VIETNAM FLAVORS

Welcome to Vietnam! You are warmly greeted by our driver at Noi Bai airport. Transfer to your hotel, check-in and enjoy night life in Hanoi by yourself. Overnight in Hanoi.

In the morning, we begin the culinary experience by one-day Hanoi food tour. Our guide will meet you at the hotel and take you for breakfast with the authentic Pho in Hanoi is Pho Bo, means Beef Noodle Soup. Hanoi is considered to be the best place in Vietnam for having Pho. After enjoying the best Pho in Hanoi as the local, our guide will take you to Café Giang to enjoy the unique drink that you just can find in Hanoi: Egg Coffee. After that, you can take the enjoyable and interesting ride on Cyclo to stroll along the narrow street in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. You can find all the popular material, vegetable, herb and spices for regular meals of Hanoi people in this market as well as enjoy watching the way of local people go shopping in the market. For lunch today, get yourself a chance to try two very typical and authentic dishes of Hanoi: Banh Cuon and Bun Cha. Banh Cuon is a kind of thin steam pancake made from rice flour rolled with minced chicken or pork with mushroom and shallots inside. Then is the time for the main course for lunch: Bun Cha. This is a harmony combination of rice noodle, pork barbecue, crab spring rolls and like Banh Cuon, we must have elegant dipping sauce for the dish. After lunch, take a walk along Hang Than Street and sample the well-known product here: Banh Com means Young Rice Cake. This is one of the most popular presents from Hanoi when local people travel out of their city for their friends. In the afternoon, you will have the option to visit some of the venue of the city such as Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Temple of Literature or Ethnology Museum. Dinner will be at Cha Ca La Vong – the rice noodle serves with grill fish. Cha Ca was considered to be the most authentic and well-known dish in Hanoi, that had been ranked 5 from 10 of Places to See Before You Die in 2003 by MSNBC. Overnight in Hanoi.

In the morning drive from Hanoi to Halong Bay by Red River Delta with beautiful rice field and activities of local people along the way. Upon arrival to Halong, embark to the Junk on Hon Gai International Harbor. You will be welcomed by the cruise staff, enjoy the welcome drink, cruise briefing then check in your cabin. The junk will start cruising on magnificent Bai Tu Long bay while you enjoy lunch on board. It also a great chance to admire the fascinating rock formations in the bay. In the afternoon you will visit the secluded cave of Thien Canh Son then take a short cruise to Hon Co Island where you can relax on a white sandy beach, swimming or kayaking. Back to the Junk, relax and get ready for dinner. Overnight in Halong.

Greet the day with a morning Tai Chi exercise with an opportunity to view the sunrise over the bay Coffee, tea and breakfast pastries served in the dining room. Cruise to Surprise Cave area then transfer to the Cave by tender. This is one of two most beautiful Caves in Halong Bay with great collection of stalagmites and stalactites in the beautiful space. It is really a wonder of nature. Back to the boat for a final glimpse of the Halong Bay while cruising back to the dock with Set Menu or Buffet Brunch served in the dining room. On the way back to Hanoi, visit Tho Ha the famous village of terracotta products before 20th century. Discover village through narrow and zigzag alleys with the old houses had been constructed from broken part of terracotta from the past. Walking over village cemetery to the dike, where you can see the village from distance over the beautiful lake. Drive to Noi Bai Airport for the flight to Danang. Upon arrival, drive and check in your hotel in Hoi An. Overnight in Hoi An.

Morning we will take you to visit very impressive and busy fish market near Hoi An. The market is for wholesales for the best fish in the area that have been caught at night on the sea and sill so fresh. Back to Hoi An for breakfast at Cao Lau Restaurant – the most authentic noodle in town. After that, visit to Tra Que herb village near Hoi An for Tra Que Garden Cooking Class. Greeting at Tra Que Garden 2 which is located in a quiet neighborhood next to Tra Que Organic Vegetable Village. Enjoy welcome drink then have a visit at the vegetable village to learn about some of the famous herbs and vegetables which grown by traditional organic farming methods in which farmers produce the best herbs and vegetables for Hoi An and in fact make village gain very good reputation throughout the country. Taking part in preparing and cooking 4 famous local dishes under the instruction of your local Chef. 1/ “Banh Xeo”-Local Rice-Pancakes 2/ Banana Flower Salad 3/ “Ram”-Local Fried Spring Rolls 4/ Fish Cooked in Clay Pot with Fresh Turmeric We add in more Steamed Rice (served with Fish) and Seasonal Fruits (as dessert). Enjoy your meal with dishes that made by yourself. Tour ends after meal. Afternoon, take a walking tour to Hoi An ancient town. Visit Phuc Kien congressional assembly hall, Japanese Cover Bridge and Tan Ky ancient house. In the evening, we suggest you can get yourself a chance to try to most famous and popular local food in Hoi An: Com Ga (Chicken Rice) and Cao Lau at any restaurants in Hoi An. Overnight in Hoi An.

Morning transfer to Danang airport for the flight to Saigon. Upon arrival take tour to Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, Central Post office. Lunch at local restaurant. Afternoon we will take you to visit Cho Lon – the biggest whole sales market in Saigon then visits Thien Hau Pagoda – where you can see hundreds of local people come to worship for their Health, Luck and Happiness. Enjoy the authentic Vietnamese coffee in local coffee shop in the typical street of China Town – where the famous French Movie “The Lover” had been filmed. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh,

After breakfast, your guide will take you to the trip to Cai Be pier (86km) from HCMC by car / van via Trung Luong Freeway. The program will start with a visit of Cai Be floating market. Then, we’ll come to Tân Phong island for biking / walking on village paths to see the local daily life: orchard, school, church, pagoda, traditional houses and maybe the ancestral ways to pick up fruits in Mekong Delta… On the way, we can make some stops to see how they make rice-net for spring-rolls, sewing coconut-leaves for cottage roof and specially see how they wave the dried water-hyacinth to make many products: baskets, bags, hats, wallets, shoes… Then, the rowboat will take you deeper into the countryside on smaller canals to enjoy the peaceful time. Lunch can be served at Ba Kiet / Muoi Huong Back to our boat to go across one of the longest river in the world, Mekong River, to come to An Bình Island. Travel on Muong Lo handmade canal to check in at Út Trinh homestay Have a fresh shower before cooking some special dishes with the members of local family. We’ll enjoy dinner & overnight at homestay.

Have a breakfast and check-out for a walk along the village to enjoy the fresh air in the morning & arrive the local workshop to see how to make rice paper, coconut candy, pop- rice… Enjoy some sweets with a cup of hot tea. Boat trip to visit the brick kilns where you can see how the local people create beautiful potteries from clay. Our boat will go along the floating village. We will see how to farm catfish on Mekong River. Also, we can visit Vinh Long market in the town. This is the best choice for you to take pictures of fish, shrimps, prawns, crabs, snakes, rice-field rats, tropical fruits, vegetables… The cruise will end at Vinh Long city. Lunch en-route at a local restaurant. Transfer back to Ho Chi Minh city. Part night excursion, part street food adventure. At 18:00 pm, we will pick up guests at hotel and first stop is to Café zoom to “watch the world goes by” (quoted by The Lonely Planet) and enjoy cocktail and appetizer (inclusive) before adventuring into favorite local eating spot. Guests experience the nightlife of Saigon the way locals do, all from the back of a vintage Vespa. The tour will start with a ride to part Chinatown and then heading to District 4 through busy streets and alleys to see the night life of locals and enjoy street sea- food and cold drinks, places that foreigner won’t be found. Leaving district 4 to district 3 the tour pass through downtown district 1 to take in the sights on the way to Banh Xeo, specialty of Saigon and southern food with the locals. Then the tour will continue to a hidden Vietnamese-style coffee shop to have a taste of Vietnamese music (live) as a local. After this the tour will bring guest to a lively music venue to enjoy the drinks with live music. Guests ride pillion behind our drivers Back to your hotel at around 10:00 pm.