Essence Of Southern Vietnam 5 Days

Welcome to Vietnam! You are warmly greeted by our driver at Tan Son Nhat airport. Transfer to your hotel and check-in. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

Tour guide: N/A
Meals: N/A

After breakfast, today we will get out and be surprised by the vibrancy of this industrious metropolis; tour the must-see sites including the Notre Dam Cathedral, Central Post Office, the torn past War Remnants Museum, Independence Palace and the aged old Ben Thanh Market; immerse yourself in the chaos of traffic and commercial activities of this fascinating city’s life and lights that never seem to stop. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

Tour guide: English-speaking Guide
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast at your hotel.
Depart from Saigon around 8 am and head south to Ben Tre province, famous for its coconut production and quiet, peaceful waterways.
On arrival, take a Xe Loi ride through the local village of Huu Dinh to enjoy the green fields and gardens. Continue with a short walk to Huu Phuoc Bridge, where you will start your boat trip through small canals with beautiful tropical scenery. On board the boat, enjoy a welcome drink and tropical fruits while cruising.
The cruise will first stop at a Coconut processing family owned business. Here you will learn what Ben Tre is known for and the hundreds of uses of each single coconut. Return to your boat and cruise across the water to a brick making factory, where the locals still use centuries-old traditional methods to make the bricks by hand. Enjoy a casual cycling trip that will take you to visit a local rice noodle factory which produces Hu Tieu noodles, one of the most popular dishes in the region. After your visit take a short walk to one of our friends, Mrs. Huong, who lives with her 3 children and grandson – they live on fishing, shrimp and fruit orchards. Enjoy fresh fruits and tea and then board a rowing sampan taking you through a lush narrow canal, displaying the tranquil nature of the region.
After our team rows you through the quiet canal, reconnect with your Day Cruiser and enjoy a cruise to a private riverside restaurant. It is time for you to relax and enjoy a 5-course lunch of local specialties. Relax and have a walk around the lush garden setting.
Then continue your cycling trip to My Long to visit Mr Sau Tuong, a former Vietcong soldier who survived two years fighting the Khmer Rouge in Phnom Penh. Now he and his wife live on making rice paper which is the most famous specialty of My Long village. Have a chat with him and enjoy the crispy rice paper made by his wife, and see how it is made.

After the visit, the boat will be waiting for you at the pier nearby to bring you back to Ben Tre city where your car will be ready to bring you onward to Vinh Long.

Tour guide: English Speaking Guide
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast at your homestay. The program will start with a visit to Vinh Long market in the town. This is the best choice for you to take pictures of fish, shrimps, prawns, crabs, snakes, rice-field rats, tropical fruits, vegetables…
Mekong Travel boat will take you downstream on Mekong River seeing many floating cages for farming fish. Visit brick kilns where you can see how the local people create beautiful potteries from clay. Then, we visit the local workshop to see how to make rice paper, coconut candy, pop-rice… Enjoy some sweets with a cup of hot tea. Then, we’ll walk to visit the orchard. Here, we will enjoy some kinds of fruits and tea when listening to traditional music. The lunch is served at the traditional house of Ut Trinh family. After lunch, optional biking can be made for leisure! It will be so amazing to do cycling on village paths to see the daily life of the rural people: orchard, school, church, pagoda, traditional houses and maybe the ancestral ways to pick up fruits in Mekong Delta… Back to the boat to travel on a handmade canal before crossing one of the longest rivers in the world, Mekong River, to come to Tân Phong Island, pass by CaiBe floating market. Then, the rowing boat will take you deeper into the countryside on smaller canals to enjoy the peaceful time. The cruise will end at Cai Be pier in the town. Your driver then takes you back to your hotel in Saigon. Rest is at your own leisure, overnight in Saigon.
Tour guide: English Speaking Guide
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast at your hotel. Free and easy today until pick up and transfer to airport for your departure flight.

Tour guide: English Speaking Guide
Meals: Breakfast