Vietnam and Myanmar Essentials

DAY 1: ARRIVAL IN HANOI

Meals: Not available

Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi

Welcome to Hanoi, Vietnam!
Upon arrival to Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi, you will be welcomed and met by your private driver and guide. The transfer to the hotel in Hanoi's center takes you about 45 minutes.
Check-in and spend the rest of the day at leisure.

DAY 2: HANOI CITY TOUR

Meals: Breakfast/ Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi

Hanoi, located on the banks of the Red River, is one of the most ancient capitals in the world, where travelers can find well-preserved colonial buildings, ancient pagodas, and unique museums within the city center.
In the morning, breakfast at the hotel. Start the city tour with Ba Dinh Square, including: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, view of the presidential palace, Uncle Ho's house-on-stilts, One Pillar Pagoda, Temple of Literature - Vietnam’s first university. Set menu lunch at a restaurant in the city.
In the afternoon, Hoa Lo Prison (A add-on if you are interested in); Ethnology Museum (about Vietnamese ethnic minorities) with water puppet show. An interesting walk along the train tracks through a part of the city residence.

DAY 3: HANOI - HALONG BAY

Meals: Breakfast/ Lunch/ Dinner

Accommodation: Overnight on boat

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Halong Bay, in northeast Vietnam, is known for its emerald waters and thousands of towering limestone islands. Designated a World Heritage site in 1994, the bay is a "must-see" place for any visitor to Vietnam, especially an overnight trip on a boat.
In the morning: After the breakfast at the hotel, you are picked up and take the morning drive to the Halong pier.
In the afternoon:​ 12:15 - Board your boat and start the cruising itinerary with lunch and dinner aboard. Some interesting activities are available include kayaking, swimming, sunbathing on the sun deck.

DAY 4: HALONG BAY - HO CHI MINH CITY

Meals: Breakfast/ Lunch

Accommodation: Ho Chi Minh City

In the morning: Wake up early in the morning for sunrise and a view of Bay’s landscape with a cup of tea or coffee. Join a taichi class (availability depends on the certain boat you take) Further scenic cruise to other parts of the bay with a limestone cave visit. An early lunch is served on the way back to the pier. Disembarkation by noon time.
In the afternoon: Get picked up at the pier on disembarkation and take the afternoon drive to the airport for your flight to Ho Chi Minh City.
On arrival, transfer to the city center for hotel check-in. Dinner is on your own account.

DAY 5: MEKONG DELTA EXCURSION

Meals: Breakfast/ Lunch/ Dinner

Accommodation: Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City

You will have a full day to visit the lush Mekong Delta today. After 2.5-hour transfer by car, you will arrive at Phong Nam, Ben Tre. Get on your private motorized boat and will cruise along the Chet Say river (a branch of the Mekong). Have stops at various local workplaces such as coconut candy, brick-making workshop, straw mat... You also have time to ride a motor cart that takes you through green lush fruit gardens. Lunch today is served at a peaceful garden restaurant. Ride a sampan boat along a narrow canal edged by rows of water coconut trees before getting back on your motorized boat for the dock. Drive back to Ho Chi Minh City. Refresh yourself upon arrive at the hotel. After a short rest, take the evening tour at the back of local Vespa riders. Moving around to taste variety of local food for your dinner. This is the best way to experience Vietnam’s traditional dishes.

DAY 6: TOUR OF SAIGON & CU CHI TUNNELS

Meals: Breakfast/ Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City

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After breakfast in the hotel, start the day to visit the featured sites of Saigon and the famous underground tunnel network in Cu Chi.
In the morning, 8:00 Start with 1.5hour drive to Cu Chi tunnels. Get the overview of Cu Chi by watching a documentary. Your guide walks you around to witness the traps, bunkers, trenches and experience crawling a piece of the underground tunnels. Drive back to the city for a set menu lunch at a restaurant.
In the afternoon, continue on visiting the War Remnants Museum; Ngoc Hoang Pagoda; The former Presidential Palace; The Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Old Post Office. Back to the hotel late in the afternoon to end the day.

DAY 07: HO CHI MINH - YANGON

Meals: Breakfast/ Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Yangon

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Take your time to enjoy the breakfast today as you have your time at leisure until 10:00 a.m when you check-out your hotel and get a transfer to the airport to catch the midday flight VN943 (11h45 - 13h25) to Yangon. Upon arrival, get picked up and transferred to the city for hotel check-in. In the afternoon, sightseeing of Yangon start with Sule Pagoda, dating back over 2000 years, the Mahabandoola Park with it's Independence Monument and walk around the downtown area. Wide streets, orderly town planning and neglected public buildings revive visions of British rule, while busy streets scenes and shimmering pagodas, bursting through a leafy canopy, hint at the rich local culture. Skyscrapers and glaring neon billboards have yet to overtake the capital. Then drive to Mawtin Jetty and take a rickshaws for a short trip along the the Yangon River.

DAY 08: YANGON - HEHO - INLE LAKE

Meals: Breakfast/ Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Inle Lake

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Breakfast at the hotel as usual. After that, get picked up and transfer to the air port to catch a morning flight to Heho. On arrival drive to Nyaung Shwe, a town at the north of Inle Lake. From there, take Inthar Style outboard to have excursion in Inle Lake (25 km) famous for its unique one-leg rowers, typical floating gardens, local methods of fishing and village life and the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda housing five sacred and almost shapeless Buddha images, contorted because of the quantity of applied gold leaf, gifts from the believers. The Buddha images are purported to have come here in the 12th Century.
In the afternoon, make your way to a silk weaving village of In Phaw Khon and visit Nga Phe Chaung (the biggest and oldest monastery around Inle Lake). Check-in your hotel at the end of the day, relaxing after your own dinner.

DAY 09: INLE LAKE - INDEIN - INLE LAKE

Meals: Breakfast/ Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Inle Lake

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In the morning, visit one of the colorful markets in the Inle Lake area. Here in Inle Lake, the markets are not everyday. They are rotating on 05 days' basics. Traveling by boat to Indein (approx. 01 ½ hour drive) to see the ancient Bagan-Shan style pagodas, built during the Bagan Period, passing the beautiful scenery with tall grasses and little water steps. The ruin pagodas, hidden in bushes, may give you a feeling that you are taken back centuries ago.

DAY 10: INLE LAKE - HEHO - MANDALAY

Meals: Breakfast/ Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Mandalay

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After breakfast, the morning drive takes you to Nyaung Shwe and visit Shwe Yan Pyay Monastery, which is more than 150 years old. This monastery is a favorite of photographers because of its unusual oval-shaped windows. You should also not missed the Shwe Yan Pyay Pagoda just beside the monastery. There is a cave-like corridor around the stupa and the walls are decorated with amazing glass mosaic and also have many buddhas in the niches. Carrying on the drive to Heho and take a flight to Mandalay.
In the afternoon, visit Shwenandaw Monastery, noted for its exquisite wood carvings, Atumashi Monastery, the "Incomparable Monastery", the Kuthodaw Pagoda, known as the world's Biggest Book for its stone slabs of Buddhist scriptures. Then drive up to Mandalay Hill, a vantage-point for a panoramic view of the city. One famous song in Myanmar said, “if you want to live long, you have to go Mandalay Hill”.

DAY 11: MANDALAY - SAGAING - AMARAPURA - MANDALAY

Meals: Breakfast/ Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Mandalay

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Early morning drive to Sagaing, 21 km southwest of Mandalay. Visit Kaunghmudaw, an enormous dome shape pagoda and after a short visit to the silversmith home industry proceed to Sagaing Hills, a retreat for Buddhist devotees with numerous Pagodas, monasteries and nunneries. In the afternoon, proceed to Amarapura the "City of Immortals". Amarapura was the capital of upper Burma until 1850. As was the custom, most of the important wooden palaces and monasteries were taken down and transported to the new capital in Mandalay. On the way, visit Bagayar monastery, in which variety of Buddha images from 16th to 020th century are displayed. You can also visit to a library, where they stored the old palm leaf books on which Buddha scriptures were written. Then also visit to a house of hand weaving looms, where, they produce silk and cotton textiles. Amarapura’s silk has a very unique pattern, sometimes, some patterns even take 03 months to finish a longyi. Then enjoy sunset at U Bein teak wood bridge, which is over 150 years old.

DAY 12: MANDALAY - MINGUN - MANDALAY - YANGON

Meals: Breakfast/ Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Yangon

In the morning, drive to Kywezon jetty to watch the busy riverside activity and take a local riverboat to the ancient capital of Mingun (approx. 01 hours per way). Visit the Settawya Pagoda, with a footprint of the Buddha, walk to the huge Mingun Bell, see the nearby unfinished Mingun Pagoda, built to be the world’s biggest pagoda and visit the Hsinbyume Pagoda, a reproduction of the mythological Mt. Meru. Then come back to Mandalay and transfer to Mandalay airport for the flight back Yangon. Get picked up on arrival and check-in your hotel for the night.

DAY 13: YANGON CITY TOUR

Meals: Breakfast/ Lunch

Accommodation: Hotel in Yangon

After breakfast, take the City Circle Train for a 02 ½ hour ride through rural areas, stopping at numerous stations watching cigarette sellers betelnut sellers, fortune tellers and so on…. then continue the sightseeing tour with the splendid National Museum, including the gem-studded royal regalia and the Lion Throne of King Mindon and King Thibaw, the last kings of the Myanmar Kingdom.
In the afternoon, you have enough time to wander around the sprawling Bogyoke Market through fascinating local neighborhoods. You can also explore the evening market in China town.

DAY 14: DEPARTURE FROM YANGON

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: Not available

Today is your departure day! Take your time to enjoy the breakfast and you may have time to do some last shopping (if you wish). Check-out and getting ready for the airport transfer. Take your international flight onward. End of services.