Vietnam Glory Day – Greet War Veteran

Your trip begins with your arrival in Vietnam. Your private driver will meet and greet you at the airport. You will be escorted to the hotel by private transportation. Check in to the hotel and get over the jet lag. You can mooch through the streets of the city. Historic charm, architectural marvels, and various products are splashed all over this area. After enjoying the first day yourself and return to the hotel for a relaxing sleep.

Have breakfast at the hotel then you will be picked up by an experienced English-speaking guide and travel to Ba Vi, a countryside located on the outskirt of Hanoi. The approximate travel time is one hour and 30 minutes.

Then arriving at Mr. Duoc’s house, you will be welcomed with fresh honey tea and green lentils or lotus seeds made by his family. Imagine Vietnam in the old time of war through the stories of Mr. Duoc, who is a Vietnam War veteran and lived during those hard times. He is also a green tea expert, you will visit his tea plantation which is one of the largest in Ri village, and will join the locals in green tea processing. Afterward, have a Vietnamese cook. ing demonstration with another local host Mrs. Chin and then enjoy a home-cooked lunch in a lovely garden.

After that, you will wander around the village and mingle with local people. You will visit the local craftsman who has been skilled at making conical hats from a very young age and other workshops in the village to see how people there make tofu or shell the rice. As you meander through the countryside you will experience the friendliness of the local people greeting you along the way. Then join your guides for a leisurely cycling trip along the country roads. Observe traditional Vietnamese rural life as the local people work in the paddy fields. Along the way, watch out for a water buffalo plowing a paddy field while ducks swim across the lake. Stop at another host family for foot bathing prepared by the recipes of the Muong ethnic group and have a relaxing time before embarking on your private boat for a trip along the Da river. Back to Hanoi.

After breakfast, you’ll take a 3.5-hour-drive to Halong Bay, one of the great nature in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Upon arrival, the boat crew will welcome you and transfer you to the junk for check-in and enjoy a cruise around Halong Bay with a delicious local seafood lunch served on board. At the same time, you can behold thousands of limestone islands and grottoes rising from the clear, emerald water. After lunch, you’ll join some activities on the boat to discover the beauty of the bay such as visiting a cave or enjoying swimming in the sea before getting back to the junk for relaxation and dinner. In the evening, you can join night fishing with locals.

Overnight on board.

In the morning, your breakfast will be served while floating on the sea to explore the beauty of Halong Bay before disembarking time. Joining some more activities on the boat and then checking out the cabin. The early lunch will be served before getting back to the main dock and back to Ha Noi.

Overnight in Hanoi.

Have breakfast at your hotel then our driver will pick you up at the airport. Take a flight to Dong Hoi.

Have breakfast at your hotel. Then our tour guide meet you up at your hotel and head north to Dong Ha. From Dong Ha head west on route 9 and pass a series of the old U.S Marines' military installations including Camp Carroll, Fuller, and Razorback ridge. The first stop is the Rockpile, an important look-out and firebase of the Marines south of the DMZ. We will view the old tactical area where the Marines fought in the famous operations Hastings and Prairie during 1966-1967. Our next stop is Dakrong bridge - the starting point of one of the main branches of the legendry Ho Chi Minh Trail leading to the infamous Ashau Valley and the Hamburger Hill. Then, continue to Khe Sanh combat base - a large Marines base camp that was besieged by a massive force of the North Vietnamese Army in 77 days in early 1968, where we will spend ample time exploring the base and learning about the battle.

After that, head back to Dong Ha for a lunch break. After lunch, head north to the former Demilitarized Zone (the DMZ), the old de-facto border between North and South Vietnam for 18 years, where we will take a walk on the Freedom Bridge across the Ben Hai river - the river that was the only true physical demarcation line between the two Vietnams. The last stop of the day is the Vinh Moc tunnels, the refuge of some 300 North Vietnamese refugees during the Rolling Thunder bombing operation.

Have a leisure day in Quang Tri to explore the city at your own pace.

Have some rest and free time. Afterward, you will be transferred to the Hue airport for your flight to Ho Chi Minh.

Upon arrival, you will be met at the airport and transferred to your accommodation.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

We pick you up at your hotel to Cu Chi Tunnel for 60km from Ho Chi Minh City. Cu Chi is now considered a heroic district for its role in the anti – American war in Vietnam. It is legendary for its tunnel system of over 220 km and is a popular spot for both Vietnamese and foreigners.

The famous Cu Chi tunnels are a network of underground tunnels in Ho Chi Minh City. The tunnels were used as a military base for resistance to US forces during the Vietnam War and were often used as hiding spots for spy activities.

Along the way to Cu Chi from Ho Chi Minh city, we will pass by the scenic local countryside, where you might even spot ducks and buffalo cooling off in the river. You will find it hard to imagine the destruction and damage that once dominated the area, caused by bombing and mines when Cu Chi was “a free target zone.”

Lunch at a local restaurant.

After the tour, the guide will take you to the War Remnants Museum displaying exhibits related to the Vietnam War and the First Indochina War involving the French colonialists. After visiting the museum, you will be taken back to your hotel.

Have breakfast at the hotel, and have free time until our driver will meet you for a transfer to the airport for your next flight to Siem Reap. Upon arrival, you will be transferred to the hotel. After hotel check-in has some leisure time in Siem Reap.

Breakfast at the hotel: Start your sightseeing tour of the Angkor area we spend a full day exploring the wondrous ancient ruins with the South Gate of Angkor Thom, which is famous for its series of colossal human faces carved in stone, the impressive Bayon Temple, the Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas, the Elephant Terrace, the Terrace of the Leper King and the largest as well as the most complete temple of Angkor Wat. This architectural masterpiece was constructed in the 12th century and covers an area of about 210 hectares. We stroll around this massive edifice, seeing the many galleries with columns, libraries, pavilions, courtyards, and ponds full of water reflecting the towering temple and the jungle-covered temple of Ta Prohm is an incredible sight. There are enormous fig trees and gigantic creepers which embrace themselves in the stone foundations of the structure giving the impression of man's creation being reclaimed by the powerful forces of nature.

Breakfast at the hotel: This morning, drive to the Pouk district about 15 Km to the West of Siem Reap town you visit the silk farm, a fascinating farm/workshop where you can see the entire silk creation process including growing the food for the silk worms, breeding the worms, silk extraction, and refinement, traditional kit dying pattern creation and looming. Retail silk and souvenir shop. On the way back, visit the Western Baray (Baray Occidental) measuring 8 km by 2.3 km which provided water for the intensive cultivation of lands around Angkor. Return to Siem Reap and visit 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 Cambodians. We continue to one of the city’s lively open markets, Psar Chars also called the “Old Market”, where anything and everything is for sale! Then continue to Wat Bo, a large, highly respected pagoda, founded in the 18th Century. Like the Silver Pagoda in Phnom Penh, the vihear of Wat Bo contains unique wall paintings of the Reamker that are said to be late 19th Century. Look for the daily-life market scenes such as an opium-smoking Chinese merchant, the colonial-era French officer at the market, and the French soldiers attending a traditional dance performance. Also of interest is the large collection of Buddha statues located behind the main Buddha. Visit the Killing field at Wat Thmei.

Breakfast at the hotel. Visit the floating village of Chong Khneas, located 10 kilometers south of Siem Reap where you can find schools, restaurants, hospitals, and much more on the great lake of Tonle Sap. 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. Transfer to the airport for your departure flight.