Heartbeat of Vietnam Adventure – 14 Days

Begin at the Ho Chi Minh Complex, where the granite Mausoleum stands beside the modest stilt house in which the country’s founding father lived and worked. Nearby, the One Pillar Pagoda rises from its pond like a lotus flower, and the yellow Presidential Palace shows the French side of the city. Continue to the Temple of Literature, dedicated to Confucius and later home to Vietnam’s first university.

Head to West Lake for the peaceful Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest in the city, and the Quan Thanh Temple nearby. Then choose one of the city’s museums: the History Museum for the story of Vietnam through the ages, or the Museum of Ethnology for the traditions of its many ethnic groups.

Watch a water puppet show, a folk art born in the flooded rice paddies of the north, before boarding the night train to Lao Cai.

The train pulls into Lao Cai station, where your driver and guide meet you for the 40-kilometre drive up to Sapa. Have breakfast at your hotel and rest a little before heading out.

Your guide leads you on a two-hour walk down through the terraced rice fields to the villages of Cat Cat and Sin Chai, where you see how the local Hmong families live, farm and weave.

The rest of the day is yours to explore the town or relax with the mountain views.

After breakfast, set off on a guided trek to remote hill tribe villages. Choose the walk that suits you: a gentle trek of about 3 kilometres, a medium one of about 6 kilometres or a long one of about 12 kilometres. Along the way you meet Hmong, Dao and Tay families and learn about their customs and daily life.

Lunch is served in one of the villages.

Return to Lao Cai in time for the night train back to Hanoi.

The train arrives in Hanoi early. Your driver and guide meet you at the station and take you to a nearby restaurant for breakfast, then you set off on the drive of three to four hours to the coast.

Board your traditional junk and settle in over a seafood lunch as the boat sails out among the islands.

Cruise past some of the bay’s best-known islets, among them Ga Choi and Dinh Huong, and step inside one of its great caves, such as Thien Cung, Dau Go or Sung Sot. Later, drop anchor at a sheltered cove with a white-sand beach and cool off in the warm water of the Gulf of Tonkin.

Dinner is served on board, and you drift off to sleep with the gentle rocking of the boat.

Rise early for tai chi on the top deck, or simply watch the sun come up over the islands with a cup of coffee or tea.

Explore the nearby islands by rowing boat, then return to the junk and relax on the sundeck as the rock formations drift by. Brunch is served on board as you cruise back to the pier.

Your driver meets you at the dock for the drive to Noi Bai Airport and your flight to Hue, where your driver and guide take you to your hotel.

Begin at the Imperial Citadel, built in the 19th century and modelled on the Forbidden City in Beijing. Within its walls lie the palaces and temples of the Imperial Enclosure and, at its heart, the Forbidden Purple City, once the emperor’s private residence.

Continue to the Imperial Museum, with its collection of royal robes, porcelain and furniture, and the peaceful Tu Hieu Pagoda among the pine forests. Finish in the bustle of Dong Ba Market by the river.

Cruise down the Perfume River by private boat to Thien Mu Pagoda, also known as the Pagoda of the Celestial Lady, and the grand tomb of Emperor Minh Mang, set among lakes and pavilions.

Lunch is at a restaurant beside the river.

Drive south to Lang Co, a long white-sand beach beside the Lap An lagoon, where fishing boats drift across the water and storks fly home to their nests. Climb over the Hai Van Pass, the Pass of the Ocean Clouds, with the sea on one side and forested mountains on the other. In Da Nang, visit the Cham Museum and the stone-carving villages at the foot of the Marble Mountains.

Arrive in Hoi An, a sleepy riverside town, and check in. The evening is yours to spend as you like.

Cycle out from your hotel through the rice fields to a nearby farm and meet the farmer and his family over a cup of tea in the fields. Pull on traditional farmer’s clothes, conical hat and boots included, then wade into the paddy to learn how wet rice is grown, from the irrigation channels to ploughing with a water buffalo.

After lunch, walk the lanes of Hoi An’s ancient town with your guide, from the incense-filled Chua Ong Pagoda to the ornate Chinese Assembly Hall, where traders once met and worshipped far from home. Step inside the 200-year-old Tan Ky house, then cross the Japanese Covered Bridge, the town’s best-known landmark.

Return to your hotel in the late afternoon, with the evening at leisure.

Drive to Da Nang Airport for your flight to Saigon. You arrive in the late morning and see the busy streets on an orientation drive to your hotel.

After lunch at a restaurant of your choice in the centre, set off on a city tour: the Reunification Palace, where the war came to an end in 1975, the War Remnants Museum, the red-brick Notre Dame Cathedral, the old Central Post Office and the stalls of Ben Thanh Market.

The rest of the day is at leisure.

Drive out of Saigon to Cu Chi, an underground maze of tunnels used by the Viet Cong for shelter from air raids during what Vietnamese call the American War. If you are curious, crawl through a short section to get a sense of what life was like for the soldiers below ground.

Continue to the Cao Dai Temple in Tay Ninh, a riot of colour, dragons and painted pillars, and watch the midday prayer service. Caodaism was founded in the 1920s and blends elements of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Christianity and Islam in a message of peace.

After lunch, drive back to Saigon, arriving in the late afternoon.

Leave the city for the drive of about two hours to Cai Be, in the heart of the delta. Board a traditional wooden sampan to explore the Cai Be Floating Market, where boats piled high with tropical produce trade on the river, and stop to chat with the vendors. Step ashore at a small workshop to see how puffed rice, the local answer to popcorn, and other sweets are made.

Lunch is a home-cooked Vietnamese meal with a local family, followed by a stroll through their orchard to see the fruit of the season and listen to don ca tai tu, the lilting folk music of the south.

Back on the boat, follow the small, quiet canals around the island to Vinh Long, then drive on to Can Tho, the largest city in the delta.

Spend the rest of the day strolling along the lively waterfront, across the pedestrian bridge and through Ninh Kieu Park.

Leave your hotel early by motorboat for Cai Rang Floating Market, a wonderful place for photographs, with brightly painted boats piled high with watermelons, pineapples and flowers.

Continue deeper into the countryside, past traditional houses of wood and palm leaves, watching locals at work and tasting fresh tropical fruit. Return to Ninh Kieu Quay in the middle of the morning, check out of your hotel and drive back to Ho Chi Minh City.

Arrive in Saigon and check in, with the rest of the day at leisure.

Enjoy a last morning in Saigon at leisure after breakfast.

Your driver takes you to the airport for your flight home.