Southern Vietnam and Cambodia Tour - 10 Days

Landing at the Tan Son Nhat airport, you are welcomed by professional tour guide and driver at the pickup lobby. On the 30-minute driving from the airport to the city center, your tour guide will introduce you about the highlights of the city, and share the experiences of eating and drinking, traffic, culture....

On arrival, transfer to your hotel.

Note: Hotel check in time at 14.00

9:00 AM: Pick up from your hotel to the Independence Palace, once used as the home - office of the Presidents of South Vietnam. Our visit includes the North Vietnamese tank which effectively attacked the palace in 1975 to bring the controversial Vietnam War to an end and the five-story palace with its rooms have been preserved in their late 1960s, 1970s style and a bunker basement.

Countinue by a leisurely waking tour. Heading to the Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral, originally built between 1863 and 1880, evidently reflects the French colonist influences. It’s a picturesque spot in the city.

Toward to Nguyen Hue walking street, walk to the unmissable city's famous landmark. The Saigon Central Post Office is a stunning building, designed by the famous architect Gustave Eiffel. It is an actually working post office with beautiful indoor decorations.

Have a break for lunch or drink (on your own account) then in the after noon go to the top visited in Ho Chi Minh – the War Remnant museum. The exhibits offer you all-sided views of the Vietnam War that might bring a big surprise than you are probably used to hearing and seeing.

End of the day, visit the most famous market in the city, Ben Thanh Market, which has been opened since 1870. The market not only supplies the daily needs of local people but also excellent place to pick up inexpensive souvenirs and enjoy Vietnam’s local street foods.

8:00 AM: Leave from your hotel to visit the most striking place in the history of the Vietnam War, the Cu Chi Tunnels.

Cu Chi is a real underground city made up of a large network of tunnels covering an area of over 250km long where the Viet Cong conducted the war of resistance against American troops. All of the tunnels were dug over a period of twenty years using only pickaxes and shovels. The tour includes special entering some part of tunnels. You will also have a chance to visit Ben Duoc memorial temple nearby but far less touristic built in 1993 in memory of the Vietnamese killed at Cu Chi.

Continue to visit one of the most sacred attractions in Vietnam - the Cao Dai Temple. Caodaism is a uniquely Vietnamese religion that is influenced by elements of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and even Roman Catholicism. On a visit, you can attend the midday mass.

8:00 AM: Meet tour guide and driver for a transfer to Cai Be. Visit Cao Dai temple on route. On arrival, take an easy walk to a village to discover the beauty of Phu Chau pagoda and experience the real life on the village. Continue the boat trip to Tan Phong Island then walk through fruit gardens, meeting locals and enjoy a lunch of local specialties and fruit in the garden.

Disembark and continue the car transfer to Long Xuyen via Sa Dec where we can visit Kien An Cung pagoda and Huynh Thuy Le's house from the novel by Marguerite Duras  'L’Amant – the Lover'.  Discover the local market in Sa Dec which is rich in fruits, vegetables, and fish.

Enjoy some free time and stay overnight in Long Xuyen.

Have early breakfast then transfer to the animated and authentic floating market and village in Long Xuyen on a small tributary of the Mekong River. Discover the daily activities of people living by the river. Then take a short walk (or 1 hour biking) on Cu Lao Ong Ho Island.

After that, go back to the car for a transfer to Chau Doc. On arrival, visit Chau Doc Market and enjoy a boat trip to the floating fish village and Cham village. Return to the town for a transfer to Tra Su reserve, an exceptional biodiversity ecosystem with typical cajuput forest. This is also a famous bird park, known for a variety of species.

Return to Chau Doc to discover Sam Mountain (287m) with colorful temples and Pagodas (Xu Lady Pagoda, Thoai Ngoc Hau temple, Tay An pagoda). It's possible to walk up to the top of mountain or take a motorbike taxi (40 000 VND/pp at your expense) to enjoy the awesome sunset over the border between Vietnam and Cambodia. Stay overnight at a hotel in Chau Doc.

In the morning, transfer to pier to take high speed boat at 7.00am to PhnomPenh. Upon arrival, local tour guide will pick you up to your hotel in the city center. Check in your hotel and enjoy a briefing tour as well as some first information about this beautiful region.

Discover the Phnom Penh capital city including: Royal Palace built in 1866, Silver Pagoda located within the Royal Palace compound and then Wat Phnom, an ancient pagoda stand up on the hill. Dinner at local restaurant and overnight at your hotel in Phnom Penh

At 8:00 AM: Meet our tour guide. Visit the famous Tuol Sleng Museum. We back to city and if time permit we will visit to Russian market.

Later, transfer to airport for flight to Siem Reap. Upon arrival your will be met and then transferred direct to hotel for refreshment. Overnight in Siem Reap

After breakfast at hotel. Visit the Rolous group, the monuments of Rolous which served as the capital of Indravarman I (reigned 877-89), are among the earliest large, permanent temples built by the Khmers and mark the beginning of Khmer classical art, Preah Ko erected by Indravarman I in the late 9th century dedicated by the King to his ancestors in 880. Bakong the largest and most interesting of the Roluos group temples, with his active Buddhist monastery just to the north of the east entrance. Lolei built on an islet in the center of a large reservoir (now rice fields) by Yasovarman I, the founder to the first city at Angkor.

Continue your visit to the jungle covered temple of Ta Prohm is an incredible sight. There are enormous fig trees and gigantic creepers which embrace themselves in the stone foundations of the structure giving the impression of man’s creation being reclaimed by the powerful forces of nature.  We explore this masterpiece as well as some of the surrounding temples including Banteay Kdei, Sra Srong, Ta Keo, Thommanon and Chau Say Tevada. Overnight at hotel in Siem Reap

Enjoy breakfast at hotel. Visit the ancient capital of Angkor Thom (12th century); See the South Gate (with its huge statues depicting the churning of the ocean of milk), Bayon Temple (unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces of Avolokitesvara), the Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas, the Elephant Terrace and the Terrace of the Leper King.

In the afternoon, visit the most famous of all the temples on the Angkor plain: Angkor Wat. The temple complex, cover 81 hectares and is comparable in size to the Imperial Palace in Beijing. Its distinctive five towers are emblazoned on the Cambodian flag and the 12th century masterpiece is considered by art historians to be the prime example of classical Khmer art and architecture. Dinner at local restaurant with Apsara Dance Show. Overnight at hotel in Siem Reap

We drive 35KM to visit Banteay Srei temple nearly everyone’s favorite site. The special charm of this temple lies in its compact size, remarkable state of preservation, and the excellence of it decorative carvings.Continue to the grand circuit with Preah Khan, Kravan, Neak Pean.

Free at your own leisure time for rolling at local markets or shopping until transfer to Siem Reap international airport for departure to the next destination