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Day 1: HO CHI MINH CITY – ARRIVAL (Nil)
Pick up at Tan Son Nhat international airport & transfer to hotel for check-in (after 02:00 PM). Overnight in Ho Chi Minh city.
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Day 2: HO CHI MINH CITY – MEKONG DELTA – OVERNIGHT ON CRUISE (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
08:30am: This morning, leave bustling Ho Chi Minh city to the delta town Cai Be of Mekong delta. Situated a short 2.30 hours' drive from Ho Chi Minh city, the Mekong delta offers a distinct pace of life and sights from the dynamic city.
11:00am: You board your comfortable wooden river cruise vessel around noon. Check into the cabins. After a refreshing welcome drink and have introduction to the ship and crew. As lunch is served, the boat starts cruising. Sit back and watch the fantastic scenery and the daily life of the Mekong people. In the afternoon you can disembark for a guided leisurely stroll through a village and the surrounding fruit orchards or rice fields. Meet the friendly locals and taste the local produce and fruits. Get back on board and enjoy a drink at the bar or relax on deck as the sun sets over the magnificent water landscape of the Mekong river. The cruise boat will anchor for the night. The day ends with a delicious on-board dinner. Overnight on cruise in the Mekong delta.
Note:
- For your convenience, you can leave your big luggage with unnecessary things at luggage storage in your hotel in Ho Chi Minh City. You shoud bring along the most important and valuable possessions such as money, medication, clothes for 2D1N and your important papers in hand luggage.
- If day 2 is on even dates, e.g 2, 4, 6, 8 etc, Mekong Eyes Cruise will be provided.
- If day 2 is on odd dates, eg. 1, 3, 5, 7 etc, Bassac Cruise will be provided.
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Day 3: CAN THO – CAI RANG FLOATING MARKET – CYCLING IN BA LANG ISLAND – HO CHI MINH CITY (Breakfast, Lunch)
At 06.30 the cruise vessel sets off for a sunrise cruise. Watch the locals go about their daily work drying exotic fruits and building ships on the wooden yards while enjoying an early breakfast and cruising to Can Tho city.
After breakfast, check out and you will board a sampan boat to Cai Rang floating market, the region’s busiest and most lively markets. Marvel at the sheer abundance of exotic fruits, vegetables and skilfully handcrafted regional products. We will pull up to the boats for talking and bargaining with the merchants. We will also visit some of the local candy and cake making factories or boat through the green water landscape to see local houses, verdant orchards and ship-building yards.
Have lunch at a local restaurant.
After lunch, take a short cycling tour through the green water landscape to see monkey bridges, local houses, verdant orchards and ship-building yards of Ba Lang island.
14:00pm: Transfer back from Can Tho to the hotel in Ho Chi Minh city.
18:00pm: Check in at hotel and free at leisure.
For your information: The floating markets in the Mekong Delta are no tourist markets but wholesale markets where produce of the Mekong delta like fruits and vegetables are traded. The number of boats on the market fluctuates depending on harvesting seasons and market demand. Furthermore, modern wholesale markets are becoming more popular in Vietnam. This can result in decreasing numbers of boats being present on the markets.
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Day 4: HO CHI MINH CITY – CU CHI TUNNELS – HO CHI MINH CITY (Breakfast, Lunch)
Leave Ho Chi Minh city for Cu Chi tunnels. In Cu Chi, starts with an introductory video detailing its long 25-year construction. Then it is time to go underground in the infamous 120-mile Cu Chi tunnel system which offered a safe haven for soldiers and thousands of Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War. It is virtually an underground city with dwelling houses, schools, hospitals and factories. On display are booby traps, the remains of a US army tank and huge craters left by American B52 bombs. Here you will have the opportunity to witness how rice paper is made and to explore the amazing labyrinth of tunnels used by the guerrillas during the war.
On the way back to Saigon, take a break in the rubber forests, where you can touch the rubber tree, see the latex and listen to the explanations of the origin and economic benefits of rubber trees in Vietnam.
After lunch, transfer to hotel and free at your leisure. Overnight in Ho Chi Minh city.
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Day 5: HO CHI MINH CITY - DEPARTURE (Breakfast)
Check-out hotel (before 12:00 PM - noon time). Free at leisure.
Transfer to Tan Son Nhat airport for leaving flight. End of services.
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