Indochina Adventure 18 Days, 17 Nights

Arrival at Siemreap International Airport, collect your luggage process through custom. Your private tour guide and driver from Asia Dream Tours will be waiting for you outside the baggage claim/ custom area to transfer you in a private vehicle to the hotel in downtown.

While every effort is made to have your room available upon arrival, check in time is at 02:00pm; your room may or may not be ready before this time. On the way to the hotel your tour guide will provide additional details regarding your stay, and you will be able to ask any questions you may have.

This afternoon, our tour guide will meet you again at your hotel lobby to take you to the restaurant for enjoying the Apsara Dinner Show.

Return to your hotel after the show. Rest of day is at your own leisure.

You start day by driving in a private car to world heritage areas on the roads less travelled. Ride among the jungle passing local village and local shop. It’s a very special and acting day as you will explore some of Angkor’s most beautiful temples. You will visit the West Gate of Angkor Thom – undiscovered by mass tourist:

– The ancient capital of Angkor Thom (12th century)
– See the South Gate, Bayon Temple- unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces of Avolokitesvara
– Baphuon temple lying just to the north of Bayon a pyramidal representation of mythical Mont Meru
– The Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas
– The Elephant Terrace and the Terrace of the Leper King.
Continue to visit the fabulous Ta Prohm embraced by the roots of enormous fig trees and gigantic creepers. After that you will have lunch at a local restaurant (own account).

The tour continues with the major visit to the famous temple: Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is a World Heritage Site since 1992, famous for its beauty and splendor. Angkor Wat features the longest continuous bas-relief in the world, which runs along the outer gallery walls and narrates stories from Hindu mythology.

You end up our day with a visit to Bakheng Temple and enjoy a romantic sun set view form Bakheng hill.

After breakfast at the hotel, heading out of town, we will 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 stopover at the Preah Dark village and we follow these with a visit the Banteay Samre Temple adorned with impressive relief’s depicting scenes of Vishunu as well as Krishna legends. This afternoon, you will be transfer to Phnom Penh via a short flight. Upon arrival, pick up and transfer to the hotel check in. The same afternoon in Phnom Penh, we will visit Wat Phnom, Phnom Penh’s name sake and we will take one hour cruise before the sunset.

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 to Toul Sleng museum (S-21) and the killing field of Choueng Ek, which is about 35km away from the city. Transfer out to the airport for the flight to Ho Chi Minh city. You are welcomed by our staff and transferred to your chosen hotel.

After breakfast, your private tour guide will take you on a full-day tour and impart another perspective of the familiar and not-so-familiar landmarks in modern-day HCM City. You will discover the city’s culture, architecture, religious practices and fascinating history. Below are the recommended sites, but of course, your guide will be happy to modify the list based on your preferences.
Visits:
– Tao Dan Park, to catch the bird lovers club who show up only between 6 and 9 am every morning. Enjoy some local coffee while your guide explains the history and practice of keeping birds in Vietnam.
– Thich Quang Duc monument – attribute to a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk who burned himself to death on June 11, 1963 in protest against the persecution of Buddhists by then South Vietnam’s Ngo Dinh Diem administration
– The colorful Ho Thi Ky flower market
– A drive through Cho Lon to visit Nhi Phu Temple, built at the end of 17thcentury by Chinese immigrants from the Fukkien province in China.

Lunch will be served at local restaurant.

In the afternoon, you will continue to visit:
– General Post Office (GPO), noted for its neoclassical architecture, designed and constructed by the famous architect Gustave Eiffel
– Notre Dame Cathedral considered being one of the most beautiful buildings in all of Vietnam. It was built in the period 1877 – 1880 by the French architect Bourad.
– Reunification Palace (the former Presidential Palace), where the war officially ended on April 30th, 1975 when tank 843 of the North Vietnamese Army crashed through the gates of the home of the President of the Republic of Vietnam
– The previous CIA Office
– A drive down Dong Khoi Street, where, in 1975, during the dying days of the former regime, the iconic photograph was taken of a helicopter lifting people out of Saigon.
– The Opera House (now the Municipal Theatre), built in 1880, was used in the filming of “The Quiet American”.
– HCM City People’s Committee (formerly Hôtel de Ville) built in 1902-1908, one of the most photographed buildings in Vietnam, notable for its gardens, ornate facade and elegant interior lit with crystal chandeliers

Return to your hotel after the visit. Rest of day is for relaxing at your own leisure.

Transfer to Coco Riverside Lodge, Trung Nghia – Vung Liem within 3 hour drive via. Upon arrival, you will meet a representative and you are led to the lodge along countryside path. After just a short walk you will be treated to a welcome drink. Check in and have lunch at lodge’s restaurant

After a chance to rest, you walk around village paths leading us to home of Mr. Cong where you watch how he makes pop rice, shows you the blend of traditional and modern agricultural method that sustains the local village. He will reveal the secret of making ‘rice pop’. This unique and nutritious foodstuff will become a gift for locals or children in school. Your guide explains how the animals are raised and shows you the way they collect ‘biogas’ to make free and sustainable cooking food.

Walk back to Lodge, select bicycles for a cycling tour in the afternoon on quiet village roads passing by a duck farm, green rice paddies, sedge field and small villages. Along the way, you visit one of the many dragon fruit plantations and taste it directly at the garden. This is a relaxing time with plenty of chances to capture the picturesque Asian sun set scenes. Enjoy the beautiful sunset before returning to the lodge on your bicycles.

After shower and refresh, you start to walk to neighbor home and enjoy a “poon” lights while traditional musical performance by war veteran artist. Then, experience of traditional torches made of dried coconut leaves to get back.

You are the chef! A traditional cooking class with Vietnamese pancake made. A great learning experience that means you can take a little of Vietnam home with you. Dinner is served at lodge’s restaurant

After breakfast, loaded boats are already heading to local market and transporting goods such as coconuts from one factory to the other, crossing local ferry to visit beautiful Cao Dai temple. We also had a chance to see these factories. Situated alongside the river, these are small coconut-processing operations. Once the coconut has been shelled, the coconut fibers are removed from the husk to make rope, which in turn is used to weave rugs. You can watch the whole manufacturing process in a short period of time. Most of the work is done by hand at very low cost. The buyers are mostly foreign companies.

Back to the Lodge, if time permitted, take some activities as to harvest some water coconut leaves and weave them up by you. These leaves are a key building material in the Mekong Delta as they are used to build the walls and roof of the houses. The local people will show you not only how they use these leaves but also how to make the ‘poon’ sticks that illuminated last night with musical performance.

Check out and transfer to Ho Chi Minh airport for your flight to Da Nang.

Getting picked up at Da Nang airport by our driver, you will then head to your hotel in Hoi An. Check in and relax at your own leisure in Hoi An.

Today you are free at your own leisure to relax by the beach of Hoi An.

Today you are free at your own leisure to relax by the beach of Hoi An.

Today you are free at your own leisure to relax by the beach of Hoi An

Today, you are free at your own leisure to refresh yourself after the flight to Hanoi.

Getting picked up by our driver at the airport, you will then head to your hotel in Hanoi. Check in and relax at your own leisure for the rest of day.

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 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. the 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 streets were named for their product or location and still bear such names nowadays; and then join in an unique water puppet show that features the Viet folklores and culture.

At 0800, you leave Hanoi for Halong Bay and board a boat, enjoying lunch while cruise 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 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. Afterwards, you can choose to do anything from joining movie night, playing board games, or relaxing at the beauty spa before retiring for the night.

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 the Hanoi from the late afternoon till the nightlife and staying overnight in your hotel.

Enjoy the morning in Hanoi before being transferred to the airport for flight to Luang Prabang. 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.

Rise early to witness one of the most magical and timeless scenes of Southeast Asia to participate in the daily morning ritual of saffron-clad monks collecting offerings from faithful residents. Rising early also gives the chance to wander through the fresh market on the way back to the hotel for breakfast.

Return to the UNESCO protected city centre to appreciate its unspoiled Laotian-colonial fusion architecture, exploring the impressive stupa of Wat Visoun, Wat Khili and Wat Mai. Later, visit the former Royal Palace, now a National Museum (closed Tuesdays) where you will find ornate, gilded and brocaded reception rooms, as well as artefacts including the Prabang, a large holy image, which was given in the 14th century by the Khmers to King Fa Ngum.

After lunch time, drive to the beautiful waterfalls of Tat Khouangsi. Below the 90m drop of the main cascade are a series of pools, connected by smaller falls and cascades. At low water levels the water is an unbelievable turquoise, and swimming in the lower pools is a great way to cool off.

On the walk through the forest to the falls, you will also pass the Free the Bears project – home to a group of rescued Asiatic Black (Moon) Bears and one Malayan Sun Bear. In the early afternoon they are often searching for food hidden in their enriched environment enclosures. Or they may just be sleeping!

The route back to town gives the opportunity to stop at the villages of some of the (over 100) different Lao ethnic groups at Ban Ou, Ban Ouay and Ban Thapene.

Return to your hotel to relax and refresh.

You will leave Luang Prabang around 7:45am for the village of Xieng Lom after we pick you up from town or from your hotel. Upon arrival guests are invited to have coffee or tea as your guide for the day provides an in-depth introduction on elephant behavior, our new training techniques with baby Kit, and how we as humans should interact with him and his mother.

A quick boat ride across the Nam Khan River will deliver you to the waiting elephants. During this first meeting guests are urged to interact with and feed them—one of the best ways to ensure instant friendship. Trying to get a treat past mom and to Kit can often be a challenge!

Enjoy observing elephants from the river bank as Mahouts wash them in the Nam Khan river. Guests can experience elephants washing, swimming and playing in the water. Please note this is voluntary activity for the elephant’s and Mandalao does not force them to get in the water. (On cold days the elephant’s 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. Additionally, your guide will show how our training techniques differ from traditional methods and how you being on tour supports baby “Kit.” As you prepare to start your walk back to MandaLao, you will bid farewell to your new friends with more treats and goodbye hugs.

When you get back to MandaLao, you will head to the restaurant and enjoy a delicious fresh Lao meal made from our own organically grown produce. There you can relax, kick-back, and process the day’s experiences on the veranda overlooking the river and misty mountains.

Following lunch you will take the short ride back into Luang Prabang and have one more chance to ask your guides any lingering questions. You will arrive back by approximately 1:00.

Free at your own leisure until our driver transfers you to the airport for your departure flight home.