A Journey Through Cambodia, Myanmar And Vietnam – 16 days

After breakfast, head to the jetty for a boat trip up the river to Mingun. Here hangs the Mingun Bell, one of the largest ringing bells in the world, cast in bronze; legend says devotees threw gold and silver ornaments into the molten metal. Nearby stand the vast, cracked brick base of the Mingun Pagoda, which was never finished, and the white, wave-like terraces of the Mya Thein Tan Pagoda.

Back in Mandalay, visit a gold leaf workshop, where craftsmen beat tiny pieces of gold into sheets thin enough to float, ready to be pressed onto Buddha images by the faithful. Continue to Shwenandaw Monastery, the Golden Palace Monastery, a 19th-century teak building covered in carvings of Buddhist legends, and to Kuthodaw Pagoda, whose hundreds of small white shrines each shelter a marble slab of Buddhist scripture, often called the world’s largest book.

Finish on top of Mandalay Hill, about 230 metres high, and watch the sun set over the city, the river and the plains beyond.

Drive south of Mandalay to Amarapura, a former royal capital, to walk part of U Bein Bridge, which stretches about 1.2 kilometres across Taungthaman Lake on more than a thousand teak posts.

At Maha Gandayon Monastery, home to hundreds of young monks, watch them file past in long, silent lines with their alms bowls for their last meal of the day.

Transfer to Mandalay Airport for the short flight to Bagan, where your guide meets you and takes you to your hotel near the old city.

End the day gently with a boat trip on the Irrawaddy, watching the sun set behind the temple spires along the bank.

Set off before dawn by horse cart along dusty tracks between the pagodas to watch the sun rise over the plain, as hot air balloons drift silently above the temples. For an even more unforgettable view, a balloon flight can be booked on request.

After breakfast at your hotel, browse Nyaung U Market, where locals have bought their thanaka bark, spices and fresh produce for generations. Continue to the gilded Shwezigon Pagoda, one of the most revered shrines in Myanmar, and Ananda Temple, a masterpiece that blends Burmese and Indian styles, with four tall standing Buddhas each facing a different direction.

After lunch at a local restaurant, visit a lacquerware workshop, where artisans build up layer after layer of lacquer by hand over bamboo and engrave each piece with fine designs. Then explore more of Bagan’s temples and pass through Tharabar Gate, the last surviving gateway of the old walled city, before returning to your hotel to rest.

Take a morning flight to Heho and drive to Nyaung Shwe, the small town at the northern end of Inle Lake. From here, a longtail boat carries you out across the lake, past fishermen who row standing on one leg, the other wrapped around the oar, and floating gardens of tomatoes anchored with bamboo poles.

Visit Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, the most sacred site on the lake, where five small Buddha images, said to date back to the 12th century, have been covered with so much gold leaf by pilgrims that they have lost their original shape.

Continue to the weaving village of In Phaw Khone, where looms clatter in stilt houses over the water, then to Nga Phe Chaung, one of the oldest and largest wooden monasteries on the lake.

Visit one of the colourful markets of the Inle area, where hill tribe villagers come to trade. The markets move between villages on a five-day cycle, so where you go depends on the day. Then follow a narrow, winding channel through tall reeds to Indein, where hundreds of weathered stupas in Bagan and Shan styles crowd a hillside, some restored and gleaming, others crumbling and half hidden in the undergrowth.

Return across the lake and drive to Heho for your flight to Yangon, the former capital and still the country’s busiest city. Your guide meets you on arrival and, on the way to your hotel, stops at Karaweik Hall, a gilded replica of a royal barge floating on Kandawgyi Lake, for photos.

Start at Sule Pagoda, the golden landmark around which downtown Yangon was laid out. Walk through the streets of the British colonial quarter, past Immanuel Church and the red-brick High Court, then browse Bogyoke Aung San Market for lacquerware, jade and longyi.

Join the locals at a tea house over sweet milky tea and snacks, then visit the Shwedagon Pagoda, the symbol of Myanmar, whose gilded stupa rises nearly 100 metres above its hilltop. Wander barefoot around its terraces of shrines, bells and Buddha images, among pilgrims, monks and families who come here to pray.

Transfer to Yangon Airport for your flight to Hanoi, the elegant capital of Vietnam. Your guide and driver meet you on arrival and take you to your hotel in the city centre, where the evening is yours at leisure.

Begin at the Ho Chi Minh Complex, where the granite Mausoleum stands near the One Pillar Pagoda, which rises from its pond like a lotus flower, and the yellow Presidential Palace. Continue to the Temple of Literature, dedicated to Confucius and once home to Vietnam’s first university.

Choose between the History Museum, for the story of Vietnam through the ages, and the Museum of Ethnology, for the traditions of its many ethnic groups. Then walk around Hoan Kiem Lake and into the Old Quarter, whose narrow streets are lined with shops selling silk, lacquerware, embroidered linen, bamboo and ceremonial objects.

End at the water puppet theatre, a folk art born in the flooded rice fields of the Red River Delta, where puppets glide across a stage of water to tell tales of village life and legend.

After breakfast, drive about two and a half hours to the coast and step aboard your junk.

Cruise among the islands, passing Dinh Huong and Ga Choi islets, and step inside one of the bay’s great caves, such as Thien Cung, Dau Go or Sung Sot. Later, drop anchor at a sheltered cove with a white-sand beach and, weather permitting, swim in the warm water of the Gulf of Tonkin.

Dinner is served on board, and the night is spent on the water, with only the gentle rocking of the boat to lull you to sleep.

Rise early for tai chi on the top deck, or simply watch the sunrise with a cup of coffee or tea.

Explore the nearby islands by bamboo boat, then return on board to relax on the sundeck as the scenery drifts by. Brunch is served as the junk sails back to the harbour.

Your driver meets you at the dock for the transfer to Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport and your flight to Da Nang. On arrival, your guide and driver take you to your hotel in Hoi An.

The evening is yours to explore the old town on your own as the lanterns come on.

A short drive takes you out of town, where bicycles are waiting. Cycle through the fields to a farming family in Cam Thanh village and learn how wet rice is grown: plough and rake the paddy behind a water buffalo, ride the buffalo, flood the field and transplant the seedlings, then grind and pound the rice the old way.

Continue to a fishing village to join local fishermen on their boat and try your hand with a traditional cast net. Then climb into a round bamboo basket boat to paddle through the water coconut palm forest, where your boatman folds palm leaves into grasshoppers, rings and hats, and a muddy mock battle in the shallows is all part of the fun.

Back on the boat, the captain cooks a lunch of local dishes, served with a cold beer or a soft drink, before you return to your hotel.

The rest of the day is yours in Hoi An.

After breakfast, transfer to Da Nang Airport for your flight to Saigon.

Your guide meets you on arrival for a tour of the city’s landmarks. Start at the Reunification Palace, home of the President of South Vietnam until the war ended in April 1975, then see the red-brick Notre Dame Cathedral and the Central Post Office. Continue to the War Remnants Museum, a sobering account of the conflict, and, time permitting, the bustling stalls of Ben Thanh Market.

Check in to your hotel and enjoy the rest of the day at leisure.

Drive out of the city along the highway through bright green rice fields to My Tho. Board a boat for a leisurely ride on the river, past stilt houses, fruit plantations and fishing villages along the banks.

Lunch is served in an orchard garden.

Continue by boat to the quieter province of Ben Tre and switch to a hand-rowed sampan, gliding along narrow canals in the shade of water coconut palms. Taste seasonal fruit and honey tea to the sound of southern folk music performed by local musicians, then visit a family business making coconut candy and stroll through the orchards and village.

Return to Saigon, with the evening at leisure to explore the city on your own.

Drive out of Saigon to the Cu Chi Tunnels, a network of underground passages stretching for more than 200 kilometres, dug by hand by Viet Cong soldiers and villagers during the war. Learn how people lived, cooked and fought down here, and crawl through a section of tunnel yourself.

Transfer to Saigon Airport for your flight to Siem Reap, a relaxed riverside town and the gateway to the temples of Angkor, the greatest monuments of Khmer architecture. Your local guide meets you on arrival and takes you to your hotel.

The rest of the day is yours at leisure.

Ride by tuk tuk to the Angkor Archaeological Park in the dark and take your place before the main entrance of Angkor Wat to watch the sun rise behind its five lotus-shaped towers.

Continue through the South Gate into Angkor Thom, the last great capital of the Khmer kings. At its centre stands the Bayon, whose towers were carved with more than two hundred serene faces of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, and nearby is the Baphuon temple. Your guide brings the history of the Khmer empire to life and points out the details of its architecture.

Walk past the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King, where the king once watched parades and held audiences, then visit Ta Prohm, the jungle temple, where giant tree roots wrap around the crumbling stones.

Drive through the countryside to Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and one of the most productive in the world. Take a boat trip among the floating villages, where houses, schools and shops sit on the water and life is ruled by the seasonal rains.

Return to Siem Reap by quiet back roads, stopping to see whatever farm work the season brings: catching crickets, planting or harvesting rice, smoking fish, making prahok fish paste or tending ducks.

Transfer directly to Siem Reap Airport for your flight home.