Accompanied by a well-known local chef, visit Central Ben Thanh wet market for your fresh ingredients, stroll along the many stalls of vegetables, meats, seafood, fruits, local delicacies and spices and watch the local world go by as housewives shop for their daily needs.
Next, we proceed to the Cookery Centre where your cooking class begins with a narration of local cuisines, a demonstration of the 3 dishes where you would have the opportunity for a hands-on experience.
Finally, enjoy the delicious trophies of your days enjoyment and effort.
Depart for Duong Lam, a small village in the north of Ha Noi. Duong Lam is worthy of recognition because of the villages unique layout, time-honored architectural design and adherence to traditional farming techniques.
The conservationists describe the village as the last stronghold of northern Viet Nams wet rice farming culture. The only noticeable change over the past 400 years is the division of the village from one small community to nine riverside hamlets, among them Mong Phu, Cam Lam, Cam Da and Mia.
We tour the village by bicycle and enjoy a picnic lunch on the grounds of the Mong Phu temple. Next we visit the Thay and Tay Phuong pagoda a wonderful collection of Arhat statues featuring the fine art of Vietnamese sculpture circa 17th century. We return to Hanoi in the late afternoon.
Visit the picturesque Duong Lam village, cycle through traditional farmlands and visit the Mong Phu temple, Thay and Tay Phuong pagodas.
Pick-ups are provided from selected hotels only and clients may be asked to make their own way to the nearest pick-up point. The client must call the telephone number as printed on their voucher, to arrange a pick up time and to confirm their pick up location.
Included: Lunch at local restaurant (beverages excluded)
Saigon is bright and busy after sunset. From your hotel, we drive through central Saigon to our restaurant for a selection of delicious Vietnamese delicacies –DIY fresh salad; spring rolls; BBQ pork or beef; fried noodle or noodle soup and a cold sweet desert.
After dinner, we board a tricycle for an hour’s ride on the river-front, the Post Office, the Cathedral, the City Hall, the Opera House that you visited in the day and onto the brightly lit night market at Ben Thanh where you can shop or simply sip a refreshing coconut and watch Saigon go by.
Highlights:
A drive through bustling and exciting Saigon after dark by car and tricycle (cyclo) ride. A delicious dinner at local restaurant and visit the night market at Ben Thanh market.
A full day of sightseeing in the bustling commercial capital of Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Visits include the Unification Palace; War Museum; Central Post Office; Notre Dame Cathedral; Ben Thanh market; Historical Museum; China Town; Ten-Poo Temple; Vinh Nghiem Pagoda. A local lunch is included.
Drive through the city centre along the French built tree-lined boulevards, public gardens, old ochre coloured buildings and modern sky scrapers to the Unification Palace. The Palace was built on the grounds of the former Norodom Palace, the official residence of the former French Governor Generals. After independence from the French, the Saigon regime built the palace for the President.
Continue to the nearby War Museum displaying relics of military equipment and artifacts, photographs and sketches that document the War with America and the war crimes; the well preserved and imposing Central Post Office; Notre Dame Cathedral and City Hall, a magnificent edifice of French architecture.
Spend an hour at the Ben Thanh market –a bazaar of local apparels, silks and textiles, jewelry and precious stones, souvenirs, a wet market with a deluge of tasty tropical fruits, preserved snacks and candies and home utensils.
Lunch will be a Vietnamese fare at a local restaurant, an introduction to tasty and fine Vietnamese cuisine. After lunch, we drive to good old Chinatown, reputed to have a population of 4 millions.
Drive past the central market, the streets of hardware stores, goldsmiths and fruit stalls and visit the venerable Ten-Poo Temple. Next, for a comparison of religious believes and Asian architecture visit the Vinh Nghiem Pagoda. The last stop would be a lacquer workshop and display centre to shop for your souvenirs of Vietnam.
Pick-ups are provided from selected hotels only and clients may be asked to make their own way to the nearest pick-up point. The client can call Tour East Vietnam on the hotline number as printed on their voucher should they have any queries about their pick-up point and pick-up time, however this will be confirmed via email/telephone.
We drive (3 hours) to Ha Long Bay, 170km east of Hanoi. Enroute we enjoy the green and peaceful countryside with age old farm houses on green or golden paddy fields, granite and coal hills. At Ha Long Bay, we board a decorated wooden junk to cruise around the many islets and limestone kasks, shaped by weather and shapes like Dog, Incense Urn, Sail, Fighting Cock, etc; sail by the grottoes and visit Thien Cung or Dau Go cave and enjoy a casual but tasty fresh seafood lunch on board before we return to the pier. Relax on the drive back to Hanoi and time permitting, we visit an art/souvenir store or an embroidery center to train children of those who suffered from Agent Orange for your souvenir hunting
Note: While this is a private tour, we would have to share the spacious cruising junk unless we have a minimum of 15 passengers.
Pick-ups are provided from selected hotels only and clients may be asked to make their own way to the nearest pick-up point.
Highlight:
Visit the world heritage site of Ha Long Bay –a perfect picture of the beauty of nature posed by the hundreds of limestone kasks popping out of the deep blue sea on a 4 hour cruise on a wooden junk.
Tour Info
Tour Start time: 08:30 - 18:30 hours Duration: 10 hours Guide: English speaking Included: Lunch (beverages excluded)
We begin our day with an interesting drive through the rich farming land of the Red River Delta and a boat ride on the Yen Vy river to the Perfume Pagoda, one of northern Vietnam’s holiest sites.
The Perfume Pagoda is not just one pagoda but many shrines and temples built into a limestone grotto and hillside. During our visit, we may have an opportunity to interact and see for yourself the lifestyle of the monks and their prayer sessions.
We continue our tour on a wooden sampan to paddle through the canals to appreciate the picturesque landscape, paddy fields as well as the charming casual gardens of the complex.
Enjoy a vegetarian or picnic lunch on the grounds of the complex before we return to Hanoi.
Highlights:
Visit the Perfume Pagoda, a complex of 4 Pagodas and paddle through its beautiful grounds and gardens.
Hanoi, the Capital City is the cultural, academic and administrative centre of Vietnam. It offers much for the sightseer, with the many contrasting icons, pagodas, and the old citadel. This comprehensive tour begins with visits to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the House of Ho Chi Minha (closed on Mondays and Fridays) to understand our leader great leadership, his vision and philosophy of government; the One-Pillar Pagoda, so called as the whole Pagoda actually do stand on only one Pillar and the Temple of Literature with its serene garden and age old classical Vietnamese architecture.
We continue to the West Lake to drive around the lake and view the Tran Quoc Pagoda. We then proceed to the Hoan Kiem Lake, the business and shopping district for a Vietnamese lunch. After lunch we visit the Ngoc Son Temple and the ageless red wooden Huc Bridge. We end our day with a walk through the interesting, busy and old part of Hanoi known as the Old Quarters a view of our past lifestyle that continues till today as it was 100 years ago.
Highlights:
Visit the modern and old parts of the Capital city; the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum; the mysterious One Pillar Pagoda, the Temple of Literature, Ngoc Son Temple and The Huc Bridge; Hoan Kiem Lake and the old quarters.
Pick-ups are provided from selected hotels only and clients may be asked to make their own way to the nearest pick-up point.
The client can call Tour East Vietnam on the hotline number as printed on their voucher should they have any queries about their pick-up point and pick-up time, however this will be confirmed via email/telephone.
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