Vietnam and Cambodia
April 9 - 22,
2008
$3950.00
(based
on double occupancy)
Tour price is based on current
tariffs as of November 2007 and are
subject to change without notice.
|
|
Tour Includes:
• Tour Escort from Hawaii
• Hotel Accommodations as indicated
• Roundtrip Airfare from Honolulu to Vietnam and domestically in Vietnam
• Roundtrip Airfare from Ho Chi Minh City to Seim Reap
• Ground Transportation as needed
• Daily Breakfast and Dinner in Vietnam and Cambodia
• Admission to all sights, attractions, and tours as indicated by
itinerary
|
|
|
April 9 (Wed)
|
Day One
|
Honolulu/Narita
|
| Our flight leaves
from Honolulu in the late morning to take us to Narita. |
| April 10 (Thu) |
Day Two
|
Narita/Ho
Chi Minh City
|
| We arrive in Narita in
the afternoon, where we must go through customs and immigrations.
We will then connect to our flight that will take us to Ho Chi Minh
City. Upon arrival we must pass through custom and immigrations
again before continuing on to our hotel for the evening. |
| April 11 (Fri) |
Day Three
|
Ho Chi Minh
City/Hue
|
| Our tour begins with a
visit to the Vietnam History Museum,
which gives a broad selection of
exhibits related to Vietnam’s past, especially in the south. From
there we head towards the center of the city to the Reunification
Palace, originally built for the South Vietnamese President in
1962,
who did not live to see its completion. It served for the
duration of the war as government headquarters. Our next stop is
the War Remnants Museum, which
tells the tale of Vietnam’s conflicts
with not just Americans, but the French as well. The museum
recounts the costs in a vivid manner and calls for peace. From
there we head to the airport to catch a flight to the city of Hue,
where we will be spending the next few days. |
April 12 (Sat)
|
Day Four
|
Khe Sanh Excursion
|
| Today we will take an
excursion to Khe Sanh, the
location of a US military base during the
Vietnam War and the site of one of its most hard fought battles.
We will visit 17th Parallel,
the line demarcating the DeMilitarized
Zone, during the conflict. We will be able to see the Khe Sanh
Combat Base and the Rock Pile,
both US military facilities during the
war and featured heavily in the Battle of Khe Sanh. To see how
the war was lived by the other side we will visit the Vinh Moc Tunnels,
a massive network of tunnels that sheltered not just soldiers but
civilian families. Our last stop will be Quang Tri
Citadel, a structure that was central to the Battle of Quang Tri
and
testifies to the Vietnamese people’s endurance. The structure
sustained substantial damage, but remains standing bearing its scars
proudly. |
| April 13 (Sun) |
Day Five
|
Hue City Tour |
| We will explore the the
city of Hue. We begin with the Imperial
Citadel. Similar to
China’s Forbidden City, the Imperial Citadel is actually a complex of
buildings in various states. The city experienced severe damage
during the war and while restoration continues, there is much work to
be done. Fortunately several buildings escaped relatively
unscathed and give a hint to its glory days. Located within the
Citadel is the Purple Forbidden City,
designed to emulate China’s
Forbidden City, it is smaller in scale, but no less impressive.
From there we head to the Imperial
Museum to see various artifacts from
the Nguyen Dynasty. To close the day we will visit the colorful Dong Ba
Market where we will find a wide variety of Vietnamese foods,
as well as hand crafts. |
April 14 (Mon)
|
Day Six
|
Hue/Hoian |
We leave Hue for the city
of Danang. While there we will see the Cham Sculpture museum,
highlighting works from the indigenous people of this area, the
Cham. Nearly a thousand years of sculpture is represented in this
collection. As we continue south we will also visit My Khe Beach,
believed to have been the famous China Beach during the war, where
soldiers would come to relax. Nearby we will also see the
incredible Marble Mountain
with its intricate carvings.
Our hotel for the night will be in Hoian. |
April 15 (Tue)
|
Day Seven
|
Hoian |
Hoian was once Vietnam’s most
important port city. Today, it stands as a reminder of a thriving
bygone era with numerous museums and preserved homes. One can
still
see the influence of Chinese and Japanese merchants on this town.
This
exact melding of international influences is one of the reasons the
town was designated as a World Heritage site. Our first
stop will be
the Japanese covered bridge,
which was built to connect the Japanese
and Chinese merchants quarters of the city. From there we head to
the Museum
of History and Culture, which will give us a broad view of
Hoian’s 2000 year history. Our next stop will be Quan Kong
Temple,
built in the 1600’s in honor of a famous Chin dynasty general. From
there we will go to the Hainan
Assembly Hall, one of a number in the
area, which is noted for its carving of Chinese court life in the late
19th century. In the afternoon we will explore the Central
Market.
|
April 16 (Wed)
|
Day Eight
|
Hoian to Nha
Trang |
Today we start with
the Tran Family home and
chapel. This was the home of a high
ranking
civil servant of the first Nguyen Emperor in 1802. Here we will
find
artifacts from that era, as well as the various cultural influences of
that time. From there we will visit the the House of Hia An
Traditional Handicraft, essentially a showcase for silk and how
it is
made into fabric. Our next stop is the Museum of Trade
Ceramics.
During Hoian’s time as an active trading port, ceramics was one of the
goods that was commonly sold. Samples of cermaics can be found
from
the 13th to the 17th centuries from China and Thailand as well.
The
architecture of this converted traditional home will give you the
essense of Hoi An architecture.
We return to Danang to catch our flight down to Nha Trang. Here
we
will see the Cam Ranh Bay Base
before heading to our hotel for the
night. |
April 17 (Thu)
|
Day Nine
|
Nha Trang to Ho Chi
Minh
|
| We continue our journey
south. Along the way to Ho Chi Minh, we will stop in Phan Rang
and go to the Poklong Cham Gia Rai
Towers to see the air base from this
vantage point. Once we get to Ho Chi Minh, we will go by Bien Hoa
Military Airbase. This was a major military air base for
the
United States during the war and is still used by the Vietnamese
military. |
April 18 (Fri)
|
Day Ten
|
Mekong Delta
Excursion |
| We leave Ho Chi Minh City
to explore the Mekong Delta.
This is Vietnam’s most southern area
and is responsible for over fifty percent of the country’s rice
production. Today we will take in the natural beauty and floating
markets that the area is noted for. |
April 19 (Sat)
|
Day
Eleven
|
Ho Chi Minh to Seim Reap
|
| In the morning we will
visit Ben Thanh Market, Ho Chi
Minh City’s outdoor market area. We will then check out and head
to the airport to catch our flight to Seim Reap, home of Angkor
Wat. Upon our arrival, we will pass through customs and
immigrations before heading to our hotel for our stay in Cambodia. |
| April 20 (Sun) |
Day
Twelve
|
Angkor |
| Today we begin our
exploration of the ancient city of Angkor.
The area actually is home to a number of temple complexes that are
truly magnificent in scale and artistry. These hidden
architectural wonders were lost for centuries until rediscovered by a
French explorer in 1868. We will start with Angkor Thom, the last capital of the
Khmer empire and founded by Jayavarman VII. The city is so large
that we will spend the entire morning here visiting the Bayon, the Terrace of the Leper King, Tep Pranam, Prah Palilay, the Royal Palace, and the Baphuon. In the afternoon we
will step outside of Angkor Thom and visit Ta Prohm, Banteay Kdei, and Srah Srang. |
| April 21 (Mon) |
Day
Thirteen
|
Seim Reap to Ho Chi Minh
City to Tokyo |
We return to Angkor to
continue our journey through Cambodia’s rich past. In the morning
we will follow the Grand Circuit, visiting Pre Rup, Banteay Samre, Neak Pean, and Prah Khan. In the afternoon,
we save the best for last with Angkor
Wat. While smaller in scale to Angkor Thom, it is the
largest temple of its type and remains in active use, changing
religions as need be over the past eight centuries. We leave this
evening to return to Ho Chi Minh City where we will catch our flight
back to Japan.
|
| April 22 (Tue) |
Day
Fourteen
|
Tokyo to Honolulu |
| We will arrive in Tokyo
in the morning and have the day free to relax before catching our
flight back to Honolulu in the evening. |
|
 Click Here for Printable Copy
Requires Adobe Acrobat
Contact Us for more information.
|
|
| |
|
| |
Website design by
Alane Fieldson. Content © 2006 by Tours by Charlie, Nozomi Travel
Company LLC.
|
|
