Southeast Asia Highlights – Thailand, Vietnam & Cambodia Tour

Welcome to Thailand! Upon arrival at Bangkok Airport, our guide will welcome you after the luggage claim. Transfer by private vehicle to the hotel in Bangkok city.

The Grand Palace is to Thailand what the pyramids are to Egypt and the Eiffel tower to Paris; the face of the nation and well worth an in-depth guided visit. Dive in deep with your guide, learn about the why and how of the colors, the symbolism behind the postures of the guards, the religious aspect of the palace and temple for the Thai and the function of the complex today. 

Enter the always bustling Wat Po; home to the 45-meter long Reclining Buddha and the perfect place to make your offering for your wish to be granted. You may want to offer 108 baht yourself, coin by coin, behind the enormous back of the Reclining Buddha in Wat Po. After passing his enormous face, ears and feet, with mother-of-pearl inlay, you will find 108 buckets and if you make sure not to skip one your wish might be granted. If you believe more in the power of commerce then luck. 

Then visit Wat Traimit houses world’s largest massive gold seated Buddha measuring nearly five metres in height and weighing five and a half ton. 

Evening Program: Transfer by private vehicle with guide to River City Pier for check-in before boarding the dinner cruise along the Chao Phraya River, operating from 19:30 to 21:30 hrs.

After the cruise (21:30 hrs.), return to the hotel by private vehicle with guide. 

Breakfast at the hotel and drive to Ayutthaya Historical Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991. The Ayutthaya Historical Park comprises of the ruins of temples and palaces of the capital of the ancient Ayutthaya Kingdom. In its heyday, Thai culture and commerce flourished, and lots of foreign merchants resided in the capital, including Dutch, Portuguese, French, English, Japanese and etc. Foreign visitors were most impressed by its splendor. The park is located on an island surrounded by three rivers where the old capital used to be. The ruins of many impressive temples and palaces give an impression of the wealth of the ancient Kingdom. The remains of several settlements off the island built by foreign countries demonstrate the importance of Ayutthaya’s intensive trade with many foreign nations. 

Lunch at local restaurant. 

Then visit Bang Pa-In Palace is ancient palace back to Ayutthaya era. This palace was built by King Prasart Thong and then it was rebuilt by King Mongkut after it’s abandoned for long time. The palace is divide into 2 zone one is inner zone that for royal family to use as a resting place the other zone is outer zone that open for normal people and tourist.

Back to hotel in Bangkok.

Breakfast at hotel, check out and transfer to Bangkok Airport for flight to Chiang Mai Upon arrival at Chiang Mai airport, our guide and driver will pick you up and transfer you to your accommodation for check in. 

After that start to private city and temples tour, the city of Chiang Mai has a wealth of beautiful and historic Buddhist Wats (temples), and on this tour a visit to the most fascinating Wats is made. Near the summit of Doi Suthep, is the 600 years old temple of WAT PHRATHAT DOI SUTHEP. After a drive up the mountain’s winding road, the final climb to the site is via an enormous mythological Nagas (Dragon headed serpent) staircase of 306 steps (elevators are available). Inside the cloister is an intriguing copper plated chedi topped by a five-tier gold parasol, which contains partial relics of Lord Buddha. On a clear day, there are incomparable views over the city of Chiang Mai from the temple grounds. Other temples visited on this tour include WAT SUAN DOK, whose large central stupa contains Buddha relic which supposedly self-multiplied! and WAT CHEDI LUANG consist of an impressive chedi, originally built in 1411. destroyed by an earthquake in It reached a height of over 1545. 85 meters before it was partially It now reach a height of only contains the city pillar. 

09h00 Pick up at the hotel and being transferred by van to Nong Hoi local market. Spend about 40 minutes joining the group purchasing fresh ingredients (chicken, prawns, herbs & vegetables) for the class as well as learning to know about tropical vegetation which’s quite interesting! Continue to Baan Hong Nual, situated on Chiang Mai–Lampang road, only about 15 minutes away from the market. Then get brief introduction of Baan Hong Nual which’s an open kitchen in Lanna Thai style. All students will be then given aprons and headdresses as cooking uniforms. Get yourself ready for the 1st menu. However, before starting cooking, you will be introduced about all the kitchen utensils as well as the seasonings normally needed in the Thai cuisine. Afterward, you’ll be shown how to prepare all the ingredients and also how to cook. Get step by step instruction from you instructor.

After the 1st menu is done, you’ll be given a time to taste how delicious is your food. Continue cooking the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th dishes. Then you will be provided with steam rice, about time to have lunch with you self-cooked dishes. Afterward, you will be transferred back to your hotel 

An early morning 3-hour drive through beautiful scenery to Chiang Rai, with a brief stop at the Hot Springs at Maekajan for fresh air. Next stop will be made at Wat Rongkhun (White Chapel), a unique temple, designed by Thailand most prominent artist, Mr. Chalermchai Kositpipat. Followed by visit to the Black House, Covering over 100 rai, it comprises more than 25 buildings of pure and applied northern architectural styles. Belonging to the Thai National Visual Artist Thawan Duchanee, Baandam Museum exhibits folk art of local artists from the past to the present together with a large collection of rare folk appliances from the old days. 

Also visit to the Blue Temple, Wat Rong Suaten, famous for its blue colour chapel and surrounding statues. Lunch will be provided at a local restaurant, before continue to the Golden Triangle area. There are magnificent views over the Mae Khong River to the physical triangle made by Burma, Laos and Thailand at the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong River. For a small fee, you can also enjoy the boat ride to view the splendor of mighty Mae Khong River.

Afterward, return journey back to Chiang Mai. 

Breakfast at hotel, check out and transfer to Chiang Mai Airport for flight to Phuket Upon arrival at Phuket airport, our guide and driver will pick you up and transfer you to your accommodation for check in

Full day at leisure. 

Transfer from hotel to Phuket Airport for flight to Hanoi via Bangkok Arriving at Noi Bai International airport where you will meet your tour driver, then transfer to hotel for check in. 

The city that celebrated its millennial anniversary in 2010 has countless fascinating cultural and historic sites and today’s full-day sightseeing tour will take in the highlights: the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Museum, built at the place where Ho Chi Minh declared independence for Vietnam in 1945; the famous One-Pillar Pagoda, built by King Ly Thai To to thank the Goddess of Mercy for bringing him a successor; the Temple of Literature, Vietnam’s first university dating from the 11th century; and the Hoan Kiem (“Restored Sword”) Lake. Perhaps the most interesting area you will visit is the fascinating Ancient Quarter which is known as the “36 streets” by cyclo. You will feel the hustle and bustle of the fast growing city via the sights and sounds from zillions of mopeds around you while your driver take you through the busy flow of traffic. Many tiny streets criss-cross like a chess board to provide the shopper with a huge diversity of products. In the olden days, each street bore the name of the product it sold – “Shoe Street,” “Noodle Street”,”Silk street”, “Silver Street”, Blacksmith street”…. etc. Today, most streets sell different items due to economic reasons, but some streets still continue their tradition. 

In the evening, you attend a popular water puppet performance. 

One of today’s highlights is an interesting and very exciting tour on the back of vintage motorbikes where you will be taken (as passengers) to visit hidden corners of Hanoi. The motorbike tour will take you through labyrinth of Hanoi traffic and to many different alleyways to show  you the daily life not only from main streets but also from different corners where few tourists would know of. The 3h tailored made tour is a great way to capture the panoramic views of “ the good, the bad and the weird” of this city.

In the afternoon, you will go by the West Lake to see the beautiful Tran Quoc pagoda and extend to the nearby memorial John McCain statue. Our next stop is the National Museum of Ethnology, widely regarded as the best in country, which displays a rich collection of artefacts, documents, movies, objects… relating to the 54 ethnic groups of Vietnam. 

Today you will overland to the famous Ha Long Bay which means “Descending Dragon Bay”. Located in the Gulf of Tonkin, this is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an area of great natural beauty, with some 2,000 limestone islands rising dramatically out of the emerald water. This bay was also voted by international travelers as one of “7 new natural wonders of the world”. After 3h30 drive from Hanoi, you will board the wooden classic junk, and then start cruising the bay while seafood lunch is served. In the afternoon, the cruise will show you the most beautiful section of the bay with so many photo opportunities. Bai Tu Long is the less visited area of Halong bay and is the appeared in the famous French movie “Indochine” with the star Catherine Deneuve. One of the highlights in the afternoon is an hour ride on the rowed sampan around the Vung Vieng fishing village. The best part of the sampan ride is having an up-close look at the limestone mountains with various formations rising out of the water. Besides, the floating village make things alive. If you are lucky with the weather, you can enjoy the beautiful sunset on the bay. And those who do not like the sampan ride, can choose to kayak to explore the hidden lagoons. Return to the boat for happy hour and dinner on board. 

(The program details may vary from one junk fleet to the other as they operate in different areas of the bay. By choosing a boat, you also choose the program operated by the boat, available on its website. This program is a sample only) 

If you are early risers, you can get up to the sundeck to see the day breaks. You will feel like to reach out and touch the islands around you. With a cup of fine coffee or tea, you will enjoy the tranquility of bay where there are no people around. Next, a taichi session is available on the deck to get you ready for a new day. While the boat starts to cruise, light breakfast is served. Main activity in the morning is a visit to the hidden Thien Canh Son cave. Return to the junk to have brunch on board. 

At noon, leave the boat and then transfer to the airport for a flight to Ho Chi Minh. 

Arrival Ho Chi Minh, meet the guide, transfer to the hotel Check-in hotel

After breakfast at the hotel, take a bus ride for 1.5h northwest of the city to visit Cu Chi tunnels. This is an amazing underground tunnel network of over 200km, equipped with bunkers, trenches, kitchens, dining rooms, water wells, hospitals and other facilities essential for the guerrillas’ survival. There are 3 levels of tunnels, with different depth: first level is 3-4m deep, second level is up to 6-7 meter deep and the last one is up to 10 meter deep. You will walk the ground to get a closer look at the amazing tunnel system and even challenge yourself with a crawl into different levels of the tunnel. Although parts of the tunnel system has been widen for tourists, it is still a challenge to get to the second and third level. There is a shooting range nearby where you can try many kinds of guns available there if time permits (at your own cost). Drive back to Ho Chi Minh city. 

In the afternoon, we will enjoy a tour of its main historic landmarks, including the Reunification Palace – the former Presidential Palace of the South Vietnam government, the War Remnants Museum featuring the war relics from the American war, the beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral and the City Post Office- both of them date back to the late 1800 when the French conquered Vietnam. The tour will include a walk along major landmark buildings during war time such as City’ opera house, Rex hotel, former CIA office building… 

Mekong river delta in the southern Vietnam is the vast maze of rivers, swamps, islands; idyllic villages surrounded by rice paddies, numerous criss- crossing canals systems and lush green fruit garden. It is a major rice and fruit basket of Vietnam. Your one day visit to this region will expose you to the watery world of Mekong, local life via many activities: Having a boat ride on the mighty Mekong, walk to a local market to learn about all local produce available, stops at coconut candy factory run by a family, visit a local home with a honeybee farm, a few handicraft workshops. Besides, you also experience different local means of transportations: Local truck ride (self-made bus, using motorcycle engine for transporting 5- 6 people and goods), sampan ride. The tour ends with a tasty lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant on Phung island

Return to Ho Chi Minh city at 4.30 pm and transfer directly to airport for departure flight.to Siem Reap. Warm welcome upon your arrival in Siem Reap, Siem Reap, one of the major tourist hub in Cambodia and the gateway to the world famous temples of Angkor.  Your guide and driver will meet you at the airport for a transfer to your hotel.  Free time to relax, then your guide will see you again for a Tuk Tuk ride around the suburb of Siem Reap city followed by a blessing ceremony by Buddhist monks for happiness, prosperity and safety. Tonight you enjoy dinner with Apsara Dance show at the local restaurant.

Early wake up in the morning for a transfer to enjoy the sunrise over the Angkor Temple. Back to hotel for breakfast then you continue to discover the Angkor Wat, a temple complex built for king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. After breakfast at hotel you continue to explore the ruins including the South Gate of Angkor Thom, the impressive Bayon Temple, the Royal Enclosure, Phimeanakas, the Elephant Terrace, the Terrace of the Leper King and the Preah Khan temple. In the afternoon you explore the fabulous Ta Prohm temple which embraced by fig and silk-cotton trees puncture the roofs of Ta Prohm’s towers. End of the day you will enjoy the sunset at the Preah Rup temple.

Today is the last day in Cambodia. We will spend our last morning visiting the Floating Village on Tonle Sap Lake and take boat trip to see the daily life on the village. The natural wonder of Tonle Sap offers an insight into the old tradition of riparian life and the natural splendor of the countryside and followed by Artisan Dangkor workshop before transfer to airport for flight home