 Day 1 – February 11th - Wednesday
Raleigh, NC
Travel by motorcoach to airport hotel. Overnight at hotel.
Day 2 – February 12th - Thursday
USA/INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE
Depart on regularly scheduled flight from USA to Vietnam.
Day 3 – February 13th - Friday
HANOI
Arrival in Hanoi, Vietnam’s fascinating capital city of lakes, shaded boulevards, and public parks stretching along the banks of the Red River. Check into your hotel.
Sofitel Plaza Hanoi
Day 4 – February 14th - Saturday (B, D)
HANOI
Visit the Home and Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, the founding father of modern Vietnam. Take an afternoon walking tour of the lively Old Quarter, a fascinating area of narrow alleys and shop houses, also called “36 streets” most of which are named after the crafts or merchandise traditionally sold there. Also view scenic Hoan Kiem Lake, containing an islet with the tiny Tortoise Pagoda, topped with a red star and the Ngoc Son Pagoda on its northern shores. Following dinner at a local restaurant, enjoy a performance of the world-famous Water Puppet Theatre, a traditional art form that originated in Vietnam over 1,000 years ago. Watch Doll-sized puppets, operated by invisible strings, ride in boats, catch fish, and chase ducks across a pool of water.
Sofitel Plaza Hanoi Hotel
Day 5 – February 15th - Sunday (B, L)
HANOI
Hear a specially arranged lecture, “The Culture and Educational System of Vietnam” at the Long House, a traditional setting at the Museum of Ethnology. After the lecture visit the museum and learn about the astonishing ethnic diversity in Vietnam reflected in the art and artifacts from the 54 different ethnic groups that inhabit the country. Also visit the Temple of Literature, a compound of temples, pavilions, and courtyards which is not only a place of worship but an expression of the Vietnamese esteem for education and literature in general and Confucianism is particular. After lunch, visit the small village of Bat Trang outside of Hanoi. Bat Trang is famous for its pottery that has been in production for 500 years (known for its blue-and-white bowls and incense pots in dragon and peony motifs). Return to Hanoi. Optional visit to Hoa Lo Prison Museum aka. The Hanoi Hilton which is located near your hotel.
Sofitel Plaza Hanoi Hotel
Day 6 – February 16th - Monday (B, L, D)
HANOI / HALONG
Travel by motor coach through the countryside dotted with rice paddies and view this fast-changing agricultural and industrial region between Hanoi and one of the most scenic areas in the world - Halong Bay, the Emerald Bay of Vietnam, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This vast bay, which was the inspiration for generations of Vietnamese poets, is filled with more than 3,000 limestone “peaks” or karsts that jut from the deep blue water as far as the eye can see. Board a comfortable traditional Vietnamese boat (“junk”) with air conditioned cabins, private bath, hand-crafted wooden interiors and view this overwhelming seascape and the daily life of Vietnamese fishermen and their families from the large sun deck area on the boat. Lunch on board the boat and continue to explore the many cavdes and islets and glide by the floating villages of the fishermen and pearl farmers who live on the bay. Dinner and overnight aboard your boat.
Bai Tho Junk Boat
 Day 7 – February 17th - Tuesday (B, D)
HALONG/DANANG/HOI AN
After breakfast aboard your boat, continue your cruise around the waters of the various bays, visiting Man’s Head Island, Tortoise Island, and Lion Cave. After lunch, stop at the town of Dong Ho on your way to Hanoi Airport for your flight to Danang. Dong Ho is a small village that preserves the tradition of Vietnamese folk art through painting with completely natural materials. Meet the master of Dong Ho folk painting, which represents the simple, optimistic yet critical view of life of common Vietnamese people. Dong Ho pictures are traditionally used for decoration in Tet, the Lunar New Year Holiday, but they are now also inspiring modern artists of Vietnam. Meet the children of Dong Ho at a local elementary school. After your flight from Hanoi to Danang, travel by motor coach south past the Marble Mountains and small villages to Hoi Han a picturesque riverside town and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Known as Faifo to early western traders, it was one of South East Asia’s major international ports from the 17th to the 19th century.
Life Heritage Resort
Day 8 – February 18th - Wednesday (B, L)
HOI AN
Enjoy an early morning coffee at the Hai Scout Café and then proceed to Hoi An Market to purchase ingredients for cooking, chatting with the local vendors and experiencing the sights, smells, and action in this colorful market. After visiting the market you will enjoy a leisurely twenty-minute boat cruise up the Perfume River to reach the Red Bridge Restaurant and Cooking School, where you will see a demonstration of fruit and vegetable carving and also help prepare five traditional dishes to enjoy for lunch. As this beautifully preserved historic city is best seen on foot, your afternoon walking tour will include the Tran Family Chapel built more than 200 years ago, Quan Thang House, one of the town’s oldest homes, and Phung Hung House, where one family has resided for more than eight generations, and much more.
Life Heritage Resort
Day 9 – February 19th - Thursday (B)
HOI AN / HUE
Journey by motor coach along Highway 1 past Danang and a pretty, island-like stretch of palm-shaded sand with a crystal-clear lagoon on one side and many miles of beachfront facing the South China Sea. Pay a visit to China Beach, an icon of the Vietnam War that was once a rest-and-recreation center for US soldiers and remains a popular seaside resort. Take the Hai Van Pass over a spur of the Truong Son Mountain Range that juts into the South China Sea. This incredible mountainous stretch of highway provides spectacular views. Arrive in Hue, which was established in the 17the century and served as the capital of Vietnam for more than 140 years. Visit the Old Imperial City, which was built in the early 19th century and modeled, in part, on the Forbidden City in Beijing. Within its walls you can view numerous palaces and temples as well as a library and museum.
Saigon Morin Hotel
Day 10 – February 20th - Friday (B, D)
HUE
Take a boat excursion on the Perfume River to visit the Thien Mu Pagoda, with its gardens scented with orchids, frangipani, and jackfruit and alive with the flutter of white and crimson butterflies.on the bank of the Perfume River just outside of Hue. This was focal point of the Buddhist opposition to the Diem regime in the early Sixties. Behind the main sanctuary of the pagoda is the Austin motorcar which transported the Monk Thich Quang Duc to the site of his 1963 self-immolation. Continue on by boat and take a tour of the Tomb of Emperor Minh Mang. Built in 1840 by King Minh Mang it is considered to be the most beautiful of Hue’s many pagodas and tombs. Visit Phan Thanh An, one of the traditional aristocratic homes that were a reflection of the Vietnamese sensibility of living space. Enjoy a specially arranged dinner by the family and a brief commentary on Vietnamese cuisine by the cook.
Saigon Morin Hotel
Day 11 – February 21st - Saturday (B, L)
HUE / HO CHI MINH CITY (formerly SAIGON)
Transfer to the airport for your morning flight to Ho Chi Minh City, which has once again become the effervescent economic center of Vietnam. This former “Paris of the East” with its street markets, sidewalk cafes and sleek new bars is hectic and busy, but it also reflects 300 years of timeless traditions and the beauty of an ancient culture. Visits to Notre Dame Cathedral, Reunification Palace, called Independence Palace before the fall of Saigon in 1975, Opera House, City Hall, and the Central Post Office will showcase the many architectural, ochre facades with filigree gates in the Parisian style, and the historic highlights of this fascinating and vibrant city. After a specially arranged lunch at the well-known Lemongrass restaurant, visit a Secondary School where you will have an opportunity to meet and speak with students about their school and social life. Visit the War Remnants Museum which memorializes the nation’s struggles against the French and Americans. An evening walk with illuminated lanterns and oil-lamps along the streets will take you back the Indochina of your dreams. As Ho Chi Minh City has some of Vietnam’s best restaurants and cafes, enjoy dinner on your own or with other members of your group this evening.
Sofitel Plaza Saigon
 Day 12 – February 22nd - Sunday (B, D)
HO CHI MINH CITY
Travel south of Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong Delta, a unique region where life on the water has remained unchanged for centuries. Before boarding your boat for a cruise of the Delta you will visit the handsome mosaic-embellished (made from broken pottery) Vinh Trang Pagoda. Lily ponds and stone tombs surround this beautiful complex. Board your boat and explore the narrow, mud brown waterways and fertile islands with fruit orchards, and cottage industry manufacturers of honey-flavored sweets- see the step by step process of the making of Vietnam’s well known coconut candy. Return for a specially arranged Farewell Dinner at the Blue Ginger Restaurant.
Sofitel Plaza Saigon
Day 13 – February 23rd - Monday (B)
Ho Chi Minh City / Siem Reap, Cambodia
Spend the morning and early afternoon in Cholon (Big Market ) or Chinatown, the commercial heart of the city. Visit Binh Tay, another of the city’s lively markets, and also tour Thien Hau, Nghia An Hoi, and Tam Son Hoi Quan Pagodas. Late afternoon transfer for your flight to Siem Reap in northwest Cambodia and gateway to Angkor Wat, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most magnificent wonders of the world. Transfer and overnight at Victoria Angkor Resort and Spa
Day 14 - February 24th - Tuesday (B)
Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom
Visit Angkor the sophisticated complex led by a succession of kings who held sway over the Khmer people and hundreds of square miles of land studded with beautiful art created for the glory of the gods. Angkor Wat is the jewel of the Angkor complex. Set among green forests and rice paddies, it is the largest, best preserved, and most religiously significant of the Angkor temples. Approach the temple by crossing a vast moat, continuing along a broad causeway with Balustrades carved in the form of nagas or serpents on both sides of the avenue. On the way to the central sanctuary enjoy the intricate stone carvings of hundreds of sensual asparas or celestial dancing girls that adorn nearly every surface. Along the outer gallery walls run the longest continuous bas- relief in the world, which narrates stories from Hindu mythology including the famous, "Churning of the Ocean of Milk." You will have the opportunity to watch the play of light on this magnificent temple at sunrise and sunset. Visit Ta Prohm one of the most mysterious of all the temple structures at Angkor, as much of the jungle has not been cleared and it looks very much as most of the Angkor monuments would have appeared when European explorers first stumbled across them.Ta Prohm which means Ancestor of Brahma was originally a Buddhist monastery. Afternoon visit to the fortified city of Angkor Thom which includes many of Angkor's most popular sites, including the Terrace of Elephants, Terrace of the Leper Kings, the Royal Enclosure, and Phimeakas. Finally, visit the mysterious Bayon Temple, one of the city's most extraordinary structures. The symbolic temple-mountain features 54 towers bearing more than giant stone faces smiling enigmatically down at you from every angle. Dinner and stroll the lively streets of Siem Reap.
Victoria Angkor Resort and Spa
Day 15 - February 25th - Wednesday (B)
Artisans d' Angkor and Tonle Sap (Great Lake)
Visit to Les Chantiers Ecoles (Atisans d'Angkor). This vocational center trains 650 apprentices a year including 160 in fine arts and crafts trades united in the "Artisan d'Angkor production network. A guided tour through the different workshops in stone sculpture, woodcarving, polychromie, will enable you to watch these artisans at work. Take a short drive south of Siem Reap to Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia whose rhythm is defined by the ebb and flow of the Mekong River. This extraordinary lake swells up to seven times its original size during the monsoon season, and its ecosystem is one of the richest and most diverse in the region. Take a boat trip on the lake and explore the vibrant and rich life of the floating fish villages and the family-scale fishing enterprise which together with rice farming provides an insight into the contemporary Cambodian way of life. Dinner and overnight in Sien Reap.
Victoria Angkor Resort and Spa
Day 16 - February 26th - Thursday (B)
Siem Reap, Cambodia / USA
After breakfast day at lesiure before transfering to the airport for your flight back to the USA.
Day 17 - February 27th - Friday
Arrival in USA
Arrive back to Raleigh, NC.
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