Southeast Asia: Vietnam, with Cambodia and Bangkok all-inclusive!

We leave home for an overnight flight to Hanoi!

We will arrive at the Hanoi airport at in the early evening and take a private transfer through the bustling streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter where we will check into our hotel, the Lotus Boutique Hotel. Dinner will be a short walk for pho and story time with Kevin while he lays out the next day’s activities.

Our first full day in Hanoi will be a walking city tour. Our guide will be Junie, who has lived in the city her entire life. She will pick us up after breakfast at 9, then a  visit to Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum and complex, a historically significant monument long considered a focal-point of the city. We’ll discover the man and his life and role in Vietnamese history. We’ll also visit Huu Tiep Lake and view the downed B-52 aircraft. We’ll walk through local alleys and markets and learn Vietnamese History as we visit Hoa Lo Prision (Hanoi Hilton Prision). We’ll visit Tran Quoc Pagoda and West Lake before. In the afternoon we’ll visit the Old Quarter of the city by tuktuk vans to explore Hanoi’s architecture and local life. We’ll take a 1-hour Rickshaw ride to visit Dong Xuan, a famous market to taste their many food wares. We’ll see Train Street and taste the coffee of Hanoi is famous for before heading back to the hotel around 4 pm.

We’ll reconvene at 6:30 for dinner at Bun Cha Obama, the locally owned restaurant made famous by Anthony Bourdain and President Obama.

After breakfast we travel to Ha Long Bay (about 3.5 hours from Hanoi), where we’ll embark on an overnight cruise among the stunning limestone karsts. Activities include kayaking, visiting caves, and enjoying fresh seafood.

Taking a cruise on Ha Long Bay offers an unparalleled opportunity to immerse yourself in one of Vietnam’s most breathtaking natural wonders. As your boat glides through the serene emerald waters, you’ll be surrounded by an enchanting seascape of limestone karsts and lush islands. As we cruise on the bay, we’ll make stops at various scenic spots, such as the famous Sung Sot Cave and the tranquil beaches of Ti Top Island to allow you to explore the bay’s stunning geological formations and enjoy some leisure time on the sand.

We’ll overnight on the ship in luxury accommodations, with an incredible dinner.

Next morning we’ll continue our cruise and experience a blend of luxury and comfort. Whether you’re savoring a fresh seafood meal on the deck, enjoying a massage, or participating in activities like kayaking or swimming, the cruise allows you to fully appreciate the bay’s beauty from a unique vantage point. The tranquil pace of life on the water, combined with the stunning scenery and cultural experiences, makes this a memorable and rejuvenating adventure.

In the late afternoon we return to Hanoi, arriving back at the Lotus Boutique Hotel where we’ll overnight. The evening is yours to wander, or you can join Kevin on his famous Walking Street personal tour. (This is really a thing. Google it.)

In the morning we board a short flight to Hue, arriving at our hotel, the Huang Giang. Once we settle in, we’ll join our guide, Hung. We will have a full day tour to discover the Hue World Heritage sites and learn about Vietnamese history. We’ll visit the Hue Imperial Citadel, built from 1804 by King Gia Long to tour the living area of the Nguyen’s emperors and their Families until 1945. Thien Mu Pagoda (Pagoda of the Celestial Lady), the oldest pagoda in Hue, built in 1601 by the Founder of the Nguyen Family, and the Minh Mang Mausoleum, one of the best-preserved royal tombs of the period.

The tour will end by 4 pm, and you’ll have time to explore on your own before we gather for a traditional dinner at the 5 star Junrei restaurant.

After breakfast we travel by private van from Hue to Hoi An on a scenic all-day tour. We’ll see beautiful rural landscapes and unique attractions, including Thanh Toan covered bridge, Tam Giang lagoon, Hai Van Pass, Marble Mountains and more. 

We’ll arrive at our Hoi An hotel, the La An Central Villa, in the late afternoon. You’ll have free time to check in and explore the area before we meet for dinner at 8 pm.

After breakfast at the hotel, our guide will meet us at the hotel at 9 am. Hoa will be taking us on a full day adventure, filled with natural caves, basket boat rides, local foot massages, lantern making. We’ll finish the afternoon with a cooking class of a traditional Vietnamese dish. 

We finish the tour in the late afternoon and will meet for dinner at 7.

We will leave the hotel around 8:30 am to catch our flight from Da Nang to Saigon. We’ll have a private transfer to our hotel, the luxurious Icon Saigon. We will checkin and have some free time before meeting our guide Thanh, who will take us on a unique food tour to enjoy banh mi, Vietnamese coffee, green papaya salad, Banh xeo pancakes, and coconut ice cream. 

After breakfast at the hotel, we will be meeting our tour guide Thanh once again, but this time to explore the Cu Chi Tunnels, an underground network used during the Vietnam War, and the infamous Mekong Delta. We’ll drive northwest of Saigon, through the southern countryside to the legendary Cu Chi tunnels. Stretching from Saigon to the Vietnam-Cambodia border, the network includes countless trapdoors, entangled living areas, storage facilities and weapons factories, mini military hospitals, command centers and even kitchens. In this tour, you’ll explore the life of a Viet Cong soldier underneath the ground.

After lunch, we leave the big city behind as the scenery is gradually replaced with rice paddies and rural villages on your drive to My Tho. There we’ll board a boat to Ben Tre, where you will go through the impressive islets called Dragon, Unicorn, Tortoise, and Phoenix. We’ll take a tuk-tuk along the country lanes with palm trees, paddy fields as well as lush gardens and fruit orchards, then stop at a bee-keeping farm for some tea while enjoying the southern folk songs. As the tour ends we’ll continue on a smaller rowing boat for a more adventurous cruise on the canals.

Upon returning to the hotel around 4 pm, we will have a few hours to rest and relax,before dinner at Chanh Bistro Rooftop, an incredible culinary delight.

You have the morning in Saigon to explore for yourselves, but we will be departing the Icon hotel at noon for our 4 PM flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia! 

Upon arrival, its a quick 20 minute shuttle to our hotel, the Borei Resort. The evening is yours to explore, or join Kevin in the night market for local street food and fare!

We will be leaving the hotel at 5 am (!) to catch sunrise over the beautiful Angkor Wat Temple complex with our guide, Sam. Then we’ll continue the trip to the jungle temple Ta Prohm (Tomb Raider temple). Then the Angkor Thom city, the victory gate of Angkor Thom, Bayon temple which is famous for the gigantic smiling faces of Buddha, Baphoun temple, Royal Palace enclosure, Phimean Akas temple, The Terrace of the elephant, and The Terrace of the leper king.

We will return to the hotel around 5 pm, and dinner will be at the Palate Angkor Restaurant a short walk from the hotel.

We will be flying from Siem Reap in the late morning for Bangkok, arriving in the early afternoon. We will be staying at the Bandara Silom, and have a few hours to relax before joining our guide Jay for a night of TukTuks, street food and iconic Bangkok locations like Khao San Road!

We will be joining Angela after breakfast at the hotel on our full day walking tour of Bangkok. We will visit Wat Arun, Wat Pho, the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew, the Emerald Buddha, Chatuchak Market, and explore local cuisines! We should be back at the hotel in late afteroon.

Farewell dinner will be at 8 PM at a family owned establishment serving local fare called Sit & Wonder!

After breakfast at the hotel, we will take a private shuttle to the airport for all of us to say our goodbyes and farewells after an amazing adventure <3