Vietnam Cozy is designed to bring our travelers through Vietnam through different tourist attractions around Ha Noi and Sai Gon. The tour starts in Hanoi and finishes in Saigon – Ho Chi Minh City. Our tour engages you into the real life of Vietnam with different lifestyles in the countryside of North Vietnam and on the Mekong River down the South.
The tour pace is relaxing; the tour duration is 8 days. The tour activities include river cruising, luxury junk cruising, walking, old war site touring, history touring. Most of the meals are included with fine Vietnamese local cuisine. Accommodations chosen are of luxury standards, conveniently located in town.
Vietnam Cozy should be the choice for the travelers who don't have much time, but still want to learn about Vietnam in a complete way.
1. Inclusions:
English-speaking guide;
Transportation + airlines tickets within Vietnam as indicated in the program;
Private Twin-share cabin on board a shared junk cruise on Halong Bay,
Private tourist boat on the Mekong River in My Tho;
Accommodation on shared basis as indicated in the program;
Meals as indicated in the program: B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner;
All admission fees in the program;
2. Exclusions:
Insurance of any types;
International airfares;
International airport taxes;
Drinks or personal expenses;
Others not clearly specified in the Inclusions;
VIETNAM COZY
Day1 Arrive in Ha Noi (D)
Paradissa Travel tour guide will meet you at the airport and escort you to your hotel. Our welcome dinner is at a local restaurant accompanied by Vietnamese traditional music. Overnight in Ha Noi.
Hanoi was chosen to be the capital city of Vietnam from the 1010 A.D. The ruling king Ly Cong Uan that time knew that choosing the capital site would be vital to the kingdom’s prosperity. After coming into power he patrolled the kingdom looking for a suitable site for building the capital city. It’s said that when he arrived at the bank of the Red River a five-colored dragon appeared soaring into the sky. He researched the whole area and found out that it was perfect in terms of Feng Shui. The construction of the capital city was started right after that. That time it was called Thang Long which in Vietnamese means the “City of Ascending Dragons”. With the arrival of the French in the 19th century, new colonial styled architecture was added to the charming traditional architecture of Hanoi.
Nowadays the travelers to Hanoi know the city as 3 main areas: The Former Citadel Area, the Old Quarter and the French Quarter. Of course the city has more areas to the north, to the south and to the west of central Hanoi now where high-rise buildings are found to accommodate the growing economy. With much development going on in the fast growing economy of Vietnam, the old areas of Hanoi are specially protected by the authority and still Hanoi retains the charm like no others.
Day2 Ha Noi City Tour (B/L)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Our tour starts with Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Presidential Palace; this whole area reminds you some parts of the Vietnamese history and the most revered man of the nation. Then we’ll tour Tran Quoc Pagoda-Nation founding pagoda, Quan Thanh temple where you can enjoy the freshness of the West Lake and learn about the spiritual life of the Vietnamese. Lunch is at a local restaurant.
In the afternoon, we’ll tour the Temple of Literature-1st University of Vietnam and the Ngoc Son temple. We’ll have a walking tour of the Old Quarter and free time for shopping in the narrow hustling bustling streets of the Old Town which dated back from the 11th century.
In late afternoon, we'll take you to a traditional water puppet show for sampling this Vietnamese unique art of water puppet performance. Dinner is on our own tonight. Overnight in Hanoi.
Day3 Ha Noi – Ha Long Bay (B/L/D)
Breakfast at the hotel.
We start at 9.00 A.M for the 3 hour journey (170 km) through the Red River Delta, which offers plenty of chances for taking photos of Vietnamese farmers tilling the vast green paddy fields. At half way, we'll have a visit to a handicraft workshop with fine clothes, embroidered paintings, stone statuettes and all kinds of gems mined in Vietnam such as star rubies or sapphires... Our destination is the World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay. The bay offers some 3000 mountain islands and islets towering in the Gulf of Tonkin in the East Vietnam Sea.
Upon arrival, you'll be welcomed on board our luxury junk and treated with wine and fresh local seafood. As our junk gliding further into the tranquility of Ha Long Bay amid the towering mountain cliffs and on the emerald green water, you'll have relaxing time combining the fine tastes of the wine and the freshness of Ha Long Bay. During the cruise, we'll stop some times for visiting the amazing Sung Sot cave and the Ti Tov white sand beach before anchoring for the night. Overnight on board the junk in the wild of Halong Bay.
Notes: Please know that on this tour, the clients are to have private car or van, but are to share the junk with other tour groups and travelers. Private junk may be available upon request with additional cost.
Day4 Ha Long Bay - Hanoi (B/L)
After breakfast on board amidst serenity and wilderness, we'll take a little sampan to visit a secret lagoon of Ha Long Bay while the surrounding mountains are just waking up. After that our cruise takes us further into the Bay of Bai Tu Long traveling past the Human Head island, the Turtle island, the Duck islet... to the studio site where the famous Indochine film was shot.
After the feast, our junk travels back to the harbor for the disembarkation at 12.00 Noon. Then enjoy our car journey back to Hanoi. You have free time for dinner at your own pace.
Day5 Ha Noi - Sai Gon (VN 217: 1100 – 1300). City Tour (B/D)
Breakfast at the hotel
Enjoy free time until we transfer you back to the airport for your flight to Ho Chi Minh City, or Sai Gon as we still call it. Upon arrival, you’ll be welcomed by our tour guide and escorted to the city.
In the afternoon, we'll visit the War Remnants Museum. Then we go down to visit Binh Tay market located in the heart of the China town and visit Thien Hau Temple. The Reunification Palace brings back some historical memories. We'll drive around to the Emperor of Jade Temple, the Cathedral, the General Post Office, the Municipal Theater - the former Parliament Building before getting back to the hotel. In the evening, we’ll enjoy a dinner cruise on a luxurious boat on the Sai Gon River. Overnight in Saigon.
Saigon sprawls its length along the Saigon River. With convenient transportation and location, Saigon has always been busy with trade and commerce for hundreds of years since its formation.
Saigon boasts its high rise buildings and luxurious hotels along the riverside. This area is particularly stunning at night when the city full of light can be viewed from a boat cruising on the Saigon River. There are also some rooftop bars and restaurants for you to watch Saigon at night from above.
Saigon is a city on the go, busy days and nights. It’s required no effort to find something to entertain ourselves while in Saigon. There are many pagodas, temples and museums in the city. Those who want to have more active experiences may like to get lost in the busy and exotic markets selling most of things on earth, the numerous bars and sidewalk cafes always full of guests, smoke and music, or just take part in the traffics like nowhere else in the downtown area. If those things are not enough, then there are lots of parks and water parks around the city for you to get relaxed.
Day6 Sai Gon - My Tho - Sai Gon (B/L/D)
Breakfast at the hotel.
Today we’ll travel into the verdant Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam. Upon arrival, we’ll enjoy a boat ride through the Bao Dinh natural canal with the stilt houses and the fruit plantation along the river sides. We’ll experience the My Tho wholesale fruit market, then proceed our journey to the Tortoise Island.
Lunch is served in the canopy an orchard. After that our boat trip brings us on the Tan Thach natural canal in Ben Tre, under the shadow of the water coconut trees. We’ll visit a family where you can learn about the agricultural lifestyle; we’ll travel through the fruit plantation in Thoi Son Island and enjoy a rowing boat trip on the creeks before cruising back to My Tho where we rejoin our car and travel back to Saigon. Our dinner is hosted at a peaceful and wild restaurant on the bank of the Saigon River. Overnight in Saigon.
Day7 Sai Gon - Cu Chi - Sai Gon (B/L)
Breakfast at the hotel.
We travel through the countryside to Cu Chi legendary tunnel. In Cu Chi, we’ll learn about the war as well as the life of the local people during the hard time. Here you’ll adore the human beings resilience once put to test. We arrive back at Ho Chi Minh at mid day.
Lunch is at a local restaurant. In the afternoon, you’ll have free time at leisure. Dinner is on our own today. Overnight in Saigon.
Cu Chi Tunnel is a system of magical tunnels connecting one village to another and was built by the locals to accommodate the VC during the War.
From Cu Chi, major attacks on Saigon were launched during the war, especially those in Tet Offensive of 1968 which shocked the whole world. Creeping our way in the narrow tunnel, you can't imagine that there was no map of the tunnels at the time. Those navigating in the tunnel in the past had to know the tunnel themselves or there had to be a guide, otherwise there were all kinds of traps everywhere in the tunnel awaiting.
The tunnel at the height stretched over 250 km had rudimentary hospitals, water wells, toilets, kitchens…which allowed the local fighters to remain underground for weeks. You can’t imagine that the locals had to dig the tunnels with their bare hand and shovel; they had to camouflage the soil dug out so that they wouldn’t be uncovered by their enemy…So much work done that now facing it and thinking back, the only thing we can say about the tunnel is magic: only magic could make it happen.
Many attempts to destroy the tunnels as well as annihilate the fighters including using tractors, toxic chemicals, bombs…but all came to failure.
Day8 Departure (B)
You have free time at leisure until we transfer you back to the airport for your departure. Time to bid farewell to the Hidden Charm of Vietnam.
