14 Day Vietnam and Cambodia Culture Tour and Cooking Holiday

Day 1: Hanoi - arrival

• Meals included: none.
• Pick-up at the Noi Bai International Airport (HAN).
• Transfer to the hotel in Hanoi Old Quarter, the most exciting place for tourist.
• Free time to go around Hanoi City by yourself.
• Please note that the check in time is at 1:00 p.m. Go Asia Travel staff will greet you and give all information around the trip.

Day 2: Hanoi - Halong Bay

• Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner.
• 08:00-08:30 Pick-up at hotel and start the scenic three-and-a-half hour drive to Halong Bay.
• 12:30-13:00 Embark on the cruise, followed by a short cruise briefing.
• 13:30-14:30 Savor a delectable lunch while cruising among the limestone islands.
• 15:00-16:00 Explore the amazing Sung Sot Cave, the most beautiful cave in Halong Bay.
• 16:00-17:00 Cruise to Titov island. Go swimming and relaxing at the beach of Titov or climb up to the top of the island for a panorama view of Halong Bay.
• 17:00-17:30 Return to the main boat and continue cruising to the quiet area while enjoying the beautiful seascape on the way.
• 17:30-19:00 Enjoy sunset party on sundeck and admire the best moments of the day when the sun starts to set. There will be a short cooking class showed by the crew and tour guide.
• 19:00 Dinner is served. Socialize with other guests, take part in board games, fish for squid, or just laze around.
• Overnight onboard.

Day 3: Halong Bay - Hanoi

• Meals included: breakfast, lunch.
• 06:30-07:15 Start your day with Tai Chi exercises or a photo hunt.
• 07:30-08:30 Have breakfast onboard and enjoy the peaceful morning of Halong Bay.
• 09:00-10:00 Kayak among the hidden areas of the bay, around the Man’s Head Islet area.
• 10:15 Return to the boat. Freshen up and check out of your cabin.
• 10:15-11:00 Continue your cruise exploring the bay, passing Ba Hang fishing village, Dog Islet, and more.
• 11:00-12:15 While heading back to the harbor, watch the fruit carving demonstration and participate in the cooking class before enjoying a traditional Vietnamese lunch.
• 12:15-12:30 Disembarkation.
• 12:30-13:00 Transfer back to Hanoi.
• 16:30 Arrive at your hotel in Hanoi. Re-check in at your hotel.

Day 4: Hanoi cooking class - train to Da Nang

• Meals included: breakfast.
• 08:00-08:30 Your tour guide will pick you up at your hotel and take a walk to the outdoor wet market with the chef. You will be fascinated with every step by the color, noise, and the smells of the foods.
• Stroll around to visit distinct food sections with their variety of herbs, vegetables, meat, and sea food which brings you very close to the simple life. It is very interesting to see and to learn how a local woman chooses and buys the best quality of the fresh food from numerous food stalls in the market.
• With a rattan hand basket, your job is to buy some herbs and spices for the cooking class (herbs and spices are a very important part of authentic Vietnamese food). Raw food bought from the market will be washed and prepared quickly in the kitchen. Cooking methods and utensils will be placed properly on each table.
• You will prepare and cook by yourself under the instruction of the chef from the beginning to the end, learning how to marinate and to spice will be the most crucial lesson. You will also enjoy decorating dishes with carrot flowers, lemon grass stems, banana leaves, and curved chili. The authentic magical sauce mixed from fish sauce, water, sugar, lime, chili, garlic, and herbs is very easy to make.
• 12:00 You will have lunch with what you have cooked and the chef will taste and give a reward to the best dish.
• 13:00 After lunch, all of the recipes from the cooking class will be given to you.
• Free time until your driver come to pick you up for the transfer to the train station.
• The train journey will take around 16 hours. On the train you can view the beautiful countryside and coastline.
• Stay overnight on the train and arrive at the Da Nang train station at the next morning.

Day 5: Da Nang - Hoi An town

• Meals included: none.
• Train arrives on the next day.
• Pick-up and transfer to Hoi An ancient town.
• Check in at your hotel in the ancient town and relax.

Day 6: Hoi An half day cooking class

• Meals included: breakfast, lunch.
• 08:00 Get to the meeting point Hai café No 98 Nguyen Thai Hoc str. Your guide will meet you there.
• 08:15 Welcome drink at the cooking school.
• Visit Hoi An’s colourful market and experience the amazing sights, sounds, and aromas of this busy market. You will have the opportunity to interact with the local sellers and learn about all the ingredients to be used in the cooking lesson later.
• Board the Red Bridge boat for a leisurely cruise for 25 minutes along the Hoi An River to the Red Bridge Cooking School. This is a chance to view local river life, so make sure your camera is handy.
• Explore the cooking school’s herb garden before learning about some of Hoi An’s and Vietnam’s well-known dishes. The cooking lesson runs for about two hours and the Red Bridge chefs first demonstrate each dish before you prepare the same dish yourselves. Included in the class is a brief introduction to Vietnamese food carving (plate decoration).
• After the lesson, sit down and eat what you have cooked.
• Bring your swimsuit and after the cooking tour has finished, relax and enjoy the free use of the swimming pool. Towels and showers are provided.
• Catch your own taxi back to hotel after the tour and overnight in Hoi An.

Day 7: Hoi An - HCMC

• Meals included: breakfast.
• Free time until the airport transfer. Today, you will have a flight to Ho Chi Minh city and stay overnight at the most touristic area of Ho Chi Minh city.

Day 8: HCMC cooking class - Cu Chi tunnel

• Meals included: breakfast, lunch.
• 07:30 - 08:00 Pick-up from hotel in HCMC to Agricultural Villages.
• 08:45 - 10:00 Visit Ho Chi Minh agricultural villages, as well as the cow areas, buffalo areas, rice fields, big herbs, spices, vegetables, and mushrooms areas.
• You will have challenges on the garden such as to become real Vietnamese farmer wearing Vietnamese traditional hat and pick up a lot of herbs, spices, vegetables, and mushrooms from the garden.
• 10:00 - 13:30 Cooking challenge. It will be hands-on cooking class with three dishes and one dessert. You will get to enjoy great healthy cooking tips, finish with nice certificate, recipes, souvenirs, and provide your email address to be able to get updates on nice healthy recipes monthly.
• 13:30 - 14:00 Visit the rice paper factory in order to understand the whole process to make rice paper. Be surprised to see what the main ingredients to make rice paper are. See how they mix the flour with water, how the fresh rice paper comes out after steaming, how they handle it on the tray and how they dry it out, how they cut rice paper in the shape they want, and how they pack the rice paper in the packages before selling or exporting.
• 14:00 - 14:15 Visit the rubber tree forest. Explore the big rubber tree forest and understand how the local people collect the latex.
• 14:15 - 16:00 Visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels where you will be watching a presentation video, see the tunnels and discover how these tunnels were constructed, visit Hoang Cam's smoke-less store, try gun shooting with real bullets (fees not included), taste boiled tapioca, and drink hot tea.
• 17:30 Journey ends in a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.

Day 9: HCMC - Mekong Delta - Cai Be Floating Market - Vinh Long tour

• Meals included: breakfast, lunch.
• 08:00 Pick up from hotel.
• 08:15 Start driving to Cai Be; short time to take photos at Tan An town over the flat rice fields.
• 10:30 Start the motorized boat to visit the Cai Be Floating market, experience how people exchanging goods, fruit and many other commodities on their vessels.
• Roam into the small villages to visit the orchard, fruit plantation.
• Keep cruising to Vinh Long through small canals to enjoy the charm of the Upper Mekong Delta. Visit some handmade family business products such as the coconut candy mill, the crispy rice popcorn.
• Arrive in Binh Hoa Phuoc village, the green pearl of Vinh Long town, where you can indulge yourself into the nature.
• Have lunch with fresh river food served in the heart of the garden. Enjoy the southern Vietnamese traditional folk music. Take a nice walk through the bonsai garden in Vinh Long.
• Head home to Ho Chi Minh City.
• 18:30 Arrive at your hotel.

Day 10: HCMC - Phnom Penh, Cambodia

• Meals included: breakfast.
• Pick-up from the hotel to bus station.
• 07:00 The bus leaves and drives to Moc Bai border gate to enter Cambodia (travel time six to seven hours). You will get visa on arrival with the help of bus crew (on request) for you to pass Cambodia.
• Be picked up at the bus station and check in at King Grand Boutique Hotel, Phnom Penh.

Day 11: Phnom Penh cooking class

• Meals included: breakfast, lunch.
• Guests who hunger to learn about Khmer cuisine should enroll in a half or full-day cooking class. Start the morning by exploring a local market where you will experience the hustle and bustle and absorb the flavor of a typical Cambodian market. Walk around, take pictures and observe vendors selling their wares. Learn about local fruits, vegetables and herbs and procure the freshest ingredients you need for the day's lesson.
• Returning to the kitchen, the experienced chef will guide you through tried-and-true Khmer cooking techniques. Unlock ancient secrets of Khmer cooking through this authentic culinary experience. After the demonstration and with the chef's assistance, you will discover new tastes and textures as you learn to prepare traditional dishes, which will be enjoyed for lunch. The recipes are yours to keep so you can recreate the Cambodian culinary experience in the comfort of your own home and impress your friends and family.

Day 12: Phnom Penh - Siem Reap

• Meals included: breakfast.
• Transfer by private car to take a bus to Siem Reap.
• Travel time on the bus will be six hours.
• Be picked up and check in at Claremont Angkor Boutique Hotel, Siem Reap.

Day 13: Siem Reap - Angkor Thom - Angkor Wat Temple

• Meals included: breakfast, lunch.
• After breakfast, proceed to Angkor Thom Area (Angkor Thom Temple South Gate, Bayon Temple, Baphuon Temple, Phimean Akas Temple, Elephants Terrace and Leper King Terrace, Royal Palace, Woman and Man Pond). Proceed to visit Ta-Prom Temple.
• After lunch, continue your journey to Angkor Wat Temple, one of the seven greatest architectural wonders of the world, built in between the 9th - 13th century.
• Before you end the tour, make a visit to Bakheng Hill for its beautiful sunset.
• Overnight at Claremont Angkor Boutique Hotel.

Day 14: Siem Reap - departure

• Meals included: breakfast.
• Free time until the time for you to be transferred to the airport for your flight back home.

Itinerary is subject to change upon uncontrolled weather conditions.

Halong Bay

Hanoi city

Ho Chi Minh city

Hoi An town

Mekong Delta

PhnomPenh city

Siem Reap city

This tour will take you around the best places in Vietnam and Cambodia, such as Hanoi, Halong Bay, Da Nang, Hoi An, My Son, Ho Chi Minh city, Mekong Delta, Phnom Penh, and Siem Reap.

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Meals included in the package are 12 breakfasts at the hotels, 6 lunches and 2 dinners. You will be offered Vietnamese dishes.

Extend your trip and stay longer in a city. Go Asia Travel will book the hotel and other tours for you.

• 13 nights accommodation
• Airport transfers by private car in Hanoi, Danang Airport, HCMC Airport, Phnom Penh, and Siem Reap
• Boat cruise in Phnom Penh
• Bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh (seating bus, air-con, Mekong Express, or Giant Bus)
• Bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap (seating bus, air-con, Mekong Express, or Giant Bus)
• Daily meals as mentioned in the itinerary
• Entrance tickets to all sites mentioned
• Flight ticket Danang-Ho Chi Minh city (Vietnam Airlines or VietJet)
• Guided tour to Cu Chi Tunnel
• Guided tour to Halong Bay
• Guided tour to Mekong Delta, Cai Be floating market, and Vinh Long
• Guided tour to My Son Holy Land in Hoi An
• Overnight train ticket Hanoi to Da Nang (soft sleeper, air-con, and four people sharing a cabin)
• Private tour in Phnom Penh : Killing Fields Choeung Ek, Russian Market
• Private tour in Siem Reap : Angkor Thom, Angkor Wat Temple
• Tax and service charge
• Train transfer in Hanoi and Da Nang

• Beverages, tips, and personal expenses
• Flight into Vietnam and flight out of Siem Reap
• High season surcharge of 30 USD per person for travels during March, April, November and December
• Other things not mentioned clearly in the packages
• Public Holiday surcharge of 60 USD per person for travels on January 1, from April 27 to May 1, from August 27 to September 2, December 24 and December 31
• Visa to Vietnam and Cambodia

Recommended Airports

• A reservation requires a deposit of 25% of the total price.
• The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
• The rest of the payment should be paid on arrival.