VIETNAM

THURSDAY, JUNE 7
• Depart Dallas Fort Worth

SATURDAY, JUNE 9
• Arrive Hanoi airport
• Meet your tour manager
• Transfer to hotel
• Check in
• Dinner (included daily)
• Overnight Hanoi

SUNDAY, JUNE 10
• Breakfast (included daily)
• Tour the historic city of Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital and second biggest city
• Visit the One Pillar Pagoda, a historic Buddhist temple, built of wood on a single stone pillar. Then see the Temple of Literature, Vietnam’s first university, dedicated to Confucius
• Tour the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and his former residence
• Exchange program
• Concert at the Hanoi Opera House
• Overnight Hanoi

MONDAY, JUNE 11
• Visit the Museum of Ethnology being introduced to the 54 ethnic groups that make up Vietnam in the Long Room
• Travel by rickshaw through Hanoi’s lively Old Quarter. This bustling area of narrow streets is home to thousands of small shops and a great place for many unique photo opportunities
• Visit the scenic Hoan Kiem Lake featuring the tiny Tortoise Pagoda
• Exchange Concert with the Vietnam National Academy of Music
• Overnight Hanoi

TUESDAY, JUNE 12
• Transfer to Ha Long Bay
• Cruise Ha Long Bay, one of Vietnam’s natural wonders. Experience many of the unique features of the bay, seeing the Ba Hang floating village
• Disembark to tour one of the extraordinary cave systems recently discovered • Dinner on boat
• Try fishing Vietnamese style
• Overnight on boat

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13
• Optional Tai Chi class
• Breakfast on board
• Continue sailing through the geographical wonders of this unique body of water
• Brunch on board
• Disembark boat
• Transfer to airport
• Fly to Ho Chi Minh City (still known as Saigon or HCMC)
• Check in
• Overnight Ho Chi Minh City

THURSDAY, JUNE 14
• Introduction to HCMC, the economic capital of Vietnam including a visit inside the Reunification Palace, a fascinating testament to the recent history of the country
• Continue to tour HCMC with a guided stroll around the Central Post Office built by Eiffel in the neoclassical style of the early 20th century. Also see the elegant 19th century Notre-Dame Cathedral, the City Hall built in the French colonial style and the Opera House built in 1897
• Walk through picturesque Chinatown, Cho Lon, which houses the Thien Hau Pagoda built in honor of the protective Goddess of Sailors
• Exchange concert with the Saigon Opera Chorus
• Overnight Ho Chi Minh City

FRIDAY, JUNE 15
• Visit the impressive Binh Tay Market and Giac Lam Pagoda, the oldest pagoda of the city
• Time to explore this city of such powerful contemporary history
• Performance at the SOS Children's Village (Orphanage) 
• Overnight Ho Chi Minh City

SATURDAY, JUNE 16
• Drive to Ben Tre in the Mekong Delta before embarking on a boat ride along the Mekong River marveling at the constant crisscrossing of the sampans
• After disembarking the boat, visit a model of the traditional house of the Southern Vietnam region made of coconut experiencing orchard farm life (tasting local tropical fruit) while watching a performance of Don Ca Tai Tu music before a visit to rice paddies seeing more traditional Vietnamese rural life
• On the drive back to HCMC there is the chance to stop at Vinh Trang Pagoda one of the most beautiful ancient Buddha temples where oriental and western architecture combine
• Farewell River Cruise dinner
• Overnight Ho Chi Minh City

SUNDAY, JUNE 17
• Transfer to airport to return home or continue to Cambodia

CAMBODIA EXTENSION

SUNDAY, JUNE 17
• Transfer to airport for short flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia
• Lunch
• Tour the twin temples of Chau Say Thommanon and Tevoda, the unfinished temple-mountain of Ta Keo, the holy water basin of Srah Srang, and the Banteay Kdei monastery
• Discover the fascinating Ta Phrom Temple, probably one of the most famous monuments with Angkor Wat and the Bayon. This former monastery is still surrounded by the jungle
• Check in
• Dinner at a local restaurant with traditional Apsara dance
• Overnight in Siem Reap

MONDAY, JUNE 18
• Tour Angkor Wat dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. This magnificent temple mountain, built by King Suryavarman II in the 12th century, is considered the masterpiece of Khmer architecture and art
• Lunch
• Visit the ancient capital of Angkor Thom, a huge architectural complex with the famous Bayon Temple at its centre. This mountain-temple is surrounding by 37 towers of the original 54
• Explore Baphuon, which was fully restored by a team of French archaeologists after 16 years of work
• Dinner
• Overnight in Siem Reap

TUESDAY, JUNE 19
• Depart for home