Best of Vietnam & Cambodia Diwali Tour 9 days 8 nights

DETAILED INTINERARY

Day 1: Arrive in Hanoi
You will be warmest welcomed to Hanoi. You are met by your private guide upon arrival and transfer to city center. 

Afternoon, You will start visiting first place Ho Chi Minh’s complex included: his mausoleum (outside only) , the final resting place of Viet Nam’s greatest father, walking along Ho Chi Minh’s stilt house where he lived and worked from 1958 to 1969, President Palace from outside. Visit One-Pillar Pagoda – the one modeled after a lotus flower, a symbol of Hanoi city. Then visit the most famous Hoan Kiem Lake & Ngoc Son temple. Enjoy a traditional water puppet show.

Transfer to your relative’s accommodation in Hanoi for overnight.

Day 2: Hanoi – Ha Long Bay – Hanoi (B/L)
7:30 am You will be greeted at your hotel and drive to Halong City, approximately 3 hours away. Once at Halong City, Cruise through the most beautiful place of the bay with the famous islets such as Cock Fighting, Dinh Huong islets …while enjoying a sumptuous vegetarian lunch on boat. Cruise through the emerald waters between the limestone outcrops and long corridors, visit Thien Cung  Cave. After a 4 hour navigation, you will go back to the harbor for a drive back to your hotel in Hanoi. Dinner at local Indian restaurant. Overnight in Hanoi.

Day 3: Hanoi – flight to HCMC – City tour (B)
Breakfast at hotel & check-out. Upon arrival in HCMC, you will be transfer to city center for check-in (before 14.00, room subject to availability).

Afternoon, You will embark on a half day city tour of Saigon, including the Reunification Palace, War Crime Museum, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Old Post Office and bustling Ben Thanh Market. Overnight in HCMC.

Day 4: Mekong Delta Excursion (B)
The Mekong Delta is the southernmost region of Vietnam. It is often referred to as the rice bowl of Vietnam as it produces three crops of rice per year. The fertile Mekong Delta is also famous for its tropical fruits and flowers.

Arrive in My Tho where you board a private local boat for a leisurely cruise along the river past stilt houses, fruit plantations. Continue by boat to Tan Thach in Ben Tre, and board a hand-rowed sampan to float along natural canals shaded by coconut trees, then sample seasonal fruit and honey tea accompanied by locals performing Southern Vietnamese folk music. Visit a family business which epitomizes the idyllic rural lifestyle, try the delicious coconut candy and observe the pastoral life as you roam through the fruit plantation and village. Visit a family business which epitomizes the idyllic rural lifestyle, try the delicious coconut candy and observe the pastoral life as you roam through the fruit plantation and village. Dinner at local Indian restaurant. Overnight in HCMC.

Day 5: HCMC – flight to Phnom Penh – City tour (B)
Breakfast at hotel & check-out. Transfer to airport for boarding flight to Phnom Penh.

Arrival in Phnom Penh airport, meet your local guide and then transfer to visit the Toul Sleng Prison Museum and the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek-both grim reminders of Cambodia's bloody past under Pol Pot. It is almost inconceivable to confront the nature of true evil here in this gentle land, but the Buddhist memorial at Choeung Ek, commemorates the 1.7 million victims of the 1975-79 Pol Pot regime. This excursion may prove distressing for some. It is, however, an important piece of this country’s historical and cultural puzzle. Overnight in Phnom Penh.

Day 6: Phnom Penh – Siem Reap (B) by private car with tour guide
Breakfast at the hotel and transfer by private car with tour guide to Siem Reap.

Arrival in Siem Reap and transfer to the hotel for check in, after check in, we will to visit statue of Yeay Teap, Preah Ang Chek and Preah Ang Chorm. Buying jasmine and lotus flowers to worship is very important for the 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. Overnight: Siem Reap

Day 7: Siem Reap: Sightseeing of Angkor (B)
Breakfast at hotel: Start your sightseeing tour of 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. Overnight in Siem Reap.

Day 8: Siem Reap: City Tour (B)
Breakfast at hotel. Visit the floating village of Chong Khneas, located 10 kilometers south of Siem Reap. 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. We spend the rest of time visiting the "Chantiers Ecoles - Les Artisans d'Angkor" which provides training to young Cambodians in an effort to revive the ancient Khmer traditions of stone carving and wood sculpting. We will drive to the Pouk district about 15 Km in 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. Overnight in Siem Reap.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner with Apsara dance show

Day 9: Depart Siem Reap (B)
Breakfast and transfer to the airport for your flight to onwards destination. End of services!