10 DAY SOUTHERN INDOCHINA TOUR

You will be warmly welcomed on arrival at HCMC’s Tan Son Nhat International airport. You will be transferred to your hotel before a welcome dinner a recommended restaurant and an overnight stay in HCMC.

You will have a private city touring of HCMC (formerly known as Saigon),which is the largest and busiest city in Vietnam with a population of 7 million people. Despite its size, Ho Chi Minh City retains the beauty of its graceful colonial French-style structures.

You’ll visit bustling Ben Thanh Market, the War Remnants Museum , the Reunification Palace and Notre Dame Cathedral. In the afternoon you are free to explore on your own. Later you will get to see what all the fuss is about as we go out in the evening and experience the city’s numerous shopping malls, cinemas, discotheques and bewildering number of bars before and overnight stay in Saigon

In the morning, you will be driven to Cao Dai Temple in Tay Ninh. Tay Ninh, near the Cambodian border, is home to the unique Cao Dai sect, whose patron saints include Joan of Arc, Victor Hugo and Winston Churchill, to name a few. The religion is a hybrid of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Christianity. The Cao Dai Temple has been described as the Disneyland of the East.

The trip to Tay Ninh is combined with a visit to the Cu Chi Tunnels. At its height, the tunnel system stretched over 250 kilometers. Going from Saigon to the Cambodian border, it was three levels deep, including a network of innumerable trap doors, specially constructed living areas, storage facilities, weapons factories, field hospitals, command centers and kitchens. Today, the remaining tunnels have become a major tourist attraction, giving you a unique experience and a feel of what underground life during the U.S.-Vietnam War must have been like. You will stay overnight in Ho Chi Minh city

You’ll drive through the Mekong Delta to the town of Cai Be, well-known for its floating market. Here you will board your private sampan boat for a cruise along the maze of waterways and canals. You’ll stop at the home of a Bonsai gardener for a sumptuous lunch, including the popular dish of ‘Elephant Ear Fish’. The, you will continue by boat to Ba Cang village, where you will have a short bike ride to visit vegetable farms, boat buildings, rice mills, and tofu makers. You’ll rejoin the boat and continue your exploration of the tributaries and canals of the delta. Toward the end of the day, you will arrive in Can Tho City, heart of the Mekong Delta, for an overnight stay

After breakfast, you will take a boat (the “Lady Hau”) to join in and explore the floating market, Cai Rang, one of the most exciting floating markets on the Mekong Delta. Then, continue cruising with the hotel’s guide along narrow creeks to visit a noodle factory and an orchard. After sampling local fruits, our guide will escort the guests back to the hotel by local boat through the myriad canals. You will have free time in the afternoon before an overnight stay in Can Tho

You will have a wonderful half day trip to Soc Trang, a neighboring town, and discover the beautiful and ancient Khmer pagodas of the region and the extraordinary bats congregating in the area. You will visit the majestic Kleng Temple and the Khmer museum. Following this, you will rendezvous with your vehicle for the drive to Ho Chi Minh City for an overnight stay

On arrival in Siem Reap you will be greeted at the airport and transferred to your hotel. Once check in formalities are complete there will be a tour to the Angkor Wat complex. Angkor Wat was built between 1112 and 1152 by King Suryavarman II and dedicated to Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation, although some people believe it is actually dedicated to the king himself as the temple faces west, representing death. It is the best preserved of all the temples. From here you will proceed to the hilltop temple of Phnom Bakheng , and as the end of the day approaches, you will climb the imposing remains for a truly memorable sunset. You will have dinner and enjoy watching an Apsara dance show (an old Kmer folk dance) at a local restaurant before an overnight stay in Siem Reap.

You will visit Angkor Thom today and see the South Gate , Bayon (with 4 giants faces), the Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas, the Elephant Terrace and the Terrace of the Leper King. Angkor Thom was a royal city with a moat and 3 km perimeter wall, and was the last capital of Angkor.

In the afternoon, you will we drive to Bantaey Srei and Bantaey Kdei. Banteay Srey means “citadel of the women”. However, this modern translation probably refers to the delicate beauty of the carvings. The walls are covered with carvings and its relatively small size, pink sandstone building material and delicate designs give a fairytale feel to the place. YOU will stay overnight in Siem Reap.

Following breakfast you will explore magnificent Angkor Wat, where you will proceed to the summit, and Phnom Bakheng Temple, to watch the memorable sunset . In all its aspects, Angkor Wat is breathtaking. It is shaped like a massive, three tiered pyramid, crowned by five beehive-like towers which rise 65 metres above the ground. You will have an overnight stay in Siem Reap

End of the Southern Indochina Tour, you will be pick up and transferred to the airport 3 hours before your flight. Thank you for traveling with “Vietnamese Private Tours”.