It's happening! Dad and I just booked an amazing Vietnam trip. We depart 19th September arriving in Ho Chi Minh that evening where we will likely crash straight into bed. From there it looks like this:
Day 2 Food Tour from Nguyen Thien Thuat street and ends at Ban Co market. You are invited to try Vietnamese beautiful “chè” (desserts made of beans and sticky rice and coconut milk…). Keep on to District 10 and 5 to stroll through more typical residential apartment buildings. Again, you will witness Saigon unique lifestyles on the streets with shops, street food stands and rickshaws passing by. Walk along Hai Thuong Lang Ong & Trieu Quang Phuc streets - the traditional medicine streets in China Town. This is an area concentrated with traditional clinics and medicine herb stores. Walking along the streets, you can smell the herbs and watch the shop owners do their business. Visit Thien Hau Temple (a temple where Chinese people worship Heavenly Queen - an important god in their culture.) Go to a local restaurant for lunch then come back to hotel around 1:00 pm.
In the afternoon, we will visit the War Remnants Museum.
Day 3 Trip to Mekong Delta follows, depart for My Tho, the town lies on the left side of the Mekong River. Boarding the sampan and cruising down the river around the four beautiful islands known as Dragon, Unicorn, Phoenix and Tortoise islands. Stop over at Unicorn Island, go walking around country lane and seeing orchards, enjoy tropical fruits, folk song music which performed by the local people. Visit the fruit plantation. Riding a hand-rowed sampan through Thoi Son canal and treat yourself in the beauty of the countryside, visit the family business, visit honey-bee farm, enjoy honey tea and coconut candy workshop. Have lunch at local restaurant. Break time. In the afternoon, time for cycling around the Tan Thach village, meet the local villagers to experience the local daily life in the Mekong delta. Hammock relaxing and enjoy cool breeze for those can’t join the cycling trip. Return to Ho Chi Minh.
Day 4 Free leisure time until private cab transfer to the airport, ready for the next flight to Hoi An.
Day 5 In the morning, we have booked a cooking class. We first go to the Hoi An market and select and buy food for the cooking class then continues directly on to the bamboo basket boat on the canals of the Bay Mau Nipa forest. Immersed in the natural beauty of the nipa palm forest to enjoy crab fishing and see the traditional way of catching fish as well as the lives of the fishermen. Then back to a restaurant to cook for 2 hours with a chef.
Sample Menu:
Starter Fresh Spring Rolls (Rice noodle paper, vegetable, bean sprout, soy sauce)
Main Banana flower and Papaya Salad with Shrimp (Papaya, banana flower, shrimp, pork, pepper, mint)
Main Barbecue Tofu/Clam with peanut sauce (Tofu, peanuts, onion, charcoal)
Main Chicken Noodle (Chicken breast, rice noodle, bean sprout, onion)
Dessert Caramel Banana (Fresh banana, sugar, peanut)
Later, our Hoi An food tour starts around sunset walking through local cafes, food stalls, markets, and restaurants. First up – a local bakery that has been making the tastiest banh mi in town for over 20 years. They use the freshest local ingredients and are famous for their banh mi, a scrumptious sandwich that will fire up your taste buds and get them ready for the flavours ahead! From one local fave to another, next we’ll join locals at a small eatery, taking a seat on the ubiquitous small plastic chairs and sampling tasty BBQ pork rolled with rice paper and fresh herbs. Served with typical soya dipping sauce, this dish is one of the highlights of the local food scene and an absolute must-devour. Our food tour of Hoi An continues into the atmospheric heart of the city as we head straight for the central market. What awaits us there are hundreds of street hawkers and food stalls selling a staggering array of local produce, including fresh noodles, sweet jelly, seasonal fruits, and live seafood. Your knowledgeable local guide will walk you through the colourful array of ingredients, filling you in on the most popular dishes in Hoi An and the significance of these foods to the traditional culture of central Vietnam.
Day 6 Flight to Hanoi (Depending on the time of this flight we may be able to squeeze in a sunrise trip to My Son Sanctuary as well!)
Day 7 Another cooking class! Explore local market and shopping with a guide, cook 5 Vietnamese dishes, eat our own fruits of labour together with Vietnamese rice vodka.
In the evening, a drive around the old quarter to enjoy different kind of street foods, crossing over Ho Chi Minh Complex for sightseeing with stop at west lake to enjoy street food and drink. Pass Long Bien Bridge , Opera House, Metropole Legend Hotel, Hoan Kiem Lake, and Big Church.
Day 8 In the morning, check-out from hotel and get picked-up by a Cruise operator. Take a scenic route to Halong Bay, taking you across the Red River Delta with emerald green rice paddies stretching for as far as the eyes can see. On arrival at Halong, you get to enjoy a cruise on the Bay to better explore the limestone rocks and the karst grottoes. After you are done with your exploration of the bay, it is time to enjoy an utterly delicious seafood lunch, after which a trip to the famous limestone cave in Ha Long bay, you’ll get to spend some time here, kayaking or swimming, so that you can get closer to the floating villages and shops. Towards the evening, you will return to the boat for an early dinner, followed by some time at leisure. You can opt to attend the activities taking part on the boat or relax for the day. Overnight on the boat!
Day 9 Rise early on the boat for a lesson in Tai Chi or just to enjoy a hearty breakfast. The boat will make its way back to the port stopping at the Limestone Cave, full of stalagmites and stalactites. From here, it’s clear sailing back to the main harbour and the return Hanoi around 17:00 for leisure time.
Day 10 This was the day giving me the most food for thought. The tour ends here, but we cannot fly home from here, only from Ho Chi Minh so we need a domestic flight back there first. We have decided to do a day trip to Ninh Binh first and then get a late night flight to Ho Chi Minh. That means collection at 730am to depart for Ninh Binh province. Half way, take a short break of 20 minutes for refreshments and shopping with an opportunity to experience Vietnamese handicraft products such as lacquer wares, paintings, and embroideries. Arrive in Ninh Binh around 10:30am. Stop at Hoa Lu ancient citadel built in the 10th century. Then visit temples of two dynasties Dinh and Le with unique architecture in the old time. After that, it's off to visit the excavation area beside Le Dai Hanh temple witnessing the vestiges of Royal Palaces dating back to the10th Century. Then back to the bus and on to Tam Coc. Then optional biking: Those who love to experience real images of Vietnam countryside can take a 40 minute cycling tour from Tam Coc to Bich Dong Pagoda around 5 km (2 ways) along country lanes with the beautiful scenery of lush paddy fields. Finish the cycling tour at Tam Coc dock in time for a buffet lunch at a local restaurant. Next we board the sampan boat (2 people share a boat) in Tam Coc dock to drift down the river among the villages, mountains and lush rice fields and passing through 3 caves (Hang Ca – First Cave, Hang Hai – Second Cave, Hang Ba – Third Cave). There is also a chance to visit the film site of King Kong Skull Island, then the Boat returns to the dock for driving back to Hanoi. From there we will fly back to Ho Chi Minh in the evening.
Day 11 Our flight back to Australia doesn't leave until 1030pm (the only option on that day), so I've booked the 5 star hotel an extra night so that we have somewhere to stay that has a pool and comfortable relaxing all day until it is airport time.
