Day 1 : Hanoi Arrival
Upon arrival in bustling Hanoi you are met by private coach and driven to your sophisticated hotel situated in extensive gardens and manicured grounds on Hanoi’s West Lake or Old Quarter

Day 2: Ha Noi Sightseeing
Your first full day in Vietnam is devoted to exploring the capital city of Hanoi. While smaller than Ho Chi Minh City, it is a fascinating blend of centuries of Vietnamese, Chinese, and French history. In addition to numerous museums and government buildings, Hanoi also houses many of Vietnam’s universities.

Early risers may opt to transfer to Hoan Kiem Lake, regarded as the heart of the city. You will be able to see thousands of locals (mostly elderly) practicing Tai Chi and calisthenics, or playing badminton and ping pong. From here walk to Hang Be Market, where you can see upper class ladies shopping for their daily supplies. A transfer is provided back to the hotel in time for a delicious and extensive buffet breakfast.

The rest of the day will be spent in and around Hanoi’s Old Quarter, which preserves examples of traditional Vietnamese and colonial architecture in narrow streets that open up into newer districts, and onto green parks surrounding small lakes. This area is an amazing introduction to the country, lined with street-level shops that morph into the owners’ living rooms. Strolling past covered stalls, you might see an entire family on board a single motor scooter navigating the narrow streets and alleyways.

After a delicious local lunch in a building that was once a Colonial House, you may opt to relax back at the hotel, go to the B52 Lake and explore this neighborhood, or take a walk through the French Quarter.

Later this afternoon a wonderful Thang Long Water Puppet Show is included. This amazing art form originated over one thousand years ago in the Red River Delta. The performers who operate the puppets spend more than an hour in the water, and the result is an intriguing show full of local tales about ancient legends, romance, farming, fishing, and children playing.

Day 3: Halong Bay with A night on A Top end of Wooden Junk
Drive to Halong Bay. Board traditional junk boat. Visit Vung Vieng Fishing Village, optional swimming and kayaking
The destination for nights is fantastical Halong Bay, 600-square-miles studded with almost 2,000 jutting, lushly forested limestone islands, or karsts. Halong translates as “where the dragon descends into the sea.” As legend tells it, Halong Bay was created by a great dragon that lived in the mountains. As it ran towards the coast with its tail flailing, it gouged out valleys and crevasses in the landscape. This journey provides unequaled access to the bay’s beauty. Situated roughly four hours east of Hanoi, you arrive in the bay around noon and board your private junk. Lunch is served on board, after which a visit to the floating fishing village of Vung Vieng is included. You will have the chance to experience the villagers’ daily life as well as the traditional culture and customs of the fishermen. Later there are opportunities for swimming and kayaking.

This evening enjoy your first dinner aboard the boat. The setting sun gives way to the quiet lapping of water and a night sky full of stars.

Day 4: Halong Bay - Hanoi - Hoi An
After a light breakfast on board, the junk makes its way to Sung Sot Cave, or the Cave of Surprises, the largest grotto in Halong Bay. It consists of two chambers, one being similar to a wide theatre hall, where many stalactites hang from the high ceiling, and a second chamber that is so immense it could hold thousands of people at one time. At the deepest point of the grotto, a “royal garden” appears with a clear pond and a fascinating landscape of mountains. Many birds and plants (benjamin figs, cycads and centenary banyan trees) live here. After this visit head back to the junk and enjoy a delicious brunch. After disembarking at Halong Pier, transfer back to Hanoi, where you board your flight to Danang. From here drive to Hoi An, where you have a chance to check in at the hotel and freshen up before enjoying dinner at a local restaurant where you can experience the delights of Vietnamese cuisine.

Day 5: Hoi An Tour Around
Begin your day by winding through two villages, all the while appreciating the typical Vietnamese scenery, ultra-green rice paddies, traditional houses, and perhaps a family piled high on a single moped, carrying their wares to a local market. Walk through the local villages of Cam Thanh and Cam Chau where there may be a chance to stop at a local school and visit with the children. Continue on to the wonderful old part of Hoi An, where your guide shares amazing insights into the history of this area.

Hoi An was an international trading center from the 17th to the 19th centuries frequented by merchants from China, Japan, India, and Holland. The winding narrow streets and old Chinese-style buildings of its historical center are remarkably intact and have earned it the status of a UNESCO World Heritage site. Particularly fascinating is the Japanese covered bridge, built by the 17th-century Japanese colonists and unique with its Buddhist temple on one side. Go inside a former merchant’s house as well as shops, courtyards, and temples, eventually reaching Hoi An’s colorful central market, its stalls brimming over with tropical produce. Nearby visit the cloth market, where fabric can be purchased and made into a garment in one day.

Day 6: Hoi An - Transfer to Siem Reap, via Ho Chi Minh City
An early morning departure from Danang takes you to Siem Reap, Cambodia, the “Great Gate to Angkor.” There will be a transfer in Ho Chi Minh City and you will have airport assistance during the transfer. On arrival in Siem Reap you will be met at the airport by your local Cambodian guide and then transferred to your hotel. After time to check in and freshen up, enjoy lunch at the hotel’s poolside restaurant. After lunch take a tuk-tuk to the gate at Bayon, which is at the beginning of your walk to explore the mysterious royal city of Angkor Thom. Stroll along the trail to the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King. Wander through the narrow alleyways and see its awe-inspiring fifty-tower temple. The enormous stone sculptures reveal enigmatic faces from a remote era. Continue onto Takeo Temple, a towering but plainly decorated structure dedicated to Shiva. Known in its time as the “mountain with golden peaks,” it was the first temple to be constructed wholly of sandstone. Here you will watch a spectacular sunset over the temples before dinner in a local restaurant, your first chance to enjoy Cambodia’s delicious cuisine.

Day 7: Angkor Tour Around
This morning you depart early from the hotel in order to beat the heat. Transfer to K’bal Spean, which is situated on the southwestern slopes of the Kulen Hills and within Phnom Kulen National Park. It was here in 802 AD that King Jayavarman declared himself the god-king and broke away from the Java kingdom. This is the birthplace of the Angkor kingdom and modern Cambodia. You follow a trail through a pretty forest, where at the top you find the K’bal Spean site and riverbed which is covered with sculptures of lingas, the symbol of the god Shiva’s supreme essence. This amazing Hindu site, referred to as the “River of a Thousand Linguas,” predates Angkor Wat by roughly two hundred years, making it one of the most ancient sites in the region. Along your route there is a lovely waterfall and great views of the valley below.
Back in Siem Reap a lunch at the Paul De Brule Tourism School is planned. This school provides a five-star lunch cooked by students who are studying to be chefs at this educational center. Later this afternoon you visit Ta Prohm, a site nearly lost due to the deep jungle growing around it. The overgrown vegetation combined with the remains provides a somewhat haunted and exotic landscape. Enormous tree roots, pushing between the stone blocks of the temple in a sort of embrace, emphasize the legend of a “lost city.” Intentionally left partially unrestored, massive fig and silk-cotton trees grow from the towers and alleyways, offering ample photo opportunities of temple ruins juxtaposed with overgrown trees. Time permitting, visit a center for local artisans to learn about how traditional practices are being passed on to the next generation. Dinner will be eaten back at the hotel, which serves some of the best authentic Cambodian food in the area. Later you enjoy a performance by musicians from Cambodian Living Arts, a project of World Education, which supports the revival of traditional Khmer performing arts…

Day 8: Angkor Wat and Departure
The morning is devoted to the exploration of Angkor Wat—the enormous and intricately carved Khmer ruins—one of the world’s architectural wonders. A product of the Khmer civilization, the temple was constructed between the 9th and 13th centuries. Strolling its extensive alleys and courtyards, you see many small shrines still in use by the local people living near the ancient site. Housed in the main temple are hundreds of fine carvings of Apsaras, depicted from Hindu mythology.