Northern Vietnam to Cambodia Adventure

Once you have landed at Hanoi airport, you will be greeted by our guide, who will take you straight to your hotel for you to freshen up and relax.

After your check-in at 14:00, you have a free day at your leisure. You may want to relax with a Vietnamese coffee or begin your infatuation with Vietnamese food.

Have breakfast in your hotel and meet your tour guide at 08:00. We begin our Hanoi city tour at Ba Dinh Square, where Ho Chi Minh gave his famous independence speech in 1945. Here, we will visit Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to learn more about Vietnam’s national hero, see his former residence and visit the nearby One-Pillar Pagoda. After this, we head to the 1000-year old Temple of Literature, the first university built in Vietnam and one adhering to the philosophy of Confucianism.

We dine at a local restaurant for lunch and drive to the Museum of Ethnology, where we will learn about the distinct and fascinating cultures of Vietnam’s 53 ethnic minorities and explore the full-scale replica houses of different tribes.

Following this, we take a one-hour ride around the Old Quarter on a traditional cyclo, carrier of choice for the French diplomats in the city while it was under their occupation. We tour around Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple before disembarking and continuing on foot down some of the enchanting alleyways around the city.

Breakfast at the hotel will be followed by pick-up at 08:00, in turn followed by a beautifully scenic drive in the van, where you will see Vietnam’s unique limestone mountains for the first time.

We arrive in Mai Chau at about midday and head into the village for a local lunch. Afterwards, we jump onto our bicycles and take a tour with the guide, who will show you the most picture-perfect spots of diligently working rice farmers, peaceful villages where locals engage in traditional scarf weaving and the forested cliffs that stand watch over it all.

You will have free reign later on, so explore the surrounding countryside at your own leisure. You could check out any of Mai Chau’s waterfalls or continue along its quaint paths that run between lush green rice paddies.

Enjoy your breakfast and head out with the tour guide to the more rural areas, far from the hustle and bustle of Hanoi. We will arrive in small villages like Na Meo, where the ancient way of life is kept largely intact and local customs and traditions are still proudly expressed. 

We return to Mai Chau after this to check out and begin our drive to the Pu Luong Nature Reserve, where we will arrive to a beautiful lunch. We will check into our gorgeous accommodation at the Pu Luong Retreat and you will have time to fully enjoy the infinity pool, which looks out across the breathtaking scenery of mist-shrouded mountain tops and contoured rice paddies.

The afternoon will start with a transfer to a bridge on the Cham River. We trek from here and discover the picturesque bamboo water wheels along the Cham, still in operation today. We continue on to the house of a local fisherman, Mr. Dinh, who will provide us with tea before we board the bamboo rafts and float serenely down the placid river. Mr. Dinh will show us how to paddle our rafts while the beauty of Pu Loung’s tree-topped rocks rises high above us.

We end at the scenic Tan Lap Bridge and take the transfer back to the Pu Luong Retreat in time for a wonderful dinner, romantically lit and set against the calming backdrop of Pu Luong’s valleys.

Stay overnight in Pu Luong.

We begin the day with a wonderful breakfast and a view of Pu Luong’s verdant valley bathed in its new morning light. We put on our boots and descend directly into the valley, following the spill of rice paddies and they slope down to the valley floor. We trek along paths lined with tropical vegetation to the wonderful village of Uoi, pressed against the base of a mountain by rice paddies that run like treacle down its hill. The views are stunning here and we will stop many times for photos.

We continue downhill to Lan Village, where local ethnic minorities engage in an ancient piece of tribal tradition by weaving elaborate brocades for their families. Skirting the sides of more rice paddies and forests of palm trees, we will arrive at the road where the car will transfer us back to the Pu Luong Retreat in time for lunch.

After lunch, we take another scenic drive to Ninh Binh, known nationally as Vietnam’s ‘Halong Bay on Land’. Check into the hotel and relax into a peaceful evening in the city.

Breakfast at the hotel will be followed by the tour guide’s arrival at 09:00. We head out to the stately Hoa Lu and explore the temples of King Dinh & King Le, the two kings who ruled Vietnam from here during Hoa Lu’s 44-year stint as the country’s capital. After hearing of the regal history of Hoa Lu, we continue for 16km onto Tam Coc, where a buffet lunch awaits us.

We head to the Ngo Dong River that runs through Tam Coc, jumping onto a sampan boat for a 90-minute ride atop tranquil waters flanked by swathes of rice crop and spiralling limestone towers. Once we arrive back at the dock, we gear up for a 45-minute bicycle ride along flat country lanes that run between rice paddies stretching across the floor the foothills of distant mountains. We will see the idyllic images of ancient Vietnam in the working water buffalo and meticulous farmers wearing conical hats.

An early breakfast in your hotel will be followed by a transfer northeast, where the majesty of Halong Bay awaits us. We board our traditional junk boat and head out into the glorious seascape, accompanied by a delicious lunch in the dining room.

During our 2-day, 1-night cruise in Halong Bay, we will go kayaking around the calming bay, enjoying the ubiquitous grandeur of its limestone pillars jutting vertically out of the sea bed. We will also head out to a cave, where you can learn of the geological background of beautiful rock formations along with the deep-rooted local legends that are attached to them. 

While relaxing back on the cruise, there will be a cooking demonstration run by one of the talented chefs. Unwind in your wonderful cabin or head to the sundeck for a fantastic view of the sunset descending behind Halong Bay’s cliff tops.

You will have a great chance to socialise with other guests at the beautiful dinner, which is served in full view of the sparkling bay. There is plenty of time afterwards to engage in squid fishing or listening to the ambience of Halong Bay’s nightly soundtrack from the sundeck.

Stay overnight in Halong Bay.

A morning tai chi class will be held on the sundeck during the majesty of Halong Bay’s gorgeous sunrise. Breakfast will follow in the restaurant as we cruise to Titop Island, where we can swim in the water, relax on the beach or climb to the island’s peak for unforgettable vistas over Halong Bay.

Returning to the boat, we will check out and enjoy lunch before we disembark. Our driver will take us from Halong Bay to Hanoi airport in plenty of time for your flight to Siem Reap.

Once we have arrived in Siem Reap, a local Cambodian guide will collect you and take you to your new hotel in this lively town.

It will be an early breakfast today as we leave at 07:00 to head out to the awe-inspiring Angkor Wat. We begin at Ta Prohm, a temple built between the 12th and 13th centuries and abandoned by the Khmer, leading to a reclamation by the jungle as its snaking tree roots and vines crawl through the temple ruins, creating a wonderfully eerie atmosphere.

We continue through Angkor Wat’s incredible complex, spotting gorgeous temple ruins and their neighbouring jungle foliage at every turn. Pulling up to the Great City of Angkor Thom, we are greeted by the gigantic stone faces of the Buddhist deity Avalokitesvara, displaying the infinite compassion for which he is known through his peaceful expression.

We stop for lunch and head back out to finish our tour in the afternoon at places such as the Royal Palace, the Terrace of the Elephants, the Terrace of the Leper King and Baphuon Temple. After this, we recuperate in Siem Reap. Maybe tonight you would like to take advantage of the effervescent street food or nightlife scenes before retiring to your hotel.

Enjoy a later breakfast today before we head out to Banteay Srei Temple, a beautiful and intricate piece of Khmer art dedicated to the Hindu god, Shiva. We take a walk around the gorgeous sandstone structure before heading to the nearby site of Banteay Samre, another surviving Hindu temple made of the same material as Banteay Srei, restored efficiently during the 20th century after hundreds of years of neglect.

We will take a break for lunch and jump back in the van for transfer to Tonle Sap Lake, about 16km south of Siem Reap. We will spend the afternoon in a traditional boat, visiting floating villages where the locals still engage in ancient fishing practices and handicraft making. We will glide past quaint schools and solemn pagodas and, if we have time, visit an old market where you can find great deals on jewellery, silk, stone and wooden sculptures, clothes and food.

We return to Siem Reap after this for you to enjoy the final night of your Northern Vietnam to Cambodia 11 Days tour.

With plenty of time to catch your flight, our driver will transport you to the airport. You are free to use the hotel facilities until check-out at 12:00.

This concludes your Northern Vietnam to Cambodia 11 Days tour. It was a pleasure to have your accompany throughout both Vietnam and Cambodia travel. Incredible Asia Journeys - local tour operator sincerely hope to serve you again in the future!