Pagoda, Hue’s oldest working monastery and symbol of the city before cruising downstream to Hue.  
Stay overnight in Hue

Day 9 Hue - Hoian (B)
Today we drive (approx. 4 hours) to Hoian via the dramatic Hai Van Pass, China beach which was home to American GIs during the war and the Marble Mountains. After checking in to our hotel in Hoi An we have a fascinating guided walk through the historical Old Quarter.
Stay overnight in Hoi An

Day 10: Hoian (B)
Free day in Hoian to do some sightseeing or perhaps some retail therapy – Hoian is renowned for its tailor’s shops. Here you can have made to measure suits, dresses and more created within the day! Alternatively you can relax on nearby Cua Dai beach. Stay overnight in Hoi An


Day 11: Hoian (B)
A full free day to enjoy Hoi An. Alternatively you may like to visit the My Son – an important archaeological site containing a number of Hindu temples dating from the 4th to 14th century and created by the once mighty Cham Empire, which at its peak ruled much of central and southern Vietnam.
Overnight in Hoi An

Day 12:  Hoian – Kon Tum (B)
We leave Vietnam’s central coast to explore the country’s rugged and mountainous interior as we ascend in to the Central Highlands and the market town of Kon Tum. Upon arrival check into our hotel and relax for the rest of the day.
Stay overnight in Kon Tum

Day 13: Kon Tum (B, L)
In the morning we set off for a walk to nearby villages inhabited by the Barnah people (approx 5 hours).
We walk through cassava and sugar plantations and pass several villages with stilt houses en route. We return by local dugout canoe and in the evening we have an option to dine in a Village Rong or communal house.
Stay overnight Kon Tum

Day 14:  Kon Tum – Dac Lac (B)
Depart Kon Tum and drive south for Dac Lac and a homestay of the Ede minority where we will spend the night. In the afternoon we have the option of taking an elephant ride to a nearby village and from here enjoy a relaxing boat trip on Dac Lak Lake.
Stay overnight in homestay in Dac Lac

Day 15: Dac Lac - Nha Trang (B)
We head back to the coast and Vietnam’s largest seaside resort town of Nha Trang. We stop at some Hindu-style Cham towers en route. Upon arrival at our hotel there is time to stroll around the town or relax on the beach.
Stay overnight in Nha Trang

Day 16: Nha Trang (B)
In the morning we transfer to a boat and cruise around Nha Trang Bay visiting a typical fishing village on Mieu Island. We stop at Tam Island for snorkeling and swimming before having seafood lunch in a local restaurant on the island. We return to Nha Trang in the afternoon where the remainder of the day is free.
Stay overnight in Nha Trang
 
Day 17: Nha Trang - Saigon (B)
Today we take a short internal flight to Vietnam’s largest metropolis, Saigon. Here there will be a city tour by cyclo visiting Notre Dame Cathedral, The Rex Hotel (the former American press Hotel during the Vietnam War), City Hall, the colonial Post Office, and the moving War Remnants Museum.
Stay overnight in Saigon

Day 18: Saigon - Cu Chi Tunnels – Cao Dai Temple (B, L)
In the morning we drive out of the city to the Cu Chi Tunnels. This fascinating tour will help give an insight into how the Viet Cong (Vietnamese Communist) managed to conceal themselves from first the French and then the American forces. We continue on to Tay Ninh and the Great Cao Dai Temple where we can observe a typically colorful and flamboyant ceremony of this bizarre cult cum religion. We return to Saigon in late afternoon.
Stay overnight in Saigon

Day 19:  Saigon – Mekong Delta (B, L, D)
After breakfast, we drive to the town of Vinh Long in the Mekong. Here we board a motor boat to explore the canals and waterways of the Delta. We arrive at our homestay for the night later in the day. Bedding and mosquito nets are provided. Tonight we enjoy a delightful dinner of the regional cuisine. Overnight in Mekong Delta Homestay

Day 20: Mekong Delta - Saigon (B)
After breakfast we board our boat and cruise to the town of Cai Be where to see a local floating market before returning by road to Saigon. The remainder of the day is free until our farewell dinner in a local Vietnamese restaurant.
Stay overnight in Saigon

Day 21: Depart Saigon (B)
Free time until departure from Saigon for flight home.

                                                Wishing you an Unforgetable Holiday with us!

This tour is private and can be well tailor-made to suite your travel needs. As a result the price is quoted in US dollars and per person basis. The final price will be privately quoted upon your own number of participants, time of travel, grade of hotel rooms and other detailed services. Please click on BOOK button and fill in the requested information then our travel consultant will customize the best value holiday for you. Thank you!
 

♦ REMARKS:

1. We are aware that a good tour must have good hotels. In Indochina particularly, hotel price makes up most of the cost of your holiday in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. All of our prices are calculated upon twin-shared basis. To Indochina Pioneer standard, here is basically how we define our service:

+ Superior Level (3 star hotels in good locations): > 60USD/room/night
+ Deluxe Level (4 star hotels): > 110 USD/room/night
+ Luxury Level (5 star hotels): > 180USD/room/nigh

2. Price base in twin share basis accomodation.
3. Tour price is indicative only, please enquire for a detailed quotation.
4. More people more discounts. Please enquire for more details.
 

The hotels listed below are just suggestive for the best valued of this Vietnam Vietnam Adventure Package 21 day trip, yet Indochina Pioneer also offers more options of our own hand-picked hotels with different levels or to customize your hotel requests to match your own taste and budget. Please kindly Contact us for more favourable deals.
 

Contact Person: Steven Quinn
E-Mail: sales@indochinapioneer.com
Call Us: +84 43715 3627 | Fax: +84 43715 3626
Make an enquiry | Hotline: +84 983 145 799