THE DETAILED PROGRAM OF 8 DAY SOUTHERN VIETNAM & COMBODIA TOUR
DAY 1: HO CHI MINH ARRIVAL.OVERNIGHT IN HCM CITY
Welcome to Ho Chi Minh, you will be collected by our local guide at Ho Chi Minh Airport and transfer to hotel for check-in. The balance of the day is free at your leisure. Meals on your own. Overnight at the hotel.
DAY 2 : HO CHI MINH CITY TOUR – CU CHI TUNNELS SIGHTSEEING.OVERNIGHT IN HCM CITY (B, L)
08:00-08:30 am Pick up at your hotel and start the city tour included:
- Independence Palace (the Reunification Palace) was built on the sight of the former Norodom palace.
- War Remnants Museum which has a vast display of the both the Indochina wars.
- Notre Dame Cathedral & Central Post Office the beautiful structures from the French Colonial times
- Jade Emperor Pagoda with the peaceful atmosphere &o many stories behind each detail of the pagoda.
12:30 am Lunchtime with a famous Phở restaurant (Vietnamese noodle soup).
02:00 pm Depart around 1,5 hours through the pleasant countryside before arriving at Cu Chi Tunnels – the historic site where Vietnamese soldiers used as a shelter during wartime. This fantastic network stretches over 250 km and is the shelter of Vietnamese soldiers during the wars.
06:00 – 07:00 pm Be dropped off at your hotel. Dinner on your own account. Overnight at the hotel.
DAY 3 : DAY TRIP TO MEKONG DELTA.OVERNIGHT IN HCM CITY(B, L)
08:30 – 09:00 AM Depart from your hotel 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: Dragon, Unicorn, Phoenix and Tortoise islands.
- Stopover at Unicorn Island, go walking around country lane and seeing orchards, enjoy tropical fruits, folk song music.
- Visit the fruit plantation.
- Riding a hand-rowed sampan through Thoi Son canal
- Visit the family business, visit honey-bee farm, enjoy honey tea and coconut candy workshop. Have lunch at a local restaurant.
- Cycling around Tan Thach village, meet the local villagers to experience the local daily life in the Mekong delta.
05:00 – 05:30 PM Drop off at your hotel. Dinner on your own. Overnight at the hotel.
DAY 4 : HO CHI MINH – BUS TO PHNOM PENH.OVERNIGHT ON BUS (B)
After breakfast, you have free time for shopping till getting picked up at the hotel to transfer to the bus station to take the bus to Phnom Penh in 10 hours. The bus will depart from 12:30 AM in Ho Chi Minh and arrive in Phnom Penh at around 10:30 AM (next day).
Meals on your own. Overnight at the sleeping bus
DAY 5 : PHNOM PENH CITY TOUR.OVERNIGHT IN PHNOM PENH (B,L)
10:30 AM: Upon arrival to Phnom Penh, our tour guide will welcome and transfer you to the hotel make a check-in process and leave your luggage at the hotel. Take a short rest.
02:00 PM: Start the city tour in the afternoon.
- Wat Phnom – the tallest religious structure in the city
- Royal Palace – a complex of buildings which serves as the royal residence of the king of Cambodia.
- Silver Pagoda – houses many national treasures including many golden and jeweled Buddha statues.
- Russian market built in 1937 and of a splendid colonial architectural style.
Transfer back to the hotel. Meal on your own. Overnight at the hotel.
DAY 6 : PHNOM PENH – BUS TO SIEM REAP.OVERNIGHT IN SIEM RIEP(B)
After breakfast, you will be transferred to the bus station to take the bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap VIP VAN (PP-SR)
09:00 AM – 02:00 PM Once arrival in Siem Reap, you will be warmly welcomed and transferred to the hotel to check in. Meals on your own. The balance of the day is at your leisure. Overnight at the hotel
DAY 7 : ANGKOR SIGHTSEEING DAY TRIP.OVERNIGHT IN SIEM RIEP (B,L)
08:00: After meeting our tour guide, then we drive to Angkor Thom that was the masterpiece of King Jayavarman VII. Following the occupation of Angkor by the Chams from 1177 to 1181, the new king decided to build an impregnable fortress at the heart of his empire.
- We begin to visit Bayon Temple. At the exact center of Angkor Thom, this is an eccentric expression of the creative genius and inflated ego of Cambodia’s most celebrated king. Its 54 towers are each topped off with the four faces of Avalokiteshvara (Buddha of Compassion), which bear more than a passing resemblance to the king himself.
- We continue to visit Terrace of the Leper King. This intricately carved platform was the royal crematorium and the statue that was originally thought to be the leper king is now believed to be Yama, the god of death.
- We continue along the Terrace of Elephants, originally used as a viewing gallery for the king to preside over parades, performances and traditional sports. At the southern end lies the Baphuon, once of the most beautiful temples at Angkor, dating from the reign of Uditayavarman 1 in the 11th century.
- We visit Ta Prohm “Tomb Raider” fame. Ta Prohm has been abandoned to the elements, a reminder that while empires rise and fall, the riotous power of nature marches on, oblivious to the dramas of human history. Left as it was ‘discovered’ by French explorer Henri Mouhout in 1860, the tentacle-like tree roots here are slowly strangling the surviving stones, man first conquering nature to create, nature later conquering man to destroy.
- We journey out to the Mother of all temples, Angkor Wat. Believed to be the world’s largest religious building, this temple is the perfect fusion of symbolism and symmetry and a source of pride and strength to all Khmers. Built in the 12th century by King Suryavarman II, this is most famous temple at Angkor.
Transfer to your hotel. Dinner on your own. Overnight at the hotel.
DAY 8 : SIEM RIEP DEPARTURE (B)
You are free to relax until being transferred to the airport (without tour guide) for your departure flight. The room is at your disposal until noontime. Meals on your own. End of service.
