Sensational Indochina Discovery 22 days

Upon arrival at Siem Reap International Airport, you are met and transferred to the hotel. Free time at leisure or get a tuk-tuk orientation ride around the town. Dinner at a local restaurant & accommodation at your hotel in Siem Reap.

Meal: Dinner
Tour guide: English-speaking guide

The 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.

Overnight in Siem Reap

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Tour guide: English-speaking guide

Breakfast at the hotel, then visit the jungle-covered temple of Ta Prohm, which is an incredible sight. There are enormous fig trees and gigantic creepers that embrace themselves in the stone foundations of the structure, giving the impression of man’s creation being reclaimed by the powerful forces of nature. We explore this masterpiece as well as some of the surrounding temples including Banteay Kdei, Sra Srong, Ta Keo, Thommano,n and Chau Say Tevado. Afternoon, drive to Choueng Kneas village, where you will take the boat to visit the way of life Cambodian poor people along with schools, restaurants, hospitals and much more floating on the great lake of Tonle sap. Overnight at the hotel in Siem Reap.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Tour guide: English-speaking guide

Breakfast at the hotel, heading out of town, we make our way by traveling on a newly paved road to the intricately carved and well-preserved temple of Banteay Srei. Along the way, we make a stopover at the Preah Dark village and we follow these with a visit to the Banteay Samre Temple adorned with impressive relief’s depicting scenes of Vishunu as well as Krishna legends.

This afternoon, you will be transferred to Phnom Penh via a short flight. Upon arrival, pick up and transfer to the hotel for check-in. The same afternoon in Phnom Penh, we will visit Wat Phnom, Phnom Penh’s namesake, and we will take an hour cruise before sunset. Dinner at a local restaurant.

Overnight in Phnom Penh

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Tour guide: English-speaking guide

Breakfast at the hotel – we will start our visit to the Royal Palace. The Palace was opened in 1870 under King Norodom, and now contains the Royal Residence, the Throne Hall, the Silver Pagoda, and other buildings. The Silver Pagoda (Wat Preah Keo Morokat) is one of the city’s most visited sites and offers a display of priceless Buddhist and historical objects. The Pagoda draws its name with more than 5,000 silver tiles, which cover a floor in the temple. The building serves less as a functioning shrine, no monks currently reside here, than a repository of cultural treasures such as the famous Emerald Buddha and many other valuable statues. We will then visit Tuol Sleng museum (S-21) and the killing field of Choeung Ek, which is about 35kim away from the city. Transfer out to the airport for the flight to Ho Chi Minh City. You are welcome and transfer to the hotel.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

Meal: Breakfast
Tour guide: English-speaking guide

Morning explore the complicated network of underground tunnels in Cu Chi, which were used by the VC and guerrilla fighters during Vietnam war. Back to city centre and enjoy a half-day orientation tour of Ho Chi Minh City including The Old Post Office, Notre Dame Cathedral, Independence Hall, War Remnants Museum and Ben Thanh Market.

Overnight in HCMC.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch
Tour guide: English-speaking guide

Discover the lush beauty of the Mekong Delta as you wind your way down the narrow canals on a sampan that glides along fruit orchards, paddy fields and sleepy villages; visit a floating market, where vendors display the delta’s bounty of fruits and vegetables on their boats. However, busy selling and buying, they will never forget to throw you happy smile and wave at you.

Overnight in Can Tho.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch
Tour guide: English-speaking guide

Early bird today to the boat quay and get a 40 minute boat ride to welcome the sunrise, and to get to the most famous floating market of Cairang. This is an incredible chance to experience the life and daily business of Mekong merchants on the water. Every kinds of fruits, vegetable are all available for sales. Transfer to Can Tho Airport for a short flight to Phu Quoc Island. Shuttle bus of hotel will pick you up at airport, check in and overnight in Phu Quoc.

Meal: Breakfast
Tour guide: English speaking guide

Free for your own leisure to explore the emerald beach. End of services

Meal: Breakfast
Tour guide: None

Free for your own leisure to explore the emerald beach.

Meal: Breakfast
Tour guide: None

Today we transfer to the airport for a flight to HCMC, then a connecting flight to Da Nang. You are welcomed by our driver and transferred to Hoi An – the old port town with rich culture.

Overnight in Hoi An.

Meal: Breakfast
Tour guide: None

A half-day wandering through the picturesque streets of this 16th-century trading port, where the buildings remind us of its Chinese, Japanese, French, and Vietnamese architectural styles; visit the Chinese Embassy Halls, Japanese Covered Bridge, Phuc Kien Pagoda, ancient Tan Ky House, and a walk into the central Hoi An market. The afternoon will be free time for shopping or relaxing.

Overnight in Hoi An.

Meal: Breakfast
Tour guide: English-speaking guide

After a rewarding drive through the scenic Ocean Clouds Mountain Pass (Hai Van pass) with a stop in Cham Museum and Marble Mountain in Danang, you will arrive in Hue – the ancient city. Check in the hotel and leisure time. Afternoon visit to the famous Citadel followed by a royal style dinner to show off the nice and sophisticated cuisine of Hue.

Overnight at your hotel.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Tour guide: English-speaking guide

Morning to embark the cruise on the Huong River, stop at Dong Ba Market and buy necessary food for a cooking class with our chef. Visit Thien Mu Pagoda – the symbol of Hue City and back to the boat for a scenic cruise to Thuy Bieu village. Arrive at Thuy Bieu and visit the garden house, ancient ancestral temples, an incense-making family to discover the daily life of local people. Come back to Thuy Bieu restaurant for a cooking class where you will prepare lunch by yourself.

After lunch, relax with a short herbal foot bath and massage. The rest of the day, visit Tu Duc tomb and stop for photo shooting at the incense-making village.

Back to the hotel and overnight in Hue.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch
Tour guide: English-speaking Guide

After breakfast and check out hotel, say goodbye to Hue and take a flight to Hanoi. Welcome by a local driver take you to your hotel. Have a restful night in Hanoi.

Meal: Breakfast
Tour guide: None

The full-day tour takes you around Hanoi’s highlights sites, including the Ho Chi Minh Complex, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Ho Chi Minh Museum, and his stilt house, Presidential Palace and the One Pillar Pagoda. You also have a chance to visit historic University – The Temple of Literature, that dates back to the 11th century; learn about Buddhist practices in a serene lakeside pagoda. then you will have a chance to visit the famous Ethnology Museum.

Back to the Old Quarter to walk through the narrow streets that were famous for its specialized craft making guilds, The guild was named for their product or location and still bear such names nowadays; and then join in a unique water puppet show that features the Viet folklores and culture.

Overnight in Hanoi.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch
Tour guide: English-speaking Guide

In the morning, you leave Hanoi for Halong Bay and board a boat, enjoying lunch while cruising through the bay. The magical bay is home to thousands of limestone islands rising from the waves like dragons’ teeth.

Later in the afternoon, you will visit an interesting fishing village with the opportunity to interact with fishermen who have been living in the bay for almost three generations.

Back on board, you will enjoy cocktails or cooking classes while watching the sunset, before indulging in a lavish dinner onshore. Afterward, you can choose to do anything from joining a movie night, playing board games, or relaxing at the beauty spa before retiring for the night.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Tour guide: English-speaking guide onboard

You will start the day with a morning Tai Chi exercise and an opportunity to view the sunrise over the bay. After breakfast, you will be taken to a beautiful limestone grotto before returning to the junk for a final glimpse of Halong Bay while cruising back to the dock. You will then have free time to enjoy Hanoi from the late afternoon till the nightlife and stay overnight in your hotel.

Meal: Breakfast
Tour guide: English-speaking guide onboard

Enjoy the morning in Hanoi before transferring to the airport for a flight to Luang Prabang. Pick up and transfer to the hotel. You will be met by our staff and transferred to your hotel.

This afternoon, you will visit the impressive stupa of Wat Visoun and the shrines of Wat Aham and Wat Mai; then climb up to the top of Mount Phousi to explore the sacred, gilded stupa as well as capture a beautiful view of the city and the Mekong River at sunset. From there, we visit the Night Market, where you can browse through a lovely selection of handmade textiles.

Overnight in Luang Prabang

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Tour guide: English-speaking guide

An optional early start gives you the fantastic opportunity to participate in the daily morning alms giving to saffron-clad monks. This tradition is unique to Laos, being the only Buddhist nation still preserving this procession.

After breakfast, we enjoy a short-guided tour of the city’s oldest temple, Wat Sene and the magnificent Wat Xieng Thong where you can see the impressive “tree of life” mosaic set in colored glass. You will then board an upstream cruise on the Mekong River, which gives us a panoramic view of the tranquil countryside to Pak Ou Caves, sanctuaries consisting of two large caverns, both repositories for thousands of Buddha images. The cruise also includes stops at a few villages during the day, including Ban Xanghai where local rice wine is made.

After lunch, continue our excursion towards Khouangsi Waterfall. Once at the falls, you can swim in the turquoise pools or walk along forest paths. Return to Luang Prabang by late afternoon and continue to Ban Xang Khong, a village well known for silk hand weaving and making traditional Saa Paper. Enjoy the sunset at Wat Phabath.

Overnight in Luang Prabang.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch
Tour guide: English-speaking Guide

For those who want, wake up early to attend the alms-giving procession in the streets of the town at 5: 30 am and then follow with a visit to the fresh market before breakfast at your hotel.

Option: French breakfast at Café Wat Sene or Le Banneton Bakery. Around 8:30 am, we drive to Xieng Lom Village and start our full-day elephant daycare tour: “Inside the hearts of elephants”

Upon arrival, you are invited to have coffee or tea as your guide for the day provides an in-depth introduction to elephant behavior and the ways we should interact with them. A quick boat ride across the Nam Khan River will deliver you to the waiting elephants. You will be introduced to your new friends and fed them some special treats—a sure way to begin an instant friendship. Then, you will enjoy observing elephants from the riverbank as Mahouts wash them in the Nam Khan river. You can experience elephants washing, swimming, and playing in the water. Please note this is a voluntary activity for the elephants, and Mandalao does not force them to get in the water. (On cold days, the elephants are less likely to want to get wet.)

After 2 hours crossing through a beautiful stretch of traditional Lao gardens, you will arrive at the jungle-covered Huay Nok stream. As you walk alongside the elephants and crisscross through the cool water, you will experience a profound sense of understanding, respect, and caring for these amazing animals. You and your elephant companions will continue walking past a lovely stretch of rice fields and enter a patch of forest where you can rest, relax, and eat. Lunch will be served in traditional Lao fashion, eating on bamboo mats on the forest floor. Then, you will visit Tad Kuang Song Waterfall, which was named after a Golden Deer spirit seen standing on its crest many centuries ago. If you like, you can take a cool dip, wade, stand under the soft showers of the waterfall, and spend time meditating and admiring the private beauty of this rarely seen natural treasure. You will sit, watch, and learn as the MandaLao mahouts show how they communicate and listen to their elephants. This will highlight the special skills each elephant has and give you deeper insight into their individual personalities.

After this, you can take what you have learned from the mahouts and guides throughout the day and spend quiet, uninterrupted time with the elephants, reading their emotions just as they read yours. You will experience firsthand why humans and elephants have shared such an unwavering bond for thousands of years. Along with the mahouts, you will bring your elephants to their nighttime feeding grounds. Take time for a long goodbye and to know that the connection you have built is not only felt by you but by your new friend as well. Enjoy a few moments to think about your experiences from the day as you look out at the vast Luang Prabang mountain range from the terrace at MandaLao. We will then drive you back to town. Arrive at your hotel at approximately 4:00 pm.

Overnight in Luang Prabang.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch
Tour guide: English-speaking guide

Travel to Laos

Start our last day with a visit to The National Museum (closed Tuesday) at the former Royal Palace, which displays a lovely collection of artifacts reflecting the richness of Lao culture throughout the ages. You will also see the Central Market. After visiting these sights in the morning, there will be free time to venture into town and stroll around the shopping areas. The tour ends after your transfer to the airport for departure. End of service.

Meal: Breakfast
Tour guide: English-speaking guide