Vietnam Culinary discovering tour

Hanoi, the country's capital has just celebrated its 1000 year anniversary. The city owns a long history, cultural richness and hospitality, which can be seen plenty charming facade, temples, pagodas and street insights. Hanoi is without doubt, one of Asia's most beautiful cities.

Upon your arrival at Noi Bai airport in Hanoi, we will meet you with the Welcoming Board and then escort you to your hotel. We leave the rest of the day to you to relax from a long flight.

Evening, enjoy a Welcome Dinner with traditional Vietnamese music will give you a first taste of Vietnamese cuisine and their culture. Stay overnight in Hanoi.

You will be picked up around 8.00am and driven to the Hanoi Cooking Centre for an half-day cooking course. The centre is the best place in Hanoi to gain a hands-on understanding of Vietnamese cuisine, and its long-time expatriate owner has written many cook books about Vietnam’s best-known dishes.

Sip a welcome tea on arrival, as your chef and guide explains the basics about the dishes you’re about to make. Walk to nearby Chau Long Market and stroll among hundreds of stalls selling everything from pumpkins to silkworms. Take in all the smells, and pause for photographs with the vendors!  Then it’s hands-on as you return to the centre and learn how to make a traditional dish. You also have the option to purchase many of the tools and spices used during the class. Enjoy your lunch with your own cooked dishes.

This afternoon, you will take a guided tour to visit Ho Chi Minh House on stilts , Ho Chi Minh Museum and the famous One Pillar Pagoda which is built of wood on a single stone pillar 1.25 m in diameter. After that, continue to visit the Temple of Literature (Vietnamese name is Quoc Tu Giam) – The Vietnam’s first University, which which was built in 1070 in honor of Confucius, his followers and Chu Van An, a moral figure in Vietnamese education.

In the evening, sample Hanoi specialities in a street-food tour of its old quarter. Feast on a Vietnamese-style BBQ, and stop at a street famous for serving gas beer, or “bia hoi,” the famous local brew.  Finish a day with a stop at the city’s most famous ice-cream parlour, and return to your hotel by about 8pm. Stay overnight in Hanoi.

This morning we depart to Halong Bay .After a 3,5 hour drive through the Red River Delta with a stop on the way. We board our boat by the time we arrive Halong Bay ,enjoy a welcome drink followed by a special lunch on board while cruising to through a maze of islands .We also disembark the boat to climb up a mountain to visit a beautiful limestone cave before anchoring in a tranquil cove for swimming.

Evening, cooking demonstration will be on the sundeck. Let's see how to make the fresh/fried spring rolls and mix fish-sauce. Dinner and overnight on board.

We will be waken up by a dawn chorus then join with the others for the taichi on sundeck. Breakfast will be served before cruising to a floating village where we start kayaking to the hidden lagoons. Brunch  on board before heading back to the pier then drive back to Ha Noi for overnight stay.

After breakfast, transfer to airport to take a flight to Hoian Ancient Town, an Unesco World Heritage site. On arrival, pick up and transfer to visit  Cham Museum and Marble Mountain in Danang before drive to Hoain  and spend the afternoon for a walking tour around this enchanting port town of Hoi an, follow the narrow lanes lined with centuries-old houses influenced by Chinese, Japanese, French and European architectures and visit its numerous places of interest: the 400-year old Japanese Covered Bridge, the Phuc Kien Assembly Halls, the Tan Ky old house, the local market … Around the town you can see numerous art galleries and tailor shops.  You are also free to get some made-to-order clothes if you like. Stay overnight in Hoi An.

Morning, pick up and transfer to the airport for a flight to Ho Chi Minh (other name: Saigon) is Vietnam's largest and most populated city. It is the heart of the country's commerce and the centre of culture. Ho Chi Minh City is an impressive mix of the ancient and the modern. It features ancient pagodas and temples alongside old wooden shops that sell merchandise such as silk and spices.

Afternoon, visit Reunification Palace formerly known as Independence Palace, built on the site of the former Norodom Palace, is a landmark in Hochiminh City. Next stop is the War Remnants Museum, operated by the Vietnamese government, an incipient form of museum opened on September 4, 1975, as the "Exhibition House for US and Puppet Crimes, located in the premises of the former United States Information Agency building.  Continue to visit City Hall, Ho Chi Minh Monument and Central Post Office which was constructed when Vietnam was part of French Indochina in the early 20th century.  Right nearby, you can see Notre Dame Cathedral, a magnificent building located in the heart of the city and was established by French colonists.  Stay overnight in Saigon.

Morning cooking lesson at the Vietnam Cookery Center : the hands-on cooking course is conducted by a professional chef and translated by a MC who will explain the teaching of the chef and talk about the history and culture of Vietnamese cuisine. The lesson includes a market visit and lunch.

In the afternoon, continue our trip to visit the famous Cu Chi Tunnels, an incredible underground tunnel network constructed by Vietnamese resistance fighters during the long struggle for independence. It was an underground city with living areas, kitchens, storage, weapons factories, field hospitals, command centers. In places, it was housed up to 10,000 people who virtually lived underground for years.... getting married, giving birth.  Drive back Saigon for stay overnight.

Travel to Vinh Long, a province located in the Mekong River Delta of southern Vietnam. Upon arrival, take a boat trip to explore the colorful Cai Be floating market, where you can observe all of busy trading activities of local traders with several kinds of agricultural product from one boat to another. You then continue the cruise to a local factory to visit and learn how pop rice, pop corn, rice paper and coconut candies are made. You also have an opportunity to taste these products served with hot green tea. Returning to the boat for an excursion to Dong Hoa Hiep Island and discover the beautiful and peaceful sceneries together with the typical life of the region along the Mekong River.

Drive back Saigon in the afternoon and check in hotel for the rest. Stay overnight in Saigon.

Free time for shopping before transfer to the airport for flight back home.

It’s time to say goodbye, we thank you for travelling with us and warmly welcome you to come again. Services end.